After SEC Championship loss, Georgia defense resets ahead of Orange Bowl semifinal
It has been a little more than three weeks since the wake-up call, the reality check.
After being arguably the best defense in the country through their first 12 games and rising to the No. 1 team in the country largely because of it, the Georgia Bulldogs fell flat in their biggest game — to that point — of the season in their Southeastern Conference championship loss to Alabama.
They gave up 41 points, 24 more than they allowed to any other team this season.
They surrendered 536 yards of total offense. The previous single-game high before that? It was 387 against Tennessee.
A complete dismantling — for a game.
The Bulldogs still have a chance to prove the conference championship game defeat was a one-time fluke. They are in the College Football Playoff as the No. 3 team in the country, and set for a semifinal matchup against No. 2 Michigan in the Orange Bowl. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday from Hard Rock Stadium.
“Our guys want to go out there and prove their worth,” Georgia defensive coordinator Dan Lanning said Monday. “I think they’ve done that week in and week out this season, and the fact that we had a hiccup doesn’t affect what we want to do going forward. Luckily for us, every single one of our goals still stands in front of us, and this opportunity – there’s four teams in the nation that get to go play right now at this level, and I think we recognize that opportunity in front of us and want to go take advantage of it.”
Just how good had Georgia’s defense been prior to the Alabama beatdown?
Even with those 41 points and 536 yards allowed, the Bulldogs still lead the country in scoring defense (9.5 points allowed per game) and are second in yards per game allowed (253.2).
The Bulldogs had shutouts against Vanderbilt, Arkansas and Georgia Tech. They held Clemson, UAB, Florida, Missouri and Charleston Southern to seven points or fewer.
But as good as all of those wins felt as they marched through the regular season, the one loss at the end remains fresh even as they stay in the hunt for their first national championship since 1980.
“Definitely I feel like any game I lost, it still hits me every once in a while when I think about it,” Georgia All-American defensive tackle Jordan Davis said. “You’ve just got to keep moving forward. You can’t dwell on the past. Nothing you can do about it. You just have to continue to move on in the future, and that’s not just with football, that’s with life, so that’s one thing I learned over the years. You just have to keep moving forward.”
“A new reset of energy,” linebacker Nakobe Dean added.
And move forward they must. They have another top opponent on the horizon in Michigan, one that will test them differently than Alabama will.
The Crimson Tide primarily dominated on broken coverage in Georgia’s pass defense — Bryce Young had 421 passing yards and three touchdowns. Michigan relies on a one-two punch in the running game — and limiting Georgia’s front seven.
Michigan, while having a knack for explosive plays, relies primarily on a one-two running back punch to set up its offensive success. Senior Hassan Haskins is the workhorse, rushing for 1,288 yards and 20 touchdowns on 261 carries. Sophomore Blake Corum is the change-of-pace back, tallying 939 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns on 141 carries.
“They run hard mouth, smash-mouth football plays,” Lanning said of Michigan. “They demand some physicality up front, which I know we’re excited to see, and then they have the ability to attack you downfield. I just think they show tremendous balance in the way they prepare, in the way they play the game, and it’s going to be a physical football game, which I know we certainly appreciate.”
That, however, feeds into Georgia’s strength. The Bulldogs have allowed an average of just 81.7 rushing yards per game this season — second only to Wisconsin. Only one team had more than 130 rushing yards against Georgia this year (Florida, 161).
“Georgia is pretty stout,” Corum said. “They’re a stout defense. They have a good front seven. We’ve just got to continue doing what we do. There’s no need to change anything. We’ve had a wonderful year. Offensive line has done great, our tight ends have done great, our receivers, everyone has done great. Just continuing to prepare and watching film on them and just keep going.”
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