As I posted the other day, one reason Georgia ran the ball more last season than it did in 2016 was because Chaney and Smart were trying to give their true freshman quarterback time to develop without feeling the pressure of carrying the offense on his shoulders.
Another reason is Georgia was friggin’ good running the ball.
Rushing Offense
During the 2016 season, Georgia had 191.2 rushing yards per game, good for No. 50 overall in the country and ninth in the Southeastern Conference. In the 2017 season, Georgia had 258.4 rushing yards per game, good for ninth overall in the country and first in the Southeastern Conference.
Yards Per Carry
During the 2016 season, Georgia averaged 4.66 yards per carry, good for 54th overall in the country and ninth in the Southeastern Conference. In the 2017 season, Georgia averaged 5.79 yards per carry, good for seventh overall in the country and first in the Southeastern Conference.
Definitely a case of if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
And when you can combine a stellar ground game with an efficient passing attack, that usually leads to good things, like scoring when you’re supposed to.
Red Zone Offense
During the 2016 season, Georgia scored on 84.4 percent of its red zone opportunities, good for 64th overall in the country and seventh in the Southeastern Conference. In the 2017 season, Georgia scored on 96.4 percent of its red zone opportunities, good for fourth overall in the country and second in the Southeastern Conference.
Yeah, I’ll take that.
Get The Picture 
Our RZ offense was excellent last year, coming off being horrible in 2016. (I would prefer an additional stat giving average point per RZ visit to blend TDs and FGs, think that is a more significant way to analyze that.) Much of that improvement due to Fromm’s touch and accuracy versus Eason, imo, but Hot Rod was also money last year. To come close to that production in 2018 I feel Holyfield will have to replace the power running of the Chubb/Michel in tight situations.
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Blocking was much improved last season over 2016. I guess it took a year to gel or something, but 2016 OL couldn’t move anybody. 2017 OL moved just about everybody.
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To paraphrase Bill Clinton : It’s the OL, stupid.
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That’s it. And the OL is still not there yet. Those cut ups of Raekwon and Payne beating our guys off the ball and “rag dolling” them were disgusting to watch. We don’t have to blow those guys off the ball, but if we can just get a “stalemate” for just a second our backs can get to the second level and that’s all she wrote. If our OL can just match up with their DL, we can run them out of the building. Beyond the refs, that weakness defined why we didn’t put them away.
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Screw that! More passes to the tight end! Because tight end!
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What 3 teams did better than 96.4%?
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