After the worst performance of the season, Georgia linebacker Nolan Smith struggled to sleep. Smith did his best to try and identify what went wrong against the potent Alabama offense, which rolled up 536 yards of offense in a 41-24 win in the SEC championship game.
So instead of sleeping off the shellacking, Smith jumped into film study as the junior pass rusher tried to figure out what could be fixed before Georgia’s game against Michigan in the College Football Playoff.
“I mean third down, everyone knows that third down is ‘Money Down’ in the SEC kind of like the NFL and we did not do really well on third down,” Smith said. “We did not rush the passer well and that is on me. It is just a lot of things that we could have done better.”
The defensive effort left some questioning what was the sport’s most dominant defense for the regular season. The Bulldogs finished with zero sacks against Alabama, giving Bryce Young plenty of time to pick apart a thin Georgia secondary. Georgia still leads the country in points allowed per game and yards per play allowed, but there doesn’t seem to be the same aura of invincibility around this unit.
That’s why the Georgia defense so eagerly wants to take on a Michigan team whose offense could not be more different from what Georgia saw against Alabama.
“Just after that SEC championship game we had a lot that we wanted to work on,” defensive end Travon Walker said. “Just having that chip on our shoulder, our defense has to step up in this game and make a statement.”
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While Alabama relied heavily on the excellence of Young, Michigan wants to run the football. Then it wants to run it some more. And then a little more after that.
The Wolverines feature running backs Hassan Haskins and Blake Corum, who combined for 2,227 rushing yards and 31 rushing touchdowns. There’s also freshman running back Donovan Edwards, who has emerged as a real weapon for the Wolverines over the course of the season.
Quarterback Cade McNamara has been efficient when called upon, but he averages just 23 pass attempts a game. If Georgia is to find success, it will have to force McNamara to throw the ball often and limit what Michigan does on the ground.
Michigan’s offense looks much more like something employed on Sundays compared to what Alabama ran. But this offense is still capable of creating explosive plays, as Michigan leads the country on plays of 50-yards or more.
“Michigan does a tremendous job, they are very multiple, they have a lot of personnel groupings,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “They are extremely physical and they are committed to being physical. They can play in space, they have really good athletes. We know that they have a tremendous team.”
So how does Georgia go about making said statement against this Michigan team? It’s easier said than done according to Walker.
“We just have to go out there and play our ball, our type ball,” Walker said. “That is just being the most physical team on the field and not wanting anybody to run all over us or do whatever they do. We just want to go out there and play our ball.”
The physicality with which Michigan plays jumps off the screen. The offensive line, which is a finalist for the Joe Moore Award given to the nation’s top offensive line in the country, mauled an Ohio State team that had more talent. It then rolled Iowa 42-3 in the Big Ten championship game.
But much like Georgia’s road to the College Football Playoff, those regular-season numbers mean a little bit less now. The time to compare resumes is done.
This Georgia defense knows it has just one game to reestablish itself and show it’s better than what it put on tape against Alabama.
“It is one game and you have to win to advance,” Smith said. “I think a lot of guys are ready to work and we are happy that we have this opportunity. A lot of people watch Georgia football for a long time and a lot of people didn’t get this opportunity that we have had and now that we have it we have to seize it.”
Travon Walker ready to make a statement against Michigan
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