Georgia Bulldogs
Southeastern Conference
What a turnaround it has been for the Georgia Bulldogs. On September 11, people were clambering for Mark Richt to be fired. After all, the Dawgs were 0-2 after already coming off a number of poor years. Since then, Georgia has won nine games in a row on their way to the SEC East title and a trip to the conference championship game. Mark Richt is in consideration for conference coach of the year and things have never looked better. What a difference two months can make.
2011 Record: 10-3, 7-1
Last Bowl Appearance: 2010 Liberty Bowl vs. UCF (L 6-10)
Big Wins: 10/29 vs. Florida (24-20), 11/26 at Georgia Tech (31-17)
Bad Losses: 9/3 Boise State (21-35), 9/10 South Carolina (42-45)
Coach: Mark Richt (103-37 at Georgia, 103-37 overall)
Bowl Record: 7-3 at Georgia, 7-3 overall
Offensive Coordinator: Mike Bobo
Defensive Coordinator: Todd Grantham
Strengths:
After a tumultuous start against two highly ranked opponents, Georgia settled in and eventually took off. By the end of the season, they had a tremendous defense and high powered offense. Aaron Murray is, by many measures, the best quarterback in the SEC. To be honest, it was a weak year for SEC quarterbacks other than Arkansas’ Tyler Wilson, yet Murray ranks competitively nationally in passing efficiency and passer rating. Teamed up with Isaiah Crowell at running back, who is one of the best running backs in the conference even after missing time at the end of the season with a sprained ankle, Georgia had a potent offense week after week. And those first two games not withstanding, their defense ended up being even better than that. They rank in the top ten in the nation in rushing defense, pass efficiency defense and total defense. They also produce well in turnover margin, sacks and tackles for loss: all the ingredients of a play-making unit. Leading the barrage has been linebacker Jarvis Jones. He is one of only a handful of players in the nation averaging more than one sack per contest and also ranks very high in tackles for loss on the year. Overshadowed by their brethren in the West, Georgia had one heck of a season taking advantage of a light SEC East division.
Weaknesses:
The lack of quality wins perhaps should not be considered a team weakness. After all, a team can only play who is on their schedule. Holding schedule strength against someone is not quite fair. However, it is a complete fact that Georgia played only two opponents ranked in the top 20 all year long and lost to both. These were the first two games of the season so excuses can be made but it is still true. Georgia, in the riggers of the SEC, somehow avoided playing LSU, Alabama and Arkansas this regular season: a flip of the coin scheduling coincidence that landed in their favor. Nevertheless, having not been tested by anyone better than a porous Auburn team since the 10th of September means Georgia may not be as good as their numbers and results indicate. The simple truth is that when UGA faced upper echelon opponents, whether that was to start the year or not, they lost. No one would argue that this is a different team than the one who gave up 45 points to South Carolina but that still happened and must be accounted for.
Statistical Leaders:
Rushing: Isaiah Crowell, RB, 847 yards
Passing: Aaron Murray, QB, 2,861 yards
Receiving: Malcolm Mitchell, WR, 614 yards
Tackles: Jarvis James, LB, 69
Sacks: Jarvis James, LB, 13.5
Interceptions: Bacarri Rambo, S, 7
2011 Team Stats:
Rushing Offense: 180.58 (36th in nation, 4th in conference)
Passing Offense: 243.08 (47, 2)
Total Offense: 423.67 (34, 3)
Scoring Offense: 34.00 (25, 4)
Rushing Defense: 94.75 (6, 3)
Pass Defense: 176.33 (11, 5)
Total Defense: 271.08 (5, 4)
Scoring Defense: 17.75 (10, 3)
Turnover Margin: .83 (15, 2)
Sacks: 2.67 (17, 2)
Sacks Allowed: 2.08 (70, 6)
