Michigan Football: Orange Bowl statistical analysis

Georgia’s Rushing Offense vs Michigan’s Rush Defense

Another intriguing matchup is the complete inverse of the major storyline going into this game. Will Michigan be able to be physical enough to handle Georgia’s rushing offense? Let’s dive into the statistics.

Georgia’s amassed roughly 2,500 yards on about 500 carries. The Bulldogs average a little over 190 yards per game against a very favorable schedule. That puts them at about 31st in the country for rushing offense.

On the flip side, Michigan’s rushing defense has been a little underwhelming as well. Ranking 21st, the Wolverines have allowed about 1,500 yards on 447 attempts. They’re allowing only 122 yards per game on the ground against teams that are mostly run first pass second.

A good comparison for Michigan would actually be Wisconsin again who has a better rushing offense than Georgia this season. On 32 attempts, Wisconsin only had 43 yards rushing in the whole game.

Both Wisconsin and Georgia have similar athletes so you can’t make the argument that there is a huge talent discrepancy. You also can’t make the argument that there is a strength of schedule discrepancy because Wisconsin’s strength of schedule is nearly 30 ranks higher than Georgia’s.