ATHENS — The biggest problem for the Georgia defense in the loss against Alabama was its inability to set the edge. It was something Georgia coach Kirby Smart bemoaned during his halftime interview with ESPN’s Holly Rowe.
Georgia found some answers in the second half, when Alabama had scored just 11 points. And if the Bulldogs can get more out of a still-recovering Mykel Williams, it could go a long in terms of cleaning up some of those concerns.
“Mykel has come along nicely. He’s still sore. He’s going to be sore on it. That’s to be understood,” Smart said of Williams on Wednesday. “It’s not when you go play on that and return from that injury, you have to deal with some pain and deal with that soreness. He’s done a tremendous job with rehab, and we’ve done a really good job of trying to help, you know, get him back, get him ahead of schedule each week.”
Williams played 25 snaps in the loss to Alabama. It was the most snaps he had played in a game this season, after picking up an ankle injury in the win over Clemson. Williams then missed the next two games against Tennessee Tech and Kentucky.
Georgia has plenty of talented defenders on its defense, many of whom will go on to play in the NFL. But it doesn’t have anyone like Williams, who can effortlessly bounce between playing outside linebacker and on the defensive line.
“Well, he has great length, great size, great athleticism,” Smart said of Williams. “When you play on tackles, the number one requirement is arm length. Most of the tackles in our league have 35, 34-inch long arms. When you play with someone with short arms, they struggle to create an edge and set an edge. He’s able to set edges at a high level for us because he’s big enough to play it, but he’s also athletic enough to do some of the things outside backers do. So he’s cutting the cloth of what you want to play with out there on the edges.”
Jalen Milroe will go on to give many defenses issues, as he’s had two rushing touchdowns in every game this season. He finished with 491 combined passing and rushing yards against Georgia. He could very well win the Heisman Trophy.
And while Milroe, like Williams, is a one-of-one, he won’t be the last dual-threat quarterback Georgia faces. The Bulldogs will likely see Payton Thorne this weekend. While Thorne isn’t Milroe, he did lead an Auburn offense that ran for 219 yards last season.
Smart knows his team will face an Auburn offense that is once again going to stress the Georgia defense. The Bulldogs will need to bounce back and be at their best on Saturday, with Williams hopefully taking on an even larger role.
“They’re hard to stop, guys,” Smart said. “I mean, you’re going to say, everybody’s going to say I’m crazy, but they’re physical, they’ve got good scheme, good plays, experienced quarterback, talented wideouts, great backs. I mean, the tight ends, they’ve got to play forever. Those guys have been there playing football forever. So it’s not like the moment’s too big for them. Experience is value in our league and they got tremendous experience.
“What looks good is punts. That’s what looks good.”
Saturday’s game is set for a 3:30 p.m. ET start on ABC. Georgia will provide an availability report on Wednesday night, providing further intel on its injury situation.
