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Last week Stat Watch indicated that the Florida game would likely come down to whether Florida’s offensive adjustments were for real and how they’d fare against the LSU defense. If they were, it would turn out to be a tough match-up for LSU. As it turned out, Florida’s offense was indeed much improved and at times completely flummoxed the LSU defense, leading to a Gators win. There’s no time to hang heads though, as we look towards the biggest game yet this year, the Georgia Bulldogs.
Last Season:
A note on these stats: The offensive and defensive S&P+ marks are calculated as adjusted scoring averages and for the situational ratings, above 100 is good and below 100 is bad. Links to an explanation on the various stats here, here and here:
Stat Watch
| Data | Georgia | LSU |
|---|---|---|
| Data | Georgia | LSU |
| S&P+ Percentile | 97.5% (3rd) | 83.2% (19th) |
| Off. S&P+ | 36.0 (14th) | 30.5 (42nd) |
| Off. Passing | 130.5 (6th) | 119.2 (16th) |
| Off. Rushing | 128.9 (6th) | 128.0 (7th) |
| Def. S&P+ | 19.2 (11th) | 21.1 (18th) |
| Def. Passing | 134.2 (6th) | 113.1 (20th) |
| Def. Rushing | 128.8 (9th) | 116.0 (24th) |
| FEI | .312 (1st) | .167 (15th) |
| F/+ | 52.7% (2nd) | 33.5% (21st) |
This Season:
Stat Watch
| Data | Georgia | LSU |
|---|---|---|
| Data | Georgia | LSU |
| S&P+ Percentile | 98.1% (3rd) | 86.1% (19th) |
| Off. S&P+ | 45.1 (5th) | 32.3 (49th) |
| Def. S&P+ | 20.2 (19th) | 19.2 (15th) |
| FEI | .285 (1st) | .238 (6th) |
| F/+ | 52.4% (2nd) | 44.6% (13th) |
Georgia is as elite as it gets. They were potentially the best team in the country last year, and they’re in that conversation again here. There is some feeling they’re not the team they were last year, and while the stats mostly disagree, they have dipped a bit on defense and that’s where LSU’s offense will need to take advantage and play it’s best game. It’s not totally different with the defense either. Whether Georgia is the team it was last year or not, they are an elite team and if LSU is to win, it’ll take it’s best effort.