ATHENS – Statistically, Georgia’s defense is doing more than fine. It ranks second in scoring defense. The Bulldogs come in at No. 8 in yards per play allowed. It has given up the second-fewest amount of plays of 20-yards or more.
But the members of this Georgia defense know they have to reach another level. Especially with the game that lie ahead.
“I feel like up until now, we haven’t really been tested as a defense outside of the Missouri game,” UGA defensive lineman Zion Logue said. “Playing a four-quarter game, I think that’s going to be a big thing for us in the second half of the season because we know we’ve got some big opponents coming in.”
It starts on Saturday with a Florida run game much stronger than any other that UGA has lined up against this season.
The Bulldogs have handled opposing rushing attacks to this point, allowing just 3.3 yards per carry. Florida comes in with the nation’s best yards per carry number at 6.38.
All four of Georgia’s SEC opponents it has faced this year sit in the bottom half of the conference in yards per carry. The Missouri team that Logue mentioned, which rushed for 102 yards on just 21 attempts against UGA, has the third-worst yards per carry in the SEC (4.1).
Running back Montrell Johnson leads the team in rushing, but quarterback Anthony Richardson’s 395 yards and six touchdowns on the ground have been game-changing for the Gators.
“He’s a physical runner,” Logue said of Richardson. “At 6-foot-3, 235, he loves to stiff arm. We know we’ve got to keep him in a cage, trap him on the left side.
“We know he wants to get to his right, so just doing little things like that, just keeping him in the pocket and let our guys cover.”
Georgia coach Kirby Smart also noted Richardson’s running abilities, saying his scrambles were even more dangerous than his design runs.
“It’s the draws, the converted runs, where he takes off that he’s really elite at,” Smart said. I mean, they’ve got some 60 and 70 yard runs that you might say is a designed run, but it’s not. It makes it really hard to defend, because most coaches try to defend the pass by covering people and the worst thing you can do sometimes is cover everybody and this guy take off because it puts your defense all spread out around the field.”
Both Richardson and Johnson are averaging over seven yards per carry on the season.
Georgia’s offense could do the defense a real solid by getting off to a fast start. Should Florida fall behind early against Georgia, it might be quick to abandon the run game and try to pass its way back into the game. Richardson has left a lot to be desired when throwing the ball, throwing seven interceptions to just six touchdowns.
Things do ease up from a running game standpoint after the Bulldogs leave Jacksonville. Tennessee’s, Mississippi State’s, and Kentucky’s rushing attacks all play second fiddle to their passing games.
Indeed, Florida could be the only team to attack Georgia’s run defense more than its secondary before the end of the regular season.
The Gators might give Logue and the Georgia front the test he referred to, and might be the only team left on the schedule to do so.
“It’s about being at your best when your best is needed,” Smart said. “I think we’ve played really good complementary defense, meaning complement the offense. When we’ve had turnovers in the red area, I feel like they’ve gone out put out some fires. They’ve gone out and created some turnovers at opportunistic times.
“We have not played our best. We got a lot of players individually that might be playing their best, but we have not played our collective best as a defense.”
