Monitoring Explosive Plays: Georgia offense finds groove vs. Kentucky
By Ethan Levine
Published:
For the purposes of this story, SDS defines an explosive play as a run of at least 20 yards or a pass of at least 30 yards.
EXPLOSIVE PLAY MARGIN
The Georgia Bulldogs put a bad loss to Florida behind them with an emphatic 63-31 victory over Kentucky in Week 11. You might say the Bulldogs appeared explosive in their victory, as they made the greatest improvement to their explosive play margin of any team in the SEC.
Georgia ran off six explosive plays against Kentucky and allowed just one in the victory.
The Bulldogs now sit with a margin of plus-18, second in the SEC only to Alabama. The Crimson Tide’s margin didn’t move following last week’s win over LSU, but the Tide still benefit from allowing the fewest explosive plays of any team in the conference this season.
Ole Miss and Mississippi State also made huge leaps in explosive play margin thanks to a pair of games against FCS opponents in Week 11. The Rebels defeated Presbyterian 48-0 and improved their margin from plus-seven to plus-11 in the process. Likewise, Mississippi State took down UT Martin 45-16 and improved its margin from plus-13 to plus-16 on the season.
The Rebels executed six explosive plays and allowed just two against the Blue Hose; Mississippi State pulled off five explosive plays and allowed two to the Skyhawks.
The only other team to improve its margin by three or more in Week 11 was Auburn, which executed a whopping eight explosive plays in a crushing home loss to Texas A&M. The Tigers also allowed five explosive plays to the Aggies, limiting the improvement to their margin to a mere plus-three.
Here’s a rundown of every SEC team’s explosive play margin so far this season:
| Team | Margin | Explosive Plays | Explosive Plays Allowed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Alabama | +25 | 35 | 10 |
| 2. Georgia | +18 | 35 | 17 |
| 3. Mississippi State | +16 | 40 | 24 |
| 4. LSU | +13 | 37 | 24 |
| 5. Ole Miss | +11 | 32 | 21 |
| 6. Auburn | +10 | 37 | 27 |
| 7. Texas A&M | +4 | 33 | 29 |
| T8. Arkansas | +3 | 28 | 25 |
| T8. Kentucky | +3 | 32 | 29 |
| T10. Florida | +2 | 21 | 19 |
| T10. Missouri | +2 | 16 | 14 |
| 12. South Carolina | -3 | 26 | 29 |
| 13. Vanderbilt | -5 | 19 | 24 |
| 14. Tennessee | -14 | 14 | 28 |
EXPLOSIVE PLAYS: OFFENSE
Auburn ran the most explosive plays of any team in the SEC with eight in Week 11, but Mississippi State remains the leader for the season with 40 in nine games. The Tigers and Bulldogs were two of five teams in the conference to execute at least five explosive plays on Saturday. The others were Georgia, Texas A&M and Ole Miss.
Alabama and LSU combined for zero explosive plays in their defensive struggle in Death Valley, but that also means neither team allowed an explosive play in Week 11.
Florida and Vanderbilt each ran three explosive plays against one another in their showdown in Nashville, while Kentucky mustered just one explosive play (a 56-yard run by Boom Williams) in its loss to UGA.
Georgia has more explosive runs than any other team in the SEC despite missing star tailback Todd Gurley in each of its last four games. Texas A&M leads the SEC in explosive completions after pulling off three in its win against Auburn. The Aggies are the only team in the SEC with at least 20 explosive pass plays, while Georgia is one of five SEC teams with at least 20 explosive rushes in 2014.
Here’s a complete breakdown of every SEC offense’s explosive plays this season:
| Team | Explosive Plays | Rushes For 20+ | Passes For 30+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Mississippi State | 40 | 23 | 17 |
| T2. LSU | 37 | 20 | 17 |
| T2. Auburn | 37 | 22 | 15 |
| T4. Alabama | 35 | 17 | 18 |
| T4. Georgia | 35 | 24 | 11 |
| 6. Texas A&M | 33 | 12 | 21 |
| T7. Kentucky | 32 | 16 | 16 |
| T7. Ole Miss | 32 | 14 | 18 |
| 9. Arkansas | 28 | 20 | 8 |
| 10. South Carolina | 26 | 15 | 11 |
| 11. Florida | 21 | 12 | 9 |
| 12. Vanderbilt | 19 | 6 | 13 |
| 13. Missouri | 16 | 9 | 7 |
| 14. Tennessee | 14 | 6 | 8 |
EXPLOSIVE PLAYS: DEFENSE
As previously stated, Alabama and LSU held each other in check in their Week 11 showdown, limiting one another without an explosive play on the evening. The Tide continue to boast the best explosive play defense in the SEC, having allowed just 10 all season. Alabama’s defense has been as balanced as it has been dominant, and as a result the Tide has also allowed the fewest explosive runs and the fewest explosive passes in 2014.
LSU is tied for sixth in the SEC in explosive plays allowed, up from 11th following Week 10.
The four SEC teams on a bye in Week 11 — Arkansas, Missouri, South Carolina and Tennessee — all benefitted from not having a chance to allow any explosive plays last week. As a result even Georgia and its measly one explosive play allowed to Kentucky couldn’t rise among the SEC ranks. Missouri remains second in the conference with 14 explosive plays allowed, and the Tigers have allowed the second-fewest explosive rushes and explosive completions with seven of each in 2014.
Three teams are tied for last in the SEC having allowed 29 explosive plays on the season. However, while Kentucky and Texas A&M have each played 10 games this season, South Carolina has only played nine and thus has allowed the most explosive plays per game of any team in the SEC.
Here’s a rundown of every SEC team’s explosive play defense this season:
| Team | Explosive Plays Allowed | Rushes For 20+ | Passes For 30+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Alabama | 10 | 5 | 5 |
| 2. Missouri | 14 | 7 | 7 |
| 3. Georgia | 17 | 9 | 8 |
| 4. Florida | 19 | 8 | 11 |
| 5. Ole Miss | 21 | 10 | 11 |
| T6. LSU | 24 | 15 | 9 |
| T6. Mississippi State | 24 | 8 | 16 |
| T6. Vanderbilt | 24 | 11 | 13 |
| 9. Arkansas | 25 | 10 | 15 |
| 10. Auburn | 27 | 13 | 14 |
| 11. Tennessee | 28 | 15 | 13 |
| T12. Kentucky | 29 | 20 | 9 |
| T12. South Carolina | 29 | 18 | 11 |
| T12. Texas A&M | 29 | 14 | 15 |
A former newspaper reporter who has roamed the southeastern United States for years covering football and eating way too many barbecue ribs, if there is such a thing.
