Georgia on his mind

Impressive work, Gus.

A Malzahn offense hasn’t scored beyond the first quarter against Georgia in the Bulldogs’ home state since 2009. That’s a stretch of four games and during that time Malzahn’s offense has been downright befuddling to watch against the Bulldogs in Samford Stadium and Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Georgia has held Malzahn’s offense to three of the 10 worst offensive outputs in his 13 years as a college coach.

Really?  Tell us more.

Gus Malzahn’s worst offensive outputs
1. 117 yards vs. Clemson (Sept. 9, 2017)
2. 140 yards vs. Alabama (Nov. 26, 2011)
3. 164 yards vs. Georgia (Nov. 12, 2016)
4. 182 yards vs. Alabama (Nov. 26, 2016)
5. 193 yards vs. LSU (Oct. 24, 2009)
6. 195 yards vs. Georgia (Nov. 12, 2011)
7. 225 yards vs. Arkansas (Sept. 23, 2018)
8. 248 yards vs. LSU (Oct. 22, 2011)
9. 256 yards vs. Mississippi State (Nov. 18, 2015)
10. 259 yards vs. Georgia (Dec. 2, 2017)

Have no fear.  Gus is a first-rate mechanic.  He knows exactly what needs to be done to fix things.

“We’ve got to correct that,” Malzahn said. “We’ve got to do a better job, no doubt. They’re always a talented team. They’re always going to be one of the most talent-based teams in our league. When you go there, that’s a tough place to play, but we need to switch that up and we need to play well.”

Sounds like a plan, buster.

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Moar pesky stats

3 teams in Top 10 nationally in offensive and defensive efficiency – Alabama 1/2, Clemson 7/1, Georgia 3/4. Only 3 others in Top 25 in both – Notre Dame 25/17, Michigan 14/3, Fresno State 23/10.

— Chris Fallica (@chrisfallica) November 7, 2018

Georgia is the only team with all three units in the Top 25 efficiency-wise – all three are in the Top 10 (3/4/10).

— Chris Fallica (@chrisfallica) November 7, 2018

Kirby is doing good work, considering the effort made to develop the young talent.  What’s the opposite of a throwaway season?

Too bad Georgia’s being measured against the Death Star in Tuscaloosa.

Your 11.7.18 Playpen

I’m not even going to try to pretend y’all want to talk about anything other than the midterms.

Instead, I’m gonna let this dude lead things off today.

Greg Martin, 70, is a native of Atlanta. He says the hour and half he waited to vote is the longest he’s ever waited. “I voted for Stacey Abrams because Brian Kemp is an asshole…and misogynistic piece of shit.” #ElectionDay @guardian pic.twitter.com/g4faT8zWOe

— Khushbu Shah (@KhushbuOShea) November 6, 2018

Go Dawgs!

One other random Georgia-Auburn observation

If there’s one thing that surprised me about Georgia’s wins over Florida and Kentucky, it’s that neither team tried to exploit the Dawgs’ defense with pace the way LSU did so successfully.

I don’t expect Auburn to make that three in a row.  Hope Smart and Tucker are ready for that.

Some random Georgia-Auburn stats

A few advanced stat snapshots about the next game…

First, note that Mel and Kirby coaxed four sacks out of the defense in the Kentucky game.  It seems the timing may be fortuitous.

With UGA's 4 sacks vs Kentucky, it's a good time for the pass rush to be improving. Auburn is just 66th in sack rate allowed, 86th on passing downs, and they're blitz down success rate is 119th.

— Chad Peltier (@CGPeltier) November 6, 2018

Auburn’s offensive line hasn’t played well this season.  Aside from pass protection issues as noted by Chad, the Tigers are also twelfth in the SEC in yards per rushing attempt against conference opponents.

One area where Auburn has excelled — it was mentioned during the broadcast of the game with TAMU — is in red zone defense.

More on Auburn's defensive success in the red zone: opponents have just a 20.7% offensive success rate inside the 10 yard line, which is 2nd best in the country.

— Chad Peltier (@CGPeltier) November 6, 2018

I’m guessing this would not be a good week to go power formation on their one-yard line, but, then again, I’d rather score than impose will.  Of course, the real solution to the Tigers’ red zone defensive prowess is simply to go around it.

But Auburn also isn't elite at preventing explosive plays, so touchdowns may come off of big plays more than successful goal line conversions. (which is obviously something UGA has struggled with, too.)

— Chad Peltier (@CGPeltier) November 6, 2018

Coincidentally, Georgia’s doing that 10+ yards and 20+ yards thing pretty damned well this season.

The Dawgs also have that bend, but don’t break thing down pretty well, too.

UGA may be fairly reliant on field goals against Auburn. Their best 5 Factors ranking is in finishing drives on defense, where they're 4th in opp. points per scoring opportunity – 3.22. They're also 2nd in opp. red zone TD percentage – just 29.6%.

— Chad Peltier (@CGPeltier) November 6, 2018

Making an Auburn offense with a creaky line work its way down the field for every point it gets seems like a wise strategy.

Okay, maybe it’s been a strange year.

Common theme here has been that Georgia is one of the most talented teams in the country, but it’s had difficulty playing consistently up to its potential.  Some, especially after the loss to LSU, have found that profoundly disappointing.

Take a look at Brian Fremeau’s advanced stats for an analytical take on Georgia’s 8-1 start.

GFEI Ratings (opp-adjusted single-game performances) updated through Week 10: https://t.co/jSImyXuEmW

Best wins to date:
1. Bama vs LSU
2. LSU vs UGA
3. UGA vs S. Carolina
4. UGA vs UK
5. Bama vs Mizz
6. Texas vs OU
7. ND vs UM
8. Mizz vs UF
9. VaTech vs Duke
10. UCF vs Pitt

— Brian Fremeau (@bcfremeau) November 7, 2018

Georgia claims two of the top four performances of the season — and was the victim in the third.

Most 90th percentile single-game performances to date, per GFEI:

7- Alabama
6- Georgia, Oklahoma
5- Mississippi St
4- LSU, Michigan

— Brian Fremeau (@bcfremeau) November 7, 2018

The reality is that the team has performed at an elite level most of the season.  That the perception is different is due to some extent because of the inconsistent showing in Baton Rouge, and to some extent because Alabama has been performing at an other-worldly level all season long.

For a team still getting its proverbial shit together, that ain’t half-bad.

Damn, Mel, I thought you had more sense than that.

I get having the ambition of wanting to be a head coach… but Maryland?  Maryland?  Why in Gawd’s name would you want to tackle Maryland?

Ixnay on the ackblay.

Kirby ain’t havin’ none of that blackout talk.

Kirby Smart on black jersey question for Auburn: "I don't think you need energy and enthusiasm for Auburn."

— Marc Weiszer (@marcweiszer) November 6, 2018

"I’m not saying we’re not ever going to do it, I’m not saying that we are, that’s just really not what is important to me. I believe in the guys going out and playing physical, playing hard; you don’t have to do things like that to get them fired up to do it,."

— Marc Weiszer (@marcweiszer) November 7, 2018

In other words, that fake juice cocktail won’t be served Saturday.