Georgia’s record – 3-1 – is remarkable considering its turnover ratio, a statistic coach Mark Richt has repeatedly lamented for its importance.

The Bulldogs rank 115 out 120 FBS schools in the nation, compiling 12 turnovers while forcing only three.

With LSU, known for winning turnover battles, cruising into Athens this weekend, focus in practice centers on ball security.

“I mean, bottom line is, there’s ultimately no excuse for turning the ball over consistently,” said Georgia quarterback Joe Cox. “We know they’re going to happen, but obviously when we’ve been having a problem with it and it continues, we still need to address it and find out what we need to do to stop those things from occurring.”

LSU sits fifth nationally in turnover margin, forcing seven interceptions and three fumbles. The Tiger’s secondary is fast and physical, featuring cornerback Patrick Peterson and safety Chad Jones, who have a combined three picks this season.

“Just because they have a great turnover margin doesn’t mean that they’re going to win the turnover battle versus us,” Cox said. “We know they are good in that area, they don’t do a lot of things to beat themselves, so we have to be smarter with the ball and respect the ball more this week, but it’s not like we’re going to be freaking out all week about it.”

The breakdown in Georgia turnovers: five interceptions and a fumble by Cox. Running backs Richard Samuel, Caleb King and Carlton Thomas, as well as receiver A.J. Green, each with a fumble. Branden Smith and Prince Miller both with a fumble on special teams.

The breakdown leads to an average of three turnovers a game, forcing the defense on the field for extra possessions, usually working against a short field and short rest.

“It’s terrible,” said fullback Fred Munzenmaier. “You want to pull your weight and you don’t want to let the team down. Our defense is doing great this year and we know they can go out there and cover for us when things like that happen, but obviously we never want to put them in that situation.”

The turnovers are leading to a disparity in number of plays run and time of possession, where Georgia’s opponents are statistically better.

“Oh no, not once did I hear a guy complain or say, ‘oh here goes the offense or anything like that,’” said Georgia linebacker Rennie Curran. “Everybody was upbeat, everybody was positive throughout the whole entire [Arizona State] game. We all know we have each other’s backs on this team, no matter what. We’re a resilient bunch, we just continue to fight hard and this team believes in each other.”

The defense has withstood offensive blunders, but has done little in the way of creating turnovers, with only two interceptions and one fumble recovered.

“You always want to be able to put the other team’s offense out-that’s something we’ve got to continue to build on and get better at,” Curran said. “When those opportunities come we’ve got to come through and we’ve got to execute. At the same time these situations have made us resilient and we believe in each other even more. That’s the greatest thing-we have a team that doesn’t point fingers when things go wrong.”

But the beauty of the negative turnover margin, the feel-good aspect about the statistic, is the Bulldogs’ 3-1 record despite the disadvantage. A quick change of fortune could lead to dominating performances.

“I feel if we can get all three phases of the game getting together, and start winning the turnover ratio, I feel we can probably be the best team in the country,” said safety Bryan Evans.