Too Much Information: Tennessee (The Kicking Game)

Welcome, denizens of Bulldog Nation and visitors from Knoxville!

I have taken you through a statistical breakdown of Georgia's and Tennessee's respective passing and running games, so the time has come to take a look at special teams as I bring you not a pinch of detail, not a modicum of minutiae, but rather . . . Too Much Information.

Tennessee's Daniel Lincoln attempted eight field goals of 47 yards or shorter and made all eight of them. His Bulldog counterpart, Brandon Coutu, also has made eight field goals, with the longest likewise being a 47-yarder, but the Georgia kicker has missed from 47, 48, and 50 yards away.

As Rocky Top Talk's Joel points out, the Volunteers are surprisingly poor at punting. Despite having Britton, the latest of the Fabulous Punting Colquitts, Tennessee ranks tenth in the S.E.C. in punting, netting 32.9 yards per boot.

This is due primarily to the fact that the Vols allow a staggering 9.6 yards per punt return; no other team in the league concedes more than 5.3 yards per return. This is good news for a Bulldog squad that ranks third in the conference with 14.8 yards per punt return.

The 'Dawgs net 38.8 yards per punt, putting them only marginally behind league-leading Auburn (38.9 yards per punt). U.T. stands in the S.E.C. cellar in punt returns, averaging just 3.3 yards per return. Neither team has either blocked a punt or had a punt blocked in 2007.

Kickoffs are a bit more problematic for the Classic City Canines, who are just the seventh-best team in the Southeastern Conference in kickoff coverage and who face a Big Orange squad averaging 25.0 yards per kick return. On the other hand, a Red and Black team ranked 11th in the league in kickoff returns (20.1 yards per return) will be going up against a similarly suspect coverage team: Tennessee ranks 11th in the S.E.C. in kickoff coverage.

Georgia is the only team in the S.E.C. to have executed successfully an onside kick in 2007.

That pretty well takes us through the noteworthy numbers concerning the kicking game. Looming on the horizon are the miscellaneous minutiae to be gleaned from the statistics, including the answer to Hamp's request for an added element of what was already . . . Too Much Information.

Go 'Dawgs!