(PWD Note: All stats effective pre-UK Game. He sent this last Friday. Sorry for the delay, but the point is the same)
Ever since Coach Richt arrived in Athens, it seems like our offense has produced very few long scoring plays from scrimmage. So, I decided to see if this was just my perception or reality by going through the box scores starting with the '01 season. After doing this, I decided to compare our number of big plays with some other programs with similar winning percentages over the last six seasons. I found the results interesting to say the least.
I defined a big play/long TDs as any offensive touchdown from scrimmage of 35 yards or more. The teams are ordered by number of wins since 2001.
| Team | W-L | TD's of 35+ yds (rank) | Long Rushing TD's (rank) | Long Passing (rank) |
| 1. Texas | 64-9 | 52 (1st) | 12 (T5) | 40 (1st) |
| 2. Oklahoma | 61-13 | 49 (2) | 15 (8) | 34 (3) |
| 3. Southern Cal | 60-11 | 46 (4) | 18 (2) | 28 (T8) |
| 4. Ohio State | 59-13 | 43 (5) | 12 (T5) | 31 (4) |
| 5. Miami | 58-12 | 30 (12) | 11 (T7) | 19 (13) |
| 6. Georgia | 58-16 | 29 (13) | 5 (12) | 24 (11) |
| 7. LSU | 57-16 | 47 (3) | 11 (T7) | 36 (2) |
| 8. Auburn | 54-18 | 41 (T6) | 21 (1) | 20 (12) |
| 9. Michigan | 53-18 | 32 (11) | 2 (13) | 30 (T5) |
| 10. Virginia Tech | 53-20 | 41 (T6) | 13 (4) | 28 (T8) |
| 11. Tennessee | 51-20 | 39 (9) | 10 (T9) | 29 (7) |
| 12. Florida | 49-21 | 36 (10) | 8 (11) | 28 (T8) |
| 13. FSU | 48-24 | 40 (8) | 10 (T9) | 30 (T5) |
-- Yes, we have fewer long scoring plays than any of our peers, so my perception was correct (but we all kinda suspected that). What's amazing is how many games we have managed to win without much help from big offensive plays. To me, this means
- A) Our defense has been spectacular (which we knew)
B) Since the O doesn't score long touchdowns, it has to string good plays together on longer drives, which is tough to do. I think it's also interesting to compare what we thought we were getting with Richt (big play offensive genius) with what we've got (a solid, but severely unspectacular offense and a great defense). (PWD Note: I think he means a normally great defense)
-- Since the beginning of 2003, Georgia has only 13 long offensive scores. From 2003, we trail: Miami (16), Michigan (22), Tennessee (23), Florida (24), Auburn (24), Ohio State (27), Virginia Tech (27), FSU (27), LSU (33), Texas (33), USC (33), and Oklahoma (35).
-- Florida has only 5 long offensive scoring plays since Urban Meyer arrived. They are last among this group behing Georgia (7) and Miami (7).
-- Only Michigan has fewer long rushing scores (2) than Georgia (5) over the last 5 plus seasons.
-- Georgia's 24 long passing scores trails only Miami (19) and Auburn (20). No other team is close.
-- Auburn can run the ball. They are the only team with more long running scores (21) than long passing scores (20).
Feel free to post it on your blog if you think it might stir up some interesting discussion. It's tough to argue with Richt's results, but holy hell, how much better could we have been with some quick-strike capability on offense?
We absolutely never have receivers wide-ass open and our longest rushing touchdown in six years has been 52 yards. Every team on my list has a run longer than that. I hope you don't take this as Richt-bashing. I'll take boring wins over exciting losses any day.
By Vinnie Salvucci
(Share your thoughts in the comments section)
