No. 2 Georgia enters bye on a defensive roll that has kept last four opponents out of the end zone
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Georgia knows an opponent inevitably will score a touchdown because that’s football, and no defense is perfect despite the No. 2 Bulldogs looking impermeable right now.
Georgia (3-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) expects plenty of shots from No. 4 Alabama and dual-threat quarterback Jalen Milroe when it visits Tuscaloosa on Sept. 28 after a bye week. The ‘Dawgs enter their down time one spot lower in the AP Top 25 but feeling good about allowing just seven field goals over the past four games dating to last season.
“Our defense takes a lot of pride in how they play, our defensive staff does an incredible job,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said, noting his team’s red-zone defense and limiting explosive plays as keys to their success.
“They work really hard on game planning for people. We’re going to play better and better offenses, (so) we’ve got to get better and better. But it’s pretty hard to do. I don’t know if anybody in college football has been able to sustain it. It’s just pretty hard to do.”
Georgia’s impressive run began with a 63-3 throttling of Florida State in last season’s Orange Bowl, which spoke volumes about the Bulldogs’ frustration over being excluded from the College Football Playoff and denying their quest for an unprecedented third consecutive national championship.
They held then-No. 14 Clemson to just 188 yards and a second-half field goal in a 34-3 opening-game rout. Georgia nearly shut out Tennessee Tech before the Golden Eagles made a last-second field goal in a 48-3 blowout.
Smart was especially proud of Saturday night’s 13-12 victory over Kentucky because of Georgia's resilience on both sides of the ball but particularly on defense. Linemen Mykel Williams, Jordan Hall and Warren Brinson were out and cornerback Daniel Harris did not play though dressed, two days after being arrested for allegedly driving 106 mph in Athens, Georgia. (Smart said not playing Harris was a coach’s decision.)
That forced a lot of personnel shifts, but Georgia still limited the scoring-challenged Wildcats to four field goals, sacked ex-Bulldogs backup quarterback Brock Vandagriff three times and forced him into five hurries. Linebacker Damon Wilson II also recovered a second-quarter fumble after Raylen Wilson stripped Vandagriff on a sack, setting up a game-tying field goal in the second quarter.
The effort kept Kentucky at bay long enough for Georgia’s offense to snap out of its own fog and score the go-ahead touchdown early in the fourth quarter and hold on in the defensive slugfest.
“Some games, the defense is down and the offense will pick us up and sometimes the offense is down and the defense picks it up,” defensive back Julian Humphrey said. “It’s like vice versa. We’ve got their back.”
None of this is surprising for a defense that has produced 23 NFL draft picks the past four seasons, with eight first-round selections. Georgia entered the season with seven starters back from a unit that allowed just 15.6 points per game last season.
The Bulldogs currently rank fourth in scoring defense (6.0 points per game) and eighth overall (202 yards), two signs that they're developing a meaner edge.
“It was unbelievable, especially with guys down,” quarterback Carson Beck said. “You look at the D-line, there’s freshmen stepping up, you got freshmen all over the field. Guys getting put in places, fighting through injuries and all of the above. Super proud of them and the way they were able to play.”
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