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This season marked the end of an era at Georgia. After 15 seasons at the helm, Bulldogs coach Mark Richt was fired. The 2016 season will begin the Kirby Smart era.
The 2015 season was disappointing in many ways for Georgia, but the team still had positives, particularly on defense.
Let’s go down the roster, position by position, and give out grades:
QUARTERBACKS
Since Aaron Murray left after 2013, quarterback has been the weakest position for the Bulldogs. Virginia transfer Greyson Lambert struggled this season. He had only three games with at least 200 yards passing. In his defense, Georgia didn’t throw very often. He had two games with over 30 pass attempts.
Still, Richt felt like he wasn’t getting enough from Lambert and benched him for the Florida game. Things got even worse with Faton Bauta under center. He completed just 45.5 percent of his passes and threw four interceptions versus the Gators.
Grade: C-
RUNNING BACKS
RB Nick Chubb was having a fantastic season when he went down with a knee injury. Chubb rushed for 747 yards and seven TDs in six games. He averaged an amazing 8.1 yards per attempt.
Sophomore Sony Michel filled in admirably for Chubb after his injury. Michel rushed for 1,136 yards and eight TDs while averaging 5.2 yards per carry.
Senior Keith Marshall also averaged over 5 yards per attempt and rushed for 350 yards. Together, Chubb, Michel and Marshall combined for 2,233 yards and 18 TDs.
Grade: B
RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS
Georgia hasn’t seen a wide receiver post a 1,000-yard season since 2002. In defense to the receiving corps, it is difficult to accumulate big numbers when the starting quarterback only throws for 1,959 yards in the season.
Senior Malcolm Mitchell led the team with 58 catches, 865 yards and five TDs. No other receiver had 40 receptions or 400 yards.
Grade: C
OFFENSIVE LINE
Senior RT John Theus led this group, the strongest part of the Georgia offense. Behind strong blocking, the Bulldogs averaged 194 rushing yards per game and only allowed 13 sacks all season.
Theus made the AP All-SEC First Team and was the only Georgia offensive player to do so. Junior RG Brandon Kublanow made the All-SEC Second Team.
Grade: A-
DEFENSIVE LINE
The Georgia defensive line was slightly above average. Opponents rushed for about 149 yards per game, which was just about middle of the pack (eighth) in the SEC. Senior Sterling Bailey led the unit with 46 total tackles, including 2.5 for loss and 1.0 sack.
Fellow senior NT Chris Mayes was right behind him with 41 total tackles.
Grade: B-
LINEBACKERS
Transfer Jake Ganus was one of the biggest surprises for any SEC team this season. He, by far, led Georgia with 102 total tackles, including 5.0 for loss and 1.0 sack. He also intercepted two passes and forced a fumble.
Junior linebackers Leonard Floyd and Jordan Jenkins recorded 4.5 and 4.0 sacks, respectively. But overall, the Bulldogs did not pressure the passer enough. Georgia had just 21 sacks, 10th in the SEC.
Grade: B
SECONDARY
The secondary was the best part of the team. Georgia allowed the fewest passing yards per game (156.5) in the entire nation. They also yielded just 11 passing TDs, ninth-fewest in the country.
Sophomore DB Dominick Sanders was a star, intercepting six passes. He also returned one of them for a TD.
Grade: A
SPECIAL TEAMS
Georgia was just average on special teams. The Bulldogs were below average in both kickoff return yardage and kickoff return coverage, but above average in punt returns and punt coverage.
Senior Marshall Morgan was 18-for-25 on field-goal attempts. His 72-percent success rate ranked him seventh in the conference.
Grade: C
Dave covers SEC football for Saturday Down South.
