Three Key Stats for Georgia Ahead of Missouri

Three key stats for Georgia as they head into their week five SEC matchup against the Missouri Tigers.

Jonathan Williams | Sep 28, 2022

Heading into week five, Georgia is still looking like one of the best teams in all of college football despite their struggles against Kent State in week four. Georgia heads into this game as a current 28-point favorite over Missouri and history backs up that number.

In a total of eleven matchups, Missouri has only beaten Georgia a single time and in the last three matchups, Georgia has beaten the Tigers by an average of 27.6 points. In order for Georgia to keep their record blemish-free this season and continue their historical dominance against the Tigers, here are three key stats for Georgia ahead of their matchup:

3rd Down Conversions

Third downs have not been kind to Missouri's offense. They rank 95th in the country with a conversion rate of just 37%. Forcing Missouri into tough third-down situations will put Georgia in a better position defensively. Doing so starts at the point of attack for Georgia. There's been plenty of talk about Georgia's "lack of sacks" in the stats category this season, but it hasn't been due to a lack of pressure.

Georgia's opponents are converting on third down only 28% of the time on the season. So in conclusion, Georgia is really good on third down, and Missouri is really bad on third down.

Sacks Allowed: T-56th

Missouri is currently tied at the 56th spot amongst all FBS teams for sacks allowed per game. They average close to two sacks per game and have given up seven total on the year. While that's not exactly an alarming number of sacks, it does play into Missouri's struggles on third down, and getting pressure on the quarterback would help Georgia force Missouri into living and dying offensively by converting on third down.

The Tigers' quarterback, Brady Cook, also averages nine rushing attempts per game and has a season total of 158 rushing yards. Georgia will need to keep Cook contained and a good way of doing that is by bringing him to the ground and refraining Cook from being able to scramble out of the pocket and picking up yards with his feet. Georgia's not a team you typically see giving up scrambles at a high rate, a result of often having their longest and fastest defender remain as a spy on the quarterback.

210

That is the number of passing yards that Missouri is averaging per game on the season, which ranks 95th amongst all FBS teams. Georgia's opponents are averaging just 171 passing yards per game and one of the many strengths of this Georgia team is their secondary.

The keys to a dominant victory we've laid out before you are all intertwined as well. If Georgia can get consistent pressure on the quarterback, it increases the chances of Missouri having to convert on third down more often, and will then force the Tigers into obvious passing downs. If Georgia does all three of those things it statistically puts them in a prime position to come out of Columbia, Missouri with their fifth win of the season while also continuing their streak of dominance against the Tigers.