Throwing the ball against South Carolina

Blutarsky hit on something I'm going to talk about in the @WSLSPodcast this week: we are seeing early 2000's Mark Richt coaching philosophy in action. Actually, it is funny we've come full circle as a fan base, with us now calling for the Dawgs to throw more.

2012, we hardly knew ye.

In reality, UGA's never gotten inside 60/40 rushing-passing in the Richt era. Now, we are on pace to set a high on the running side this season, but if you'd gone back to August and said we'd win our first two games using strong running and stout defense, I think we'd all agree that is what we should be doing.

So, that brings us to South Carolina. Poking around CFBStats.com, something about South Carolina's pass defense really stood out:

Situation	G	Att	Comp	Pct.	Yards	TD	Int	Rating	Long	1st	15+	25+
1st Down	2	25	18	72.0	216	0	0	144.58	43	7	7	3
2nd Down	2	16	11	68.8	115	0	1	116.63	20	6	3	0
3rd Down	2	17	10	58.8	74	1	2	91.27	21	4	1	0
3rd Down, 1-3 To Go	2	2	1	50.0	21	1	0	303.20	21	1	1	0
3rd Down, 4-6 To Go	1	5	2	40.0	17	0	1	28.56	10	2	0	0
3rd Down, 7-9 To Go	1	5	3	60.0	15	0	1	45.20	6	0	0	0
3rd Down, 10+ To Go	2	5	4	80.0	21	0	0	115.28	14	1	0	0
4th Down	2	2	1	50.0	19	0	1	29.80	19	1	1	0

Teams are doing quite well throwing against them on first down. Now, first down is when the whole play book is open, but when you compare their rushing defense, it becomes apparent that first down ain't their thing.

Situation	G	Att	Yards	Avg.	TD	Long	1st	10+	20+
1st Down	2	32	241	7.53	1	44	6	6	5
2nd Down	2	27	115	4.26	2	20	8	2	1
3rd Down	2	10	58	5.80	0	29	5	4	1
3rd Down, 1-3 To Go	2	5	25	5.00	0	29	2	1	1
3rd Down, 4-6 To Go	2	3	22	7.33	0	17	2	2	0
3rd Down, 7-9 To Go	1	1	13	13.00	0	13	1	1	0
3rd Down, 10+ To Go	1	1	-2	-2.00	0	-2	0	0	0
4th Down	2	2	1	0.50	0	1	1	0	0

1/3 of all their first downs given up happen on first down plays. 22% of all first down plays result in a first down. For comparison sakes, UGA has only given up 3 first downs on first down plays. Hey, if we're only going to throw it 20 times, let's make 13 of those times on first down, because it sure feels like first and ten is a good time if you are trying to soften a defense geared for run.

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