First off, let me say that the titular statement is completely asinine when said in week 2 of any season. Take a look back in week 8, and you may have some data from which to make that claim.
Just FYI...the nation's top 10 "total" defenses right now:
10. Penn State
9. Alabama
7. Marshall (tied)
7. UCF (tied)
6. Duke
5. Florida
4. Virginia Tech
3. Michigan State
2. Arizona State
1. Wisconsin
(Georgia #100)
The nation's top 10 "Scoring" defenses are:
9. Marshall (tied)
9. Louisville (tied)
9. Duke (tied)
7. Arizona (tied)
7. Oregon (tied)
6. Washington
4. Oklahoma (tied)
4. UCF (tied)
1. Georgia Tech (tied)
1. Arizona State (tied)
1. Wisconsin (tied)
(Georgia #95)
So I guess you need to ask yourself if you truly believe a few things. First of all, do you believe that Duke has one of the best defenses in the country? Second, do you believe that Georgia has the 95th-100th best defense in the country?
I don't think anyone would argue that out of the 10 teams at the top of the polls, Georgia has faced the toughest two-game stretch of any. Out of the 10 teams at the top of the polls only TWO currently have defenses ranked in either top 10. Alabama at #9 in total defense, and Oregon at #7 in scoring defense. Oregon drew Nicholls State in week 1 (and a bad Virginia team in week 2) and Alabama had week 2 off. So....yeah.
Of course, for every defense, there is an opposing offense, right? After the past two weeks, people have been pretty happy with the play of our offense. The O-Line faltered for a quarter and a half, but putting up 35+ on back-back top-10 opponents is seen as pretty damned good.
Well, here's some info:
UGA scoring Offense - #38 in the country
UGA total Offense - #20 in the country
Who out there believes we're as low as #20 in offense? I'm pretty sure most of you believe we have the BEST RB tandem. Many believe we have one of the top QBs. (Some ignorant folks still argue he just can't win the big one and isn't clutch. Read: Shut up.)
Simply put - there's too much football ahead of us to make any solid judgment calls on what we've seen thus far. I'll bet you this...Clemson is going to light up MANY teams for more than 38 points. I'll also bet South Carolina tops 30 a few times.
Is this defense a "shut down" defense? Not at the moment. Is it good enough to win a championship? I'd say yes. Why would I say yes? Because at the end of the day, a Championship defense need only to make one more stop than the opposing team can make. That's it. We'd all love to see 14 shutouts a season. Realistically, though, the competition is just too damned good for that to happen. I wouldn't doubt we'll see one or two. As the playmakers get settled in and gel, I think you'll see the defense's numbers improve greatly. The important thing is this - the offense is potent enough that even if the defense is fairly pedestrian, it could be good enough to win a title.
Basically, Georgia is in the top 10, so you're damned right this is a top 10 defense.
Go Dawgs.
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6 comments:
Very good and true. There's a difference between stats and damn lies, to paraphrase M. Twain.
Very good and true. There's a difference between stats and damn lies, to paraphrase M. Twain.
Nonsense.UGA had the entire offseason to prepare for Clemson and SC and we gave up 68 pts.Same thing happened in 2011 and we gave up 71 pts.Grantham doesn't have a clue.Who cares about National rankings when we are 4-5th best in the SEC on defense,every year under Grantham.UGA is closer to Vandy than Bama on defense.
31 Arkansas # 12, Aaron Murray 24, fourteen rushes 35 yards, 6 sacks, interception, fumble
49 Auburn # 2, Aaron Murray 31, seven rushes minus 5 yards, 3 sacks, fumble
35 Boise State # 5, Aaron Murray 21, seven rushes minus 33 yards, 6 sacks, interception
45 South Carolina # 12, Aaron Murray 42, seven rushes 9 yards, 2 sacks, interception, fumble
42 LSU # 1, Aaron Murray 10, nine rushes minus 6 yards, 4 sacks, 2 interceptions, fumble
33 Michigan State # 12, Aaron Murray 30, nine rushes minus 14 yards, 4 sacks, 2 interceptions, fumble
35 South Carolina # 6, Aaron Murray 7, six rushes minus 17 yards, 2 sacks, interception, fumble
9 Florida # 3, Aaron Murray 17, three interceptions, 2 rushes 3 yards,
32 Alabama # 2, Aaron Murray 28, four rushes minus 12 yards, 3 sacks, interception
38 Clemson # 8, Aaron Murray 35, eight rushes minus 21 yards, 4 sacks, interception, fumble
30 South Carolina # 6, Aaron Murray 41, two sacks, 5 rushes minus 12 yards
_____________
ABC GRAPHIC
_____________
Todd Grantham & Aaron Murray 5th-Year Senior 1st Team Pre-Season All-SEC QB :
Todd Grantham and Aaron Murray have both played EXACTLY the same games, only.
Aaron Murray played his 1st game 2010 for Georgia and so did Todd Grantham. Aaron Murray has put Todd Grantham in some hell of a fixes, every single game against Top 15 ranked teams game time, except last week against South Carolina.
vs UNRANKED OPPONENTS :
___________________________
25-2 record
65 % completion percentage
72 TD Passes
16 Interceptions
43 Sacks
20 Turnovers
vs Top 15 :
_________
2-9 record
54 % completion percentage
16 TD Passes
13 Interceptions
36 Sacks
16 Turnovers
Heebie-Jeebies 91 % Aaron Murray vs Top 15 teams game time, 2 wins but 3 interceptions doing all he could do to give away the game against Florida last year – leaving only South Carolina as his only game vs Top 15 Opponent without Heebie-Jeebies.
Now, you are welcome to try to say this WON/LOST RECORD is great and extol the virtues of Todd Grantham and of Aaron Murray all you want.
The truth is that they had BOTH LOST to South Carolina their ENTIRE CAREERS, while Mark Richt is 5-4 vs Steve Spurrier at South Carolina, including all their BLUNDERS.
___________________________________________________
TODD GRANTHAM’S DEFENSE VS. TOP 15 GAME TIME :
___________________________________________________
31
49
35
45
42
33
35
9
32
38
30
Average : 35 points given-up by Todd Grantham vs Top 15 teams game time
Granted, put in untenable situations by Aaron Murray; but given-up 35 points per game average vs Top 15 teams game time, ABC Graphic.
I tend to believe it right to call it like it is, rather than rail against those who do.
I believe that you ask your team to do better, rather than build them up, as what they aren’t.
You throw around the word :
CHAMPIONSHIP
too much for the likes of me, sir.
Neither has any titles, nor likely to because the QB has vs eleven Top 15 teams, according to ABC Graphic :
78 Aaron Murray rushes for minus 117 yards
36 sacks eleven games
13 interceptions eleven games
7 fumbles eleven games by Aaron Murray
This type of play from your Senior Quarterback is what spurred him on last week vs South Carolina because the Good Lord Knows you cannot have this type of play from your QB while the Defense of Todd Grantham in fact has given up an average of 35 points per game vs Top 15 teams, game time : Eleven Games, Ben Dukes.
You are defending BOTH, are you not ?
I am as happy as I can be with the play of the QB in South Carolina game, but Clemson has beat LSU last year on QB play, Georgia this year on QB play and otherwise has run-up the score on absolute nobodies including double-digit wins over 7-loss or worse strength of schedules both seasons.
There is no way we should have lost to Clemson, and what was that standing at the bottom of the hill as they touched the rock ? What was that ?
38 points Todd Grantham gave-up to Clemson and UGA is a Top 10 team, you say ?
We have to play LSU
We have to play Florida
We have to play Alabama
We have to play BCS Bowl Opponent
We played so far Clemson and South Carolina.
In neither game did the Defense look even remotely good.
I have always loved you Ben Dukes as a blogger who has railed against that which is true of our beloved Bulldogs, and now this blog seems to take it all back you said previously, sir.
I loved you as a player for us, too. What a Great Career !
Our Defense as the previous poster just posted, has given-up
34-points per game this season vs Top 15 teams while our QB has 13 rushes for minus 33 yards, 6 sacks, an interception, and a fumble - all of which cost us.
6 Top 15 games this season, as I see it. I am not in the least interested in the 25-2 record vs UNRANKED OPPONENTS in the ABC Graphics other than the 2 LOSSES.
2-9 ABC Graphics vs Top 15 Grantham & Murray, one of the 2 wins the Defense gave up 30 points and the only other win our QB threw 3 interceptions.
As I see it, we were called-out by one of our own players : And, responded vs Florida last season in the next game.
Clearly, ABC Graphics called-out Aaron Murray and Todd Grantham's Defense vs Top 15 Opponents in the Clemson Loss.
Aaron Murray responded and Todd Grantham did not.
27 lowly UNRANKED North Carolina a 7-loss team gave-up to South Carolina; TG gave-up 30.
35 lowly UNRANKED Vanderbilt a team who beat NO RANKED TEAM all season, gave-up to South Carolina; TG gave-up 30.
Is this what we aspire to ?
As long as we are SATISFIED with
2-9 vs Top 15 Murray & Grantham
We're not asking them both to do better with six (6) such games this 2013-2014 season, alone.
Erk Russell is turning-over in his grave at the Defense vs Top 15 teams the entire Todd Grantham Era, giving up 35 points per game.
And, given your previous blogs Ben Dukes regarding Aaron Murray, I believe you'd have to agree that Aaron Murray has NOT performed-well vs Top 15 teams
NEITHER.
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