Matchup: Georgia rushing offense vs. Alabama rushing defense
Each day this week, the AJC will take a quick look at a matchup in the SEC Championship game. Today: Georgia’s rushing offense vs. Alabama’s rushing defense.
Georgia rushing offense
Key stats: Todd Gurley has run for 1,138 yards, more than any true freshman in UGA history except Herschel Walker. Keith Marshall — Gurley’s running mate and roomate — has run for 720 yards, eighth most by a UGA freshman.
Season high point: Of many impressive performances, Gurley’s 118 yards on 27 fumble-free carries against Florida’s stellar defense was tops.
Season low point: Gurley and Marshall had 39 and 37 yards, respectively, against South Carolina in Georgia’s lone loss. The offensive line struggled, but offensive coordinator Mike Bobo later lamented abandoning the run too soon.
Name to know: “Gurshall”
Alabama rushing defense
Key stats: Alabama is the toughest team in the SEC to run against, yielding 77 rushing yards per game. The Crimson Tide has allowed only seven rushing touchdowns all season and only one player to run for 100-plus yards (LSU’s Jeremy Hill, 107 on 29 carries).
Season high point: Alabama held Missouri to just three — three! — rushing yards.
Season low point: Alabama gave up 165 rushing yards in its loss to Texas A&M, including 92 on 18 carries by quarterback Johnny Manziel.
Name to know: Senior nose guard Jesse Williams is from Brisbane, Australia, one of only four Australians playing FBS football at a position other than punter.
READ ALL ABOUT IT: THE AJC’S COMPLETE (AND CONTINUOUS) SEC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME COVERAGE
- More to come.
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177 comments Add your comment
Say What???
November 26th, 2012
2:41 pm
Bamafan, I agree with everything you said. But I do believe Bama should be favored (maybe not by a touchdown). Thank you for being a class act! Whatever happens on Saturday, it will be a heck of a game!
Don
November 26th, 2012
2:48 pm
Andy,I am a Bama fan but stats can be misleading.We played Arky without Tyler Wilson,Mizzou without Franklin at qb,etc.We didn’t play a great schedule,but neither did UGA. Bama has not had a great pass rush this year without blitzing,secondary is still green. Bama must pressure without blitzing too much and win the turnover battle(We haven’t done a good job there in the last 3 weeks)Ga. is a good team and this one could go either way,I think.
dances with koalas
November 26th, 2012
2:49 pm
Just type”Bobo,” not “CMB” please. I mean, it’s one more letter, and it eliminates confusion. Plus, CMR and CMB just sound stupid.
Don
November 26th, 2012
2:50 pm
Joey,Bama played on turf in the Jerrydome against Michigan I think.
Alphare
November 26th, 2012
2:59 pm
Buckeye,
watched your players carrying Jim Tressel? what’s that about? celebrating a perfect season by avoiding a bowl game beatdown with the help of by Tressel?
dawg4life
November 26th, 2012
3:00 pm
Look bama fans, you can’t look at statistics. Saban leaves his starters in the game there have been 4 games, at least, that our starters were out for the entire 4th qtr. Saban has a napoleonic complex, and has to run the score up to feed his ego. Richt plays the walk-ons.
Don
November 26th, 2012
3:07 pm
Dawg4life,your statement is not true.Starters played 2 1/2 quarters against Au.Similar in most other blowouts.
Don
November 26th, 2012
3:08 pm
Bama,could have easily put 70 on Au,but Saban didn’t choose to.
ARdawg
November 26th, 2012
3:08 pm
Alphare
Scoring defense? This is supposed to worry moi?
Don
November 26th, 2012
3:09 pm
I do agree stats can be misleading.Bama has not played the toughest schedule this year,but neither has UGA.
ARdawg
November 26th, 2012
3:14 pm
Don
Both Georgia and Bama played less than stellar schedules. Not the fault of either team. Don’t listen to these Tech yahoos. They constantly like to bring up this moot point. All the while disregarding their schedule
Joey
November 26th, 2012
3:28 pm
What’s happened to Bill’s Junkyard Blawg?
Bama
November 26th, 2012
3:57 pm
@dawg4life
I agree that was my point last year was last year….I think GA has a great QB and I think it is going to be a good game. With Bama winning
flo-ri-duh
November 26th, 2012
4:17 pm
What most don’t realize is that Murray can run (ran for over 1,000 yards his junior year in high school) and ran well his 1st and 2nd year in college but he has been told not to run this year – for the most part. Murray ain’t no slow poke – has run a 4.6 40. Will he be released in this game – maybe but not early. With the success of Manziel I believe Murray will run the ball at least 7 to 8 designed runs. Don’t get me wrong Manziel is very elusive but Murray can run too.
DawgFan
November 26th, 2012
8:23 pm
My idea for a BCS playoff. Top 4 SEC teams and 4 additional teams chosen by the SEC commissioner. It’s pretty much an SEC show
NCProud
November 26th, 2012
9:21 pm
Not used to watching SEC football but since Keith Marshall (from Raleigh) and Todd Gurley (from Tarboro) went to college I must say I’ve enjoyed watching both Alabama and Georgia play! Special shout out to Todd Gurley from Tarboro, NC home of another fine running back, the Tarheels’ Kelvin Bryant!
Slim
November 26th, 2012
10:39 pm
Alabama plays better in these situations…UGA will get rolled! It’s really home field advantage for Alabama…they’ve played bigger games in domes in the last year than any other team. They’ll come ready and UGA will look poor. Count on it!
Smitty
November 27th, 2012
12:23 am
Slim….go back to trailer park….Dawgs win easy!!!
Smitty
November 27th, 2012
12:23 am
Slim…do you have satellite on the trailer?
Loyal Dawg
November 27th, 2012
8:07 am
I just read both of the “Matchup” articles. How can you talk about both of these offenses and the running backs and NOT even mention the offensive linemen??? Com’ on man, give these guys some love!!
Joe Blow
November 27th, 2012
3:39 pm
Georgia needs to play like Texas A&M did to beat BAMA…that was a hot knife thru butter – until bama figured out how to slow them down and also started scoring.
I really think BAMA learned from that game (more than from the LSU game).
That said, Georgia doesn’t have “Johnny Football” – fast, talented runner, strong passer, quick thinker. Also, the only apples to apples comparison that can be made is how each performed against the same opponent.
Missouri: scored 20 points against G and 10 against A
FL Atl: scored 20 points against G and 7 against A
Ole Miss: scored 10 points against G and 14 against A
Tennessee: scored 44 points against G and 13 against A
So that is 50 more points that common opponents scored against Georgia.
Also, in the last 5 games Bama played 3 ranked teams, Georgia played 1. That helps Bama I think.
I could be wrong – hey, this is just educated guessing – but I think this all equates to:
1) Georgia not being able to stop BAMA’s run and making throwing by AJ easier
2) Lack of dynamic passer means low passing yardage for Murray
3) Bama’s superior D Line stifles Georgia’s running game.
Georgia played 1 ranked team in the last 5 games and Bama played 3. That is hard to ignore.
My prediction is Bama by 17 and Georgia is held to UNDER 17 points.
Joe Blow
November 27th, 2012
4:26 pm
As a P.S. to my earlier comment let me add this…while I am a Bama fan (they own a serious portion of my bank account – lol) I truly love SEC football. I think the personalities, history and rivalries of the conference are second to none (and I’ve got close personal ties to several other storied conferences).
I DO believe Bama will win this game based on how I asses the the matchup – I called Texas A&Ms win over Bama while watching them lose to LSU based on what I saw there – but if Georgia wins, I will be smiling ear-to-ear as they take Notre Dame apart.
God Bless the SEC!
No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 Georgia enter SEC Championship as mirror images | UGA sports blog
November 27th, 2012
9:10 pm
[...] Matchup 1: Georgia rushing offense vs. Alabama rushing defense [...]
zbulldawg
November 28th, 2012
8:56 am
LET THE BIG DAWG EAT
Matchup: Georgia’s passing offense vs. Alabama’s passing defense | UGA sports blog
November 28th, 2012
9:37 am
[...] Matchup 1: Georgia rushing offense vs. Alabama rushing defense [...]
Jim Dotson
November 28th, 2012
11:38 am
The way most of the so called experts are talking this week Alabama should not even get off of the bus, Alabama has no chance. Alabama is over rated because they struggled with LSU and the next week vs Texas A&M they lost a close game to quite possibly a Heisman Trophy type performance. I guess my question is how much better is Alabama if A.J. and Yeldon do not botch their hand-off vs LSU and they go up 21 to 10 or how much better are they if A.J. connects on 4th and 2 vs A&M? Would the so called experts view them any differently? I don’t know if Alabama will win this game or not but I do believe that it is very rare for a team to be in position to defend their National title at this point in the season and to me this makes beating Alabama an even bigger challenge. I truly believe that Georgia will get the very best that Alabama has to offer and if they win it will certainly be well deserved.
William G. Little
November 29th, 2012
10:18 pm
dawg4life
November 26th, 2012
3:00 pm
“Look bama fans, you can’t look at statistics. Saban leaves his starters in the game there have been 4 games, at least, that our starters were out for the entire 4th qtr. Saban has a napoleonic complex, and has to run the score up to feed his ego. Richt plays the walk-ons.”
You’ve obviously not seen Alabama play football this year. That’s okay, you’ll see all you want Saturday. I wouldn’t be surprised if Bama pulls their starters before this one’s over.