CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2016 Georgia

8–⁠5 (4–⁠4 Southeastern Conference), coached by Kirby Smart.

Schedule and results

Georgia in 2016, game by game: won vs. No. 22 North Carolina 33–24; won vs. Nicholls 26–24; won at Missouri 28–27; lost at No. 23 Ole Miss 14–45; lost vs. No. 11 Tennessee 31–34; won at South Carolina 28–14; lost vs. Vanderbilt 16–17; lost vs. No. 14 Florida 10–24; won at Kentucky 27–24; won vs. No. 8 Auburn 13–7; won vs. Louisiana 35–21; lost vs. Georgia Tech 27–28; won vs. TCU 31–23+14−31Won 33–24 vs. No. 22 North Carolina+9No. 22 North CarolinaWon 26–24 vs. Nicholls+2NichollsWon 28–27 at Missouri+1MissouriLost 14–45 at No. 23 Ole Miss-31No. 23 Ole MissLost 31–34 vs. No. 11 Tennessee-3No. 11 TennesseeWon 28–14 at South Carolina+14South CarolinaLost 16–17 vs. Vanderbilt-1VanderbiltLost 10–24 vs. No. 14 Florida-14No. 14 FloridaWon 27–24 at Kentucky+3KentuckyWon 13–7 vs. No. 8 Auburn+6No. 8 AuburnWon 35–21 vs. Louisiana+14LouisianaLost 27–28 vs. Georgia Tech-1Georgia TechWon 31–23 vs. TCU+8TCU
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 3vs22North CarolinaW 33–⁠2453%
Sep 10vsNichollsW 26–⁠2495%
Sep 17atMissouriW 28–⁠2762%
Sep 24at23Ole MissL 14–⁠4546%
Oct 1vs11TennesseeL 31–⁠3449%
Oct 9atSouth CarolinaW 28–⁠1461%
Oct 15vsVanderbiltL 16–⁠1782%
Oct 29vs14FloridaL 10–⁠2448%
Nov 5atKentuckyW 27–⁠2454%
Nov 12vs8AuburnW 13–⁠745%
Nov 19vsLouisianaW 35–⁠2183%
Nov 26vsGeorgia TechL 27–⁠2868%
Dec 30Bowls & playoffvsTCULiberty BowlW 31–⁠2353%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat TCU 31–⁠23 in the Liberty Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 5th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 48th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 18
  2. Wk 2: 9
  3. Wk 3: 16
  4. Wk 4: 12
  5. Wk 5: 25
Record
8–⁠5
Conference
4–⁠4 tied for 5th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 9
Points
319–⁠312
Coach
Kirby Smart
Elo
1646 +17 this season
SP+ rating
9.3 No. 42 of 128; offense No. 74, defense No. 14, special teams No. 97
SRS
2.0 No. 55 of 128 in FBS
Returning
78% of last season’s EPA, No. 36 of 128
Recruiting class
No. 6 roster talent No. 6 in FBS
Offensive coordinators
Jim Chaney and James Coley
Defensive coordinator
Mel Tucker
Captains
Nick Chubb, Brandon Kublanow, Sony Michel and Maurice Smith
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
3–⁠4

How good, play by play

  • Offense73rd of 128
  • Defense25th of 128
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted73rd of 128
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted22nd of 128
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0843%1.1373rd of 128
Defense0.0342%1.0825th of 128
Opponent-adjusted0.09 off
0.03 def		43% off
41% def		—73rd off
22nd def
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense2.7own 3116% allowed
Defense3.8own 2917% caused

CORE rating 2.7, 46th of 128 (offense -1.7, defense -4.5).

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. CORE is CollegeFootballData.com’s context- and opponent-adjusted rating (points better than an average team; lower is better on defense). From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsJacob Eason QB2,430 yds
Passing touchdownsJacob Eason QB16 TD
Rushing yardsNick Chubb 1,130 yds
Rushing touchdownsNick Chubb 8 TD
Receiving yardsIsaiah McKenzie WR633 yds
Receiving touchdownsIsaiah McKenzie WR7 TD
TacklesRoquan Smith ILB95 tkl
SacksDavin Bellamy OLB5 sacks
InterceptionsDominick Sanders 3 INT

Top recruits in the 2016 class

Jacob Eason PRO★★★★★No. 5
Mecole Hardman ATH★★★★★No. 12
Isaac Nauta TE★★★★★No. 14
Julian Rochester DT★★★★No. 70
Ben Cleveland OT★★★★No. 89
Chauncey Manac WDE★★★★No. 115
Michail Carter DT★★★★No. 121
Charlie Woerner WR★★★★No. 137

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2016 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks15.00.998
Running backs23.50.889
Receivers44.00.932
Offensive line33.30.891
Defensive line53.80.928
Linebackers14.00.914
Defensive backs33.00.849
Athletes and specialists33.30.861
Whole class223.60.903

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2017

The 2017 draft
Rd 5Isaiah McKenzie WRDenver Broncos

Roster 129

The 2016 roster

129 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2016 line; 58 have a stat line. See the roster

All-SEC

1 second team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2016 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2016 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Alabama8–⁠014–⁠12
Florida6–⁠29–⁠414
LSU5–⁠38–⁠413
Auburn5–⁠38–⁠524
Tennessee4–⁠49–⁠422
Georgia4–⁠48–⁠5
Texas A&M4–⁠48–⁠5
Kentucky4–⁠47–⁠6
Arkansas3–⁠57–⁠6
Vanderbilt3–⁠56–⁠7
Mississippi State3–⁠56–⁠7
South Carolina3–⁠56–⁠7
Ole Miss2–⁠65–⁠7
Missouri2–⁠64–⁠8

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.