The Thursday Crunch: Georgia’s line has nearly halved its stuffed runs
Written by Jarvis Prime on November 12, 2026
Twenty-eight. That is how many of Georgia’s 290 designed runs this season have been stopped at or behind the line of scrimmage, a stuff rate of 9.7%. Across 2023, 2024 and 2025 combined, the figure was 243 of 1,419, or 17.1%. The Bulldogs have nearly halved the number of runs that go nowhere. Of everything in this week’s file, it is also the number with the least room for doubt.
Missouri visits Sanford Stadium on Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC). Here is where 8-1 Georgia stands after nine games.
A note on sourcing: the station’s file flags no games as provisional this week. All nine are counted at full weight.
Four findings
1. The one loss is also the one bad turnover game. Georgia has 17 takeaways and 9 giveaways, a margin of plus-8. Game by game, the margin went negative exactly once: Auburn, with three giveaways, no takeaways and a 27-24 loss. In the other eight games Georgia broke even or better.
2. The close games came from stalled drives, not a lack of yards. Over the season Georgia has scored 370 points on 4,088 yards, about one point for every 11 yards gained. At Alabama it took 455 yards to score 20 points, one point per 22.8 yards. Against Auburn it was 440 yards for 24 points, one per 18.3. Georgia outgained both teams, Alabama by 109 yards and Auburn by 74, and averaged 7.46 and 6.77 yards per play. The ball moved fine. It just didn’t reach the end zone often enough.
3. The passing game is efficient as well as productive. Gunner Stockton is 139 of 196 (70.9%) for 1,857 yards, 20 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. That is 9.5 yards per attempt, and on that average every incompletion is paid for several times over. Talyn Taylor (25 catches, 426 yards, 6 TDs) and Craig Dandridge (20, 349) both average 17 yards or more per catch.
4. The pass rush has picked up. Georgia had 17 sacks in its first six games, 2.8 a game. It has 14 in the last three, 4.7 a game: five against Auburn, four against Florida and five at Ole Miss. The box score also credits nine quarterback hurries at Ole Miss, against six in the other eight games combined. Hurries are charted inconsistently from one broadcast to the next, so trust the sack count over that spike.
As a sanity check, a Pythagorean formula built on points scored and allowed says Georgia’s scoring should be worth 8.35 wins in nine games. At 8-1, the record matches the scoreboard almost exactly.
The trend: the defense is improving
The two non-conference games would skew any average, so count SEC games only. From Arkansas through Auburn, Georgia allowed 1,601 yards on 316 plays, or 5.07 yards per play, and 17.6 points a game. Against Florida and Ole Miss it allowed 504 yards on 129 plays, or 3.91 per play, and 7.5 points a game.
That is an improvement of about 1.2 yards per play. Most of it came against the run. Alabama and Auburn ran for 161 and 192 yards. Florida and Ole Miss managed 54 and 66. The caveat: two games is a short trend.
The offensive line against 2023-25
The comparison is to Georgia’s 2023-25 seasons combined, not to last season. These are unit-level proxies from play-by-play, not grades for individual linemen. The ranges given are 95% intervals.
- Stuff rate: 9.7% (28 of 290), range 6.8-13.6%, against a 17.1% baseline (range 15.3-19.2%). The ranges don’t overlap. This is a real improvement.
- Line yards per carry: 3.77 (range 3.47-4.07) against 3.21 (range 3.06-3.36). Again no overlap. This formula reduces credit for yards a back gains past five and ignores anything beyond ten, so it is the line’s share of the work.
- Power success: 78.8% (26 of 33), range 62.3-89.3%, against 76.3% (116 of 152). With only 33 short-yardage runs, that range is wide. Statistically, this season and the baseline are the same.
- Sack rate allowed: 4.15% (10 of 241 dropbacks) against 3.51%. A little worse on paper, but the ranges overlap heavily.
In short: the line is clearly winning at the point of attack on early downs, and short yardage is about where it has been.
What to watch Saturday
- Turnover margin. This is the number most likely to decide the game. Georgia’s one loss is its one negative-margin game.
- Runs stuffed at the line. The line has been stopping runs from dying behind the line at roughly half its 2023-25 rate. Count how many Georgia runs go for zero or less.
- Sacks. Georgia has had four or more in three straight games.
- Yards per point. If Georgia moves the ball but settles for less than touchdowns, as at Alabama and against Auburn, the game will stay closer than the yardage suggests.
— The RFA Sports Desk
Sources
- Georgia Athletics — Football vs Missouri, 11/14/2026 Game Center
- Georgia Athletics — Football Returns Home to Host Missouri on Saturday
- On3 — Game time set for Georgia vs. Missouri
- SicEmDawgs — Missouri at Georgia on November 14 to be televised by ABC
- DawgNation — Game time revealed for Georgia-Missouri Week 11 contest
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