Excellent start: Excellent Start Learning Center – Child Care and Early Childhood Education

Опубликовано: December 17, 2022 в 6:32 pm

Автор:

Категории: Miscellaneous

Georgia defense not content even after excellent start to season

ByJordan D. Hill

Sep 18, 10:33 AM

  • Edit
  • Slot to 247Sports Home
  • Slot to Georgia Bulldogs Newsletter
  • Slot to Georgia Links

Georgia inside linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson and outside linebacker Nolan Smith did not want an asterisk put on South Carolina’s only touchdown drive Saturday.

The Bulldogs defense prevented the Gamecocks from scoring until only 53 seconds were left in the game, when South Carolina backup quarterback Luke Doty threw on Georgia’s backups and found Traevon Kenion for a 13-yard touchdown. The two Georgia linebackers were both watching from the sidelines when Doty hit Kenion for the score, but following the game, they emphasized that touchdown counts all the same.

“The team they scored on, they’re all starters. If you’re on the field, you’re a starter,” Dumas-Johnson said.

“If you’re in, you’re a starter. They did score, so no matter what they scored. We had points on the board, and our job is don’t let nobody in the end zone. If you’re on the field, you’re a starter,” Smith said. “We’ve got to do a better job of communicating on the sideline, and when guys go in — like I said — they’re starters. We’ve got to make sure no one gets in our end zone.”

Given how well Georgia’s defense has played through three games, the Bulldogs can afford to quibble with something as trivial as who is or is not a starter.

The Bulldogs have absolutely dominated their first three opponents this season and have given up a grand total of 10 points through three games. Doty’s late pass marked the first touchdown Georgia has surrendered this season, which stands as a testament to the work of the entire defense.

Georgia entered Saturday knowing it could not afford to let South Carolina quarterback Spencer Rattler go off. Aside from a handful of plays, the Bulldogs came through on what Smith said was one of their musts this week: rattling Rattler.

Georgia held Rattler to 13-of-25 passing for only 118 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions, the first being a first-quarter pick right to Malaki Starks and the second being a third-quarter bomb that was brought down by Dan Jackson. The Bulldogs never sacked Rattler but brought enough pressure to fluster the Oklahoma transfer, which led to a poor performance that let Georgia run away with another blowout win.

For Dumas-Johnson, Georgia’s style of play on defense boils down to the mentality they’ve taken on from their coaches.

“It comes back to being hungry and hunting this season,” said Dumas-Johnson, who had a team-high 6 tackles. “Our mentality was strong. We were fast and physical. The defense was eager. We don’t even want [them] to get a first down on us. That’s our mentality coming into the game. That’s why we have great players all over the defense on the field. As long as we communicate and be in the right spots, we don’t see anybody doing anything.”

After last week’s win over Samford, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said he wanted to see how the defense handled adversity, and there were two instances Saturday where the Bulldogs had something go wrong but rose to the ensuing challenge.

Georgia followed a big 46-yard pass from Rattler to tight end Jaheim Bell in the first quarter with Starks’ interception two plays later. Later in the quarter, South Carolina pulled off a successful fake-punt pass before Georgia forced a turnover on downs five plays later.

For Smart, those types of responses were exactly what he wanted to see from his young defense.

“We made some plays today and didn’t back down. We gave up the bomb on Kamari [Lassiter], boom, get a pick two plays later. We give up a play on the fake punt, and nobody panicked,” Smart said. “They were happy they could go out and play some more. ‘Let’s get our snaps in. Let’s go stop them.’ That’s the way you have to approach it.”

Smart credited the defense for practicing really hard on a regular basis. He added that one of Georgia’s coaches told Smart the amount of detail the Bulldogs put on their scout cards and the types of reps they do against the scout team result in the hardest situations possible against every call.

The motivation of practice being so difficult is making game day significantly easier as a result, a sentiment cornerback Kelee Ringo is fully in on.

“We’re always going to get somebody’s best. I don’t feel like throughout the entire week [of practice] we’re going to see too much better, honestly,” Ringo said. “That’s why a lot of us say that practice is much harder than the games. They try to put us through hell and put us in every worst situation you could possibly be in so as soon as we get to the game, there’s no panic or any second guessing.”

Leaving the field Saturday, Georgia’s top defenders were not content with the seven points scored by South Carolina — even if they were merely spectators when it happened. That mindset is part of why Georgia finds itself with another outstanding defense, one that the players on it feel still has room for improvement.

“We work hard every day no matter what. One good thing about playing defense at Georgia: you’re going to work. We’re going to have musts,” Smith said. “We’re always going to have things to fix, and we’re going to go see the doctor on Monday to see what we did bad this game.”

Comments (3)

“>247Sports

Your Excellent Start Consultancy – Abroad Education and Language Learning

Your Excellent Start (YES!)

Consultancy

Excellent Support Through Your Educational Journey