• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Atlanta Sports Today

Atlanta Sports Today

Atlanta Sports News Continuously Updated

  • Falcons
  • Braves
  • Basketball
    • Dream
    • Hawks
  • Soccer
    • United 2
    • United FC
  • Colleges
    • Georgia State
    • Georgia Tech
    • Mercer
    • University of Georgia

The Morning Five Turns Over The Turnovers

October 2, 2024 by Dawg Sports

NCAA Football: California at Auburn
Young Southerland Weatherby Smith, VI, who I anticipate will be starting at quarterback for Auburn by week nine. | John Reed-Imagn Images

Welcome to the Morning Five, where we put numbers to the week’s football news to give it a whole new sound. Like the cowbell part on Don’t Fear the Reaper, it really makes the whole song work. Let’s get to it:

#1…..12. That’s where Georgia ranks in the 16 team SEC in turnover margin after Saturday’s four turnover performance against Alabama. The Dawgs of course had been tops in the SEC in turnover margin through three games because they hadn’t turned the ball over once. It’s almost a cliche, but most cliches begin with a kernel of truth: the team that wins the turnover battle usually wins the game. And if Georgia had been a little less awful in the turnover department that game might have turned out differently. But also, if my Aunt Edwina drank Bud heavies while listening to Finebaum after her shift at the paper mill she’d be my Uncle Eddie. Still could be worse….

#2…..16. That’s where Auburn ranks in SEC turnover margin. Stone cold, rock bottom dead last. And unlike the Red and Black, who can claim momentary insanity based on one bad game against a tough opponent, the Plainsmen have been uniformly dreadful in the turnover department. Through five games the Tigers have yet to have a positive turnover differential in a game. The closest they’ve come was a week three win over New Mexico in which two Tiger fumbles were balanced by two Lobo interceptions. The boys from Hugh Freeze’s School for Slipshod Cellphone Usage have yet to recover a single fumble on the season. That’s a bit improbable. Still, repeat after me, turnover luck is at least partially random. Teams tend to revert to the mean over time on that statistic, so it’s entirely possible that the guys from the Opelika School for Wayward Boys eventually play one where the ball bounces their way. Let’s just hope it isn’t this Saturday.

#3…..1163. That’s the total yards for Auburn quarterback Payton Thorne this season (1038 through the air and 125 on the ground). The thing is, as Georgia fans saw to some extent last year, Thorne can move the ball. He’s thrown 10 touchdown passes on the season, the same number as Carson Beck. However he’s also thrown 6 interceptions, some of which have been absolute back breakers. I’m not trying to be alarmist here, but there is very much a world in which Georgia gives up over 400 yards of total offense in this game and feels like they’ve been run up and down the field. There’s also a world in which Auburn descends into total chaos offensively. Inside Hugh Freeze there are two wolves, and neither one should be allowed access to a cell phone.

#4…..6.72. That’s how many yards per carry Auburn tailback Jarquez Hunter is averaging this season. Hunter remains one of the more underappreciated backs in college football, and only needs 83 more yards rushing to pass Ronnie Brown and move into the top ten all-time at Auburn in rushing yards. Considering that top ten includes the likes of Bo Jackson, Joe Cribbs, James Brooks, and Cadillac Williams, it’s a very real accomplishment. Hunter runs with great vision, but his biggest asset is a powerful lower body that makes tacklers bounce off of him and requires you to tackle him all the way to the ground. The Bulldog defense is going to have to tackle much, much better than last week to keep him from having a big afternoon.

#5….7. That’s Georgia’s current win streak over the gang from Pat Dye’s Academy of Remedial Manure Logistics. It’s the second longest winning streak in the rivalry for either team, eclipsed only by Georgia’s nine game win streak over Auburn from 1923 to 1931. This game will be a good barometer of whether this Auburn squad is fighting for the coaching staff or has given up. Beating Georgia to break that streak is the kind of win that could buy Hugh Freeze some time to get things straightened out on the Plains. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. Until later…

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

Filed Under: University of Georgia

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • Falcons defensive tackle review: It’s Orhorhoro time
  • Hawks Re-Sign Jacob Toppin To Two-Way Contract
  • Poll: What Should The Braves Do With Ozzie Albies?
  • Trade Deadline Outlook: Atlanta Braves
  • NFC Notes: Michael Penix Jr, YaYa Diaby, Buccaneers, Falcons, Panthers

Categories

  • Basketball
    • Hawks
  • Braves
  • Colleges
    • Georgia State
    • Georgia Tech
    • Mercer
    • University of Georgia
  • Falcons
  • Soccer
    • United 2
    • United FC
  • Uncategorized

Archives

Our Partners


All Sports

  • 247 Sports
  • 92-9 The Game WZGC
  • Atlanta Journal-Constitution
  • ATL All Day
  • Bleacher Report
  • OurSports Central
  • The Sports Fan Journal
  • The Spun
  • USA Today

Baseball

  • MLB.com
  • Last Word On Baseball
  • MLB Trade Rumors
  • Talking Chop
  • Tomahawk Take

Basketball

  • NBA.com
  • Amico Hoops
  • Basketball Insiders
  • High Post Hoops
  • Hoops Hype
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Last Word On Pro Basketball
  • Peachtree Hoops
  • Pro Basketball Talk
  • Real GM
  • Soaring Down South

Football

  • Atlanta Falcons
  • Blogging Dirty
  • Falcons Gab
  • Falcons Wire
  • Last Word On Pro Football
  • NFL Trade Rumors
  • Our Turf Football
  • Pro Football Focus
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Football Talk
  • The Falcoholic
  • Total Falcons

Soccer

  • Dirty South Soccer
  • Last Word on Soccer
  • MLS Multiplex

College

  • Athens Banner-Herald
  • Busting Brackets
  • College Football News
  • College Sports Madness
  • Dawg Sports
  • Dawn Of The Dawg
  • Forgotten 5
  • From The Rumble Seat
  • Saturday Blitz
  • Southbound And Down
  • The Red & Black
  • The Signal
  • The Technique
  • Yellow Jacked Up
  • Zags Blog

Copyright © 2025 · Magazine Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in