anyone with disney insider?

[tabascojet]

Georgia is not a top-5 team
Poor all-around defense, other flaws make the Bulldogs overrated so far
Updated: October 1, 2012, 12:14 PM ET
By KC Joyner | ESPN Insider
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EMAIL
One of the main issues many people have with the college football poll rankings is that they rely very heavily on where a team rates in the opening-week poll. Upward mobility in the poll rankings is possible in a general sense, but as long as the teams in the upper tier stay unbeaten, it can be next to impossible to move up from a lower rank and contend for a national championship.

A proposed solution to this issue is to hold off on putting together the first poll until a few weeks of the college football season have been played. Seeing teams in action before ranking them would help ensure the best teams are moved to the top of the list based on their on-field performance rather than on preseason reputation.

If that formula were in effect today, it's possible that the Georgia Bulldogs would still be ranked No. 5 in the AP top 25 after the first five weeks of the season. After all, the Bulldogs did win a tough road contest at Missouri, shellacked a Vanderbilt Commodores squad that gave the South Carolina Gamecocks a battle in Week 1 and won a shootout against a very explosive Tennessee Volunteers offense. Georgia has also set a school record by scoring 40 or more points in five straight games, so it would get some style points as well.

But if we take a closer look at Georgia's metrics and game tape, it is clear that this is a flawed and overrated squad that may barely deserve a top-10 ranking at this moment, let alone top-5.

Let's go through the multitude of areas where the Bulldogs have displayed significant weaknesses.

i hope many bulldogs paid extra to read this article.

 

[ktg8trgrl]

Georgia is not a top-5 team
Poor all-around defense, other flaws make the Bulldogs overrated so far
Updated: October 1, 2012, 12:14 PM ET
By KC Joyner | ESPN Insider
229
EMAIL
One of the main issues many people have with the college football poll rankings is that they rely very heavily on where a team rates in the opening-week poll. Upward mobility in the poll rankings is possible in a general sense, but as long as the teams in the upper tier stay unbeaten, it can be next to impossible to move up from a lower rank and contend for a national championship.

A proposed solution to this issue is to hold off on putting together the first poll until a few weeks of the college football season have been played. Seeing teams in action before ranking them would help ensure the best teams are moved to the top of the list based on their on-field performance rather than on preseason reputation.

If that formula were in effect today, it's possible that the Georgia Bulldogs would still be ranked No. 5 in the AP top 25 after the first five weeks of the season. After all, the Bulldogs did win a tough road contest at Missouri, shellacked a Vanderbilt Commodores squad that gave the South Carolina Gamecocks a battle in Week 1 and won a shootout against a very explosive Tennessee Volunteers offense. Georgia has also set a school record by scoring 40 or more points in five straight games, so it would get some style points as well.

But if we take a closer look at Georgia's metrics and game tape, it is clear that this is a flawed and overrated squad that may barely deserve a top-10 ranking at this moment, let alone top-5.

Let's go through the multitude of areas where the Bulldogs have displayed significant weaknesses.

i hope many bulldogs paid extra to read this article.

"priceless"

 

[huskers1217]

Rep me beeches

r [ARCHIVE] ESPN Insider | October 1, 2012 One of the main issues many people have with the college football poll rankings is that they rely very heavily on where a team rates in the opening-week poll. Upward mobility in the poll rankings is possible in a general sense, but as long as the teams in the upper tier stay unbeaten, it can be next to impossible to move up from a lower rank and contend for a national championship.

A proposed solution to this issue is to hold off on putting together the first poll until a few weeks of the college football season have been played. Seeing teams in action before ranking them would help ensure the best teams are moved to the top of the list based on their on-field performance rather than on preseason reputation.

If that formula were in effect today, it's possible that the Georgia Bulldogs would still be ranked No. 5 in the AP top 25 after the first five weeks of the season. After all, the Bulldogs did win a tough road contest at Missouri, shellacked a Vanderbilt Commodores squad that gave the South Carolina Gamecocks a battle in Week 1 and won a shootout against a very explosive Tennessee Volunteers offense. Georgia has also set a school record by scoring 40 or more points in five straight games, so it would get some style points as well.

But if we take a closer look at Georgia's metrics and game tape, it is clear that this is a flawed and overrated squad that may barely deserve a top-10 ranking at this moment, let alone top-5.

Let's go through the multitude of areas where the Bulldogs have displayed significant weaknesses.

1. The Bulldogs' run defense is below average

According to cfbstats.com, the Bulldogs have allowed 147.8 rushing yards per game, a total that ranks ninth in the SEC and 59th nationally.

This inability to stop the run showed up in a big way against the Volunteers, as Tennessee gained a superb 8.5 yards per rush attempt on plays with good blocking (loosely defined as when the offense does not allow the defense to do anything to disrupt a rush attempt). Anything above the 7.5-yard mark is considered a good showing in this metric (known as GBYPA), and Tennessee had that benchmark beat by a full yard.

2. Their pass defense is even worse

Now, Georgia has faced some suspensions with this unit, but has still had a lot of talent on the field throughout the season. And even with some good pieces out there, the group has been bad. Georgia ranks ninth in the SEC in passing yards per attempt (YPA) allowed (6.6) and passer rating allowed (117.28), and they're 10th in passing touchdowns allowed (six) and passing yards per game allowed (222.4).

As bad as those numbers are, the Bulldogs' pass D looks even worse when reviewing the Missouri game.

The Tigers have had strong passing attacks in the recent past, but this season's aerial prowess is nothing like its predecessors, as Missouri's 6.4 passing YPA is tied for 12th in the SEC and 98th nationally.

Those limitations did not help the Bulldogs, as they gave up 17.4 yards per vertical pass attempt and allowed the Tigers to rack up the most passing yards (269) they have gained in their last nine games.

And again, some will point out that Georgia gave up bigger numbers than usual because of the various issues that caused the Bulldogs to be short-handed in the secondary for that game. A related point is that these issues should regress now that first team All-SEC defensive back Bacarri Rambo has returned from his suspension.

While it is true that Rambo has superb interception skills (he had a conference-leading eight picks in 2011), his abysmal 10.1 YPA allowed in one-on-one coverage last season indicates he shouldn't be seen as a panacea to this issue. He gets picks, but he takes risks to do so and gets burned.

3. Georgia gives up a ton of big plays on both sides of the ball

These run- and pass-defense woes are directly responsible for Georgia having an alarming penchant for giving up big plays.

The Bulldogs rank ninth in the SEC in plays of 10 or more yards allowed (62), 11th in plays of 20 or more yards allowed (20), 13th in plays of 30 or more yards allowed (13) and 13th in plays of 40 or more yards allowed (seven).

What may be just as damaging is that the Georgia offense has the same type of penchant for allowing big plays, as the Bulldogs rank 11th in the SEC in tackles for loss allowed (30) and ninth in turnovers (nine).

4. UGA is one of the most penalized teams in college football

The Bulldogs are not exactly the most disciplined team, as their 7.6 penalties per game rank 12th in the SEC and 93rd nationally.

It's not as if this mark is heavily skewed by a single game, either, as Georgia has posted at least five penalties in each contest this season.

5. Mediocre special teams

This all-important third platoon hasn't been a shining beacon of light, as the Bulldogs rank eighth in the SEC in punt return average (8.8), 12th in punt average (38.9), 11th in punt return average allowed (7.3), 11th in kick return average (21.7), eighth in kickoff average (63.0) and ninth in kickoff touchback percentage (41.5).

So far this season, Georgia has been getting over this collection of weaknesses with an incredibly powerful offense that has racked up the second-highest offensive yards per play average in college football (7.98).

As great as Georgia has been in moving the ball, when a roster has this many potential points of failure, there is bound to be a day when the weaknesses finally catch up with the strengths. It is likely that this Saturday's contest against South Carolina will be that day, but even if it isn't, there is no chance the Bulldogs can be SEC champions if they don't get these major issues resolved.

 

[ugafan6612]

eh...I could care less what some disney moron think about my team, either way we'll still kick floridas ass like last year.

We're just as overrated as LSU/USC

 

[ktg8trgrl]

Id rep you alright.. but unfortunetly my rep button is broke so i go you a

 

[TigerBait1971]

Glad I don't pay for that garbage.

 

[ForkEmBucky]

You guys would love the all time program rankings I saw in the issue sitting out in the break room at work; the one with Aaron Rodgers and his OL on the cover. Let me just say this......an SEC team is not #1, despite the fact that they weighted the BCS era more heavily.

Also, Wisconsin was #13. Notre Dame was #14. Nebraska was #15.



That oughta piss a few people off.

 

[iowajerms]

I have have it to look up recruiting info and to get a good laugh at some of the articles. Mostly to look at the scouting reports of recruits.

 

[TigerBait1971]

There are lies, damn lies, and statistics.