re: During the '25 regular season, Georgia's offense was #1 in the SEC in Points Per Drive.

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Wd, these are nice numbers and encouraging to see. That said, it is very difficult to reconcile them with other posts about this year's offense.

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I'd say it differently. It's hard to reconcile the other posts with these actual offensive scoring numbers from the SEC regular season. In the regular season, Georgia's offense led the SEC in points per meaningful drive vs SEC opponents. In fact, prior to the Tech game, Georgia's Offensive efficiency was top 5 in the entire nation according to Fremeau's offensive drive based, non-garbage time data.

Those numbers declined in the last 3 games, partly due to Bobo's injury in the Tech game and also the fact that Kirby played very conservative in the 2nd half of the Alabama game.

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There is an excellent recent post on the UGA 24/7 site - lots of data showing this year's team as the 7th-10th best offense in the Kirby era, with a few exceptions like RZ scoring percentage. The conclusion was that 24 & 25 have been our worst offenses in the Kirby era outside of Coley & 2016. I didn't write it or anything, but would encourage anyone here to check it out for some additional perspective.

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Here's what you may be missing when you look at that data from 247; total points per game (or total yards, first downs, etc) is not a good metric for assessing an offense. It depends on things like number of offensive possessions per game, which in turn depends on offensive pace of play, opponent offensive pace of play, and how long the defense remains on the field. It's heavily influenced by the schedule played, which is highly variable in non-conference games every year. It depends on starting offensive field position, points scored by defense and special teams, points scored in overtime when the teams are starting from the 25 yard line. It's also heavily influenced by points scored in garbage time, which depends on coaching philosophy. Some coaches keep running the offense full steam ahead even after the game is effectively decided, which results in points that don't tell you anything about how good an offense is relative to its peers. Some teams slow down and use clock, some substitute heavily on one or both sides of the ball.

The data above eliminate or lessen the impact of those variables and tell you how many points the offense scores per possession, agains SEC opponents, while the game is in doubt. SOS differences are much smaller if you exclude non-conference games. As a result, these numbers are actually much more meaningful for assessing offensive scoring effectiveness than the commonly used stats posted in that thread on 247.

Finally, Doc Skraynge (whatever) failed to note that in 2024 and 2025, unlike Kirby's previous years, Georgia didn't play Vanderbilt, Missouri, or South Carolina. We did play Alabama (3 times), and Texas (3 times). Both had very good defenses. The result was a very different and probably stronger defensive schedule than we played prior to the new arrangement that started in 2024. Just based on conference schedule alone, his numbers are comparing apples to oranges. I pointed out somewhere on this board before 2024 season that our stats were going to look worse, and maybe our record too, because of schedule. He didn't even mention that difference.

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The biggest flaw for the offense was a lack of explosiveness. They had to be ruthlessly efficient to score points because they rarely threatened anyone downfield.

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I'm definitely not opposed to more explosive plays, but Georgia's offense actually was ruthlessly efficient this year. Bobo obviously tailored it for Gunner's skillset, because this was definitely not the offense he ran with Aaron Murray, or even Carson Beck.

I didn't include the data earlier, but using the same dataset as above, Georgia also led the league in plays per offensive drive (7.0) and Offensive Available Yards Percentage (OAY), which is Drive Yards divided by Available Yards. For example, if offensive possesions start on average at the 30 yard line, and cover on average 35 yards, then the OAY would be 35/70, or 50%. Georgia's average was 63%, slightly ahead of Vanderbilt at 62%, and Ole Miss at 61%. LSU and S Car brought up the rear at 37%.

Georgia's average Offensive Drive covered 45.1 yards, followed by Vanderbilt and Ole Miss, both a fraction lower. S Car and Okl finished last at about 26 yards per offensive drive. Georgia's non-garbage offensive possessions per game was 9.4, 2nd lowest to Vandy's 8.9. Mississippi State had the most at 11.5 offensive possessions per game in regulation play.

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It's just that being more explosive gives you a greater margin for error.

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Nobody can argue with that. The more ways you can score, the better your offense. It seems obvious to me that Coach Bobo played the hand he was dealt, and I think he did fine.

I'm proud of what Gunner's done, but based on year one I think his upside is somewhere south of NFL quality. Doesn't mean he can't improve or win a championship, but there may be limits to what he can accomplish as a pure passer when needed. Some probably will say we should start mining the Portal and spend a lot of money on an experienced quarterback. Nobody knows if that would've actually changed the outcome in 2025, because, present consensus aside, buying an experienced QB is far from a sure thing.

When we look back in a few years, I'm guessing the ROI from the transfer portal won't look as attractive as it does at this exact moment. Everybody wants the impressive quick results seen at places like Vanderbilt, Indiana, Miami and Ole Miss. As a result, the price for talent/experience will continue to soar until only a very few can succeed at that game. Meanwhile, development languishes as players change helmets like socks. Eventually, roster stability and development will reassert themself, or the combination of high price and low quality will finally produce the damage everyone's been predicting.