“He is a hoss.”

“Another one!”  That may be my favorite Danielson reaction since his “uh oh” when Richardson threw the pick six in the ’21 Cocktail Party.

Brock Bowers everyone.

pic.twitter.com/PyOiEVAwkT

— Georgia Football (@GeorgiaFootball) September 30, 2023

“Simply put, the slow starts are a team problem.”

Seth Emerson ($$) notes how some of that is due to starting field position.

Georgia’s average starting field position by quarter (with national rank):

• First quarter: Own 29.2-yard line (65th)
• Second quarter: Own 32.2-yard line (40th)
• Third quarter: Own 24.7-yard line (113th)
• Fourth quarter: Own 29.6-yard line (89th)

Overall, Georgia’s average starting field position is its own 28.8-yard line (86th in the country).

There couldn’t be a starker contrast from turnovers leading to favorable starting field position than what we saw last Saturday.  Auburn’s two touchdowns came on two short drives (48 and 32 yards, respectively) set up by turnovers, while Georgia’s shortest TD drive was 56 yards, followed by touchdown drives of 75 and 98 yards.

The Dawgs’ takeaway stats are eye-opening in that regard.

… Georgia has zero fumble recoveries this year, one of three SEC teams without one. And while it has eight interceptions, four came at the end of games (UT Martin, South Carolina’s final two drives, Auburn). The other four interceptions were in the second quarter of games (three versus Ball State, one versus UAB), and Georgia’s offense scored touchdowns off all four of them.  [Emphasis added.]

A little more defensive havoc would seem to be called for.

First thoughts on Kentucky

Okay, so the ‘Cats come to Sanford Saturday night as Georgia’s first ranked opponent of 2023.  They’ve earned that ranking on basis of a 5-0 start, and while that hasn’t come against the stiffest of competition (FPI SOS ranking:  124; Sagarin SOS ranking: 141), that’s hardly a criticism a Georgia fan can level against anyone, amirite?

Besides, regardless of the quality of the opposition, they’ve come by their ranking honestly, if you look at some of the stats they’ve compiled.  As previously posted, they’re first in the SEC in net ypp, and they’ve held the top spot for two straight weeks.  I’m used to seeing Georgia and Alabama doing that, so it’s a pretty impressive accomplishment.

It’s Kentucky, so you figure they’re going to have a viable rushing attack.  In fact, UK leads the league in yards per carry, and that by a comfortable margin.  To give you an idea of how much of a difference the change in offensive coordinators has made, they were last in that category in 2022.  Their average has increased by better than three yards per carry, year over year, which is crazy.

They remain very good at limiting big plays on defense.  Kentucky is second in the SEC in opponent plays of 10+ yards.  (They were first in 2022.)

They’re not perfect, of course.  There are a few holes in their game, statistically speaking, starting with the passing game.  UK ranks 10th in the SEC in yards per pass attempt and passer rating.  Devin Leary, who I thought would excel this season, is instead 10th among SEC starters in passer rating.  And with 9 carries for minus-17 yards, he’s not exactly a threat to run, either.

They’re middle of the pack in third down conversions and subpar in defensive third down conversion rate.  Surprisingly for a Stoops-coached bunch, they aren’t dominant in time of possession.  Also, at +2, they’re tied with Georgia in turnover margin.

In a sense, particularly on offense, Kentucky comes off to me as a more competent version of Auburn.  (Given Georgia’s narrow escape last week, trust me, that’s meant as a compliment.)  They look like a typical Stoops team on both lines of scrimmage, tough.  They’re going to try to run the ball down the Dawgs’ throat, and after what we saw on Saturday, they’d be crazy not to.

Where I think Georgia has space to exploit the matchup comes, first, in the passing game.  The Dawgs are first in the conference in pass plays of 10+ yards; Kentucky is seventh in defending such plays.  The other area of advantage I see is in third down conversions.  UGA is superior in both converting third downs and defending third downs. (Seventh nationally in the former and sixth nationally in the latter.)  Over the course of a game, that can and should turn out to be a big deal.

Of course, none of that addresses Georgia’s appetite for self-destruction that has turned what should have been comfortable efforts into close calls.  Kentucky has seen their share of those, too, to be fair, but they’ve also managed to lay a beat down on an SEC team, something that Georgia has yet to accomplish this season.

My Thursday feeling is that I’ll roll with Georgia until they prove me wrong, but that 14.5-point spread seems too generous to the home team.

Today, in doing it for the kids

LOL.

NCAA voted to restrict the windows of time where athletes can transfer. This helps coaches, not athletes.

The chair of the Student-Athlete Advisory Council is "pleased" that the athletes' voice was "acknowledged." One problem: The chair is not a current athlete. He's a coach.

— Dan Murphy (@DanMurphyESPN) October 4, 2023

Hey, at least somebody’s happy!  I mean, what do you want?

A headline to make you smile

From the Orlando Sentinel:

To which I say, one can only hope.

To add to the misery, here’s one other tasty nugget from the article:

In the age of the portal, coaches better keep their stars happy. Etienne’s big brother, Travis, has voiced his own frustration, taking to X (formerly Twitter) during Florida games to criticize his little bro’s role.

Sounds like they’re having a lot of fun in Gainesville these days.