By the numbers: Diving into key statistics for Michigan and Georgia

Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh has been known to ruffle the SEC’s feathers. Whether he’s taking his team to Florida for spring practice, invading the league’s territory for satellite camps or taking a shot at Paul Finebaum, the conference’s “unabashed water carrier,” on Twitter, he’s made a few enemies south of the Mason-Dixon line (to which he’s shrugged it off and channeled Winston Churchill, saying, “Good, at least you stood for something sometime in your life”).

As a program, the Wolverines have been fairly successful against the conference, which has won 11 of the last 15 national championships, posting a 14-10 mark against teams that were part of the SEC at the time, with a winning record versus six programs.

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Michigan is 1-1 against Georgia, the Wolverines’ College Football Playoff semifinal/Orange Bowl opponent, and has a chance to get over .500 versus the Bulldogs as well as push their bowl record against SEC teams to 9-8 with a win on New Year’s Eve. The two meetings between the Wolverines and Bulldogs came in 1957, a 26-0 Michigan triumph, and 1965, a 15-7 Georgia win, with both outings taking place in Ann Arbor.

The Maize and Blue have seen their success against the SEC wane a bit in recent years, going 2-6 against the league since 2010, after owning a winning record in the prior three decades. Michigan has lost three straight to SEC teams — versus Alabama in the 2020 Citrus Bowl, to Florida in the (December) 2018 Peach Bowl and against South Carolina in the 2018 Outback Bowl — and Harbaugh has a 2-3 mark going up against the league as U-M’s head man.

By The Numbers: Michigan Football vs. Georgia

3.04 Line yards per carry for Georgia’s offensive line, which ranks 11th in the country, while the Wolverines average 2.96 line yards per rush (19th). The statistic measures yards gained by a ball carrier before he’s touched.

Top 3 In the nation is where Georgia stacks up in the four major statistical categories on defense: Scoring (9.5 points per game, 1st), total (253.2 yards per game, second), rushing (81.7 yards per game, second) and passing (171.5 yards per game, third).

Plus-5 In turnover margin for the Wolverines, who turned it over 11 times but forced 16 takeaways of their own. Georgia has an even turnover margin (net zero), with 16 gained and 16 lost.

9 Of Georgia’s 13 opponents have failed to rush for 100 or more yards, and just two — Florida (4.1) and Alabama (4.4) — averaged more than four yards per carry (only two others were over the 3.5 yards per attempt mark). On the flip side, the Maize and Blue have amassed more than 100 yards in every game and more than 200 yards in seven outings.

14.0 Sacks for Michigan junior defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, a single-season program record. Hutchinson finished second in Heisman Trophy voting and is projected to be the No. 1 pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.

14-11 Is Kirby Smart‘s record against ranked opponents away from home as the Georgia head coach, including an 8-7 mark on neutral fields.

16.1 Points per game allowed by the Michigan defense, which ranks first in the Big Ten and fourth in the nation. The Wolverines allow just 316.2 total yards (11th), 121.5 rushing yards (20th) and 194.7 passing yards (22nd) per contest.

17 Plays of 50-plus yards from scrimmage for Michigan, a mark that tops the nation. The Wolverines are tied for first with 10 plays of 60 or more yards and six plays of 70 or more yards.

17 Georgia players have recorded at least a half-sack. The Bulldogs have 193 total quarterback hurries, with nine players having notched more than 10.

24.7 Percent of the time Georgia fifth-year senior quarterback Stetson Bennett drops back, he’s pressured. While Bennett completes 71.3 percent of his passes and averages 11.0 yards per attempt when kept clean, he’s connected on just 30.2 percent of his throws for an average of 5.9 yards per attempt when facing heat.

27 Tackles for loss allowed by the Michigan offense, which tops the country. In fact, the Wolverines yielded 14 less TFLs than any other team (while playing one more game than most). The Wolverines also have given up just 10.0 sacks, which slots second nationally and first among Big Ten teams. Redshirt freshman quarterback Cade McNamara has been pressured on just 31.3 percent of his dropbacks, per PFF.

37.7 Points per outing for Michigan, which is the 12th-best mark in college football. The Maize and Blue add 451.9 total yards (17th), 223.8 rushing yards (ninth) and 228.1 passing yards (67th) a tilt.

39.2 Points per game for Georgia, which slots seventh in the sport. The Bulldogs average 442.8 total yards (27th), 194.9 rushing yards (31st) and 247.9 passing yards (55th) per game.

791 Receiving yards for Georgia freshman tight end Brock Bowers, which leads the Bulldogs and checks in third among the country’s tight ends. He’s scored 11 touchdowns on the year.

796 Of Michigan redshirt sophomore running back Hassan Haskins’ 1,288 yards have come after contact, per PFF, which checks in 11th nationally. His 101 runs that resulted in first downs top the country by seven, and the next-best Power Five back in that category, Oregon’s Travis Dye, is 25 short of Haskins’ mark. Haskins slots 18th on Michigan’s all-time rushers list for a single season, and is only 120 yards shy of tying Tony Boles (1988) and cracking the top 10.