Greg McElroy praises dominance of Georgia defense vs. Texas

Georgia allowed only 10.2 points per game in 2021. The Bulldogs suffocated opposing offenses, giving up just 4.15 yards per play. That defense fueled the first of two consecutive national championship runs.

Shades of that unit showed up last weekend in DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium.

“Georgia’s defense turned back the clock to 2021,” ESPN’s Greg McElroy said on his show Monday. “They dominated. They dominated in the first half of that game. I mean, it was to the point almost when you’re watching it and you’re like, ‘Golly, is Texas gonna be able to move the ball at all?'”

Georgia finished a 30-15 win over then-top-ranked Texas with four takeaways. The Bulldogs recovered three fumbles and intercepted one pass.

They created 10 tackles for loss and tallied seven sacks.

Texas rushed for only 29 yards on 27 carries. The Longhorns had ran for at least 143 yards in every other game this season.

Most notably, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian turned to backup quarterback Arch Manning late in the first half after starter Quinn Ewers logged just 17 yards on 6-of-12 passing over the course of his first six drives. Manning didn’t fare much better in his two series.

Ewers returned to action in the third quarter and delivered two touchdown passes, but Georgia scored an insurance touchdown and stopped Texas on fourth down three times in the fourth quarter.

“Georgia has stars on defense,” McElroy said. “They have stars. They have individual players that are stars at their position, no doubt about it. But on a big stage, you really need your stars to play like stars. It is imperative.

“If your best player on the biggest stage, or one of your best players on the biggest stage, disappears, that’s not just an indictment on him, that’s an indictment on the fact that your team’s probably not going to win. You need your best players to be at their best on the biggest possible stages, and that’s exactly what happened.”

McElroy rattled off examples: Top Georgia cornerback Daylen Everette recorded a sack, forced fumble and fumble recovery in the first quarter before picking off Ewers in the second quarter; outside linebacker Damon Wilson II strip sacked Manning in the final minute of the second quarter, setting up a Bulldogs field goal before halftime; inside linebacker Jalon Walker recovered the fumble Wilson forced and led the team with eight total tackles, including three sacks; defensive lineman Mykell Williams polished off the performance with a forced fumble on a 4th-and-6 sack of Ewers in the final frame.

“When you think about your defense across the board, and just how many great players Georgia has, to have the ones step up on a stage like that is enormous,” McElroy said. “And that’s why they won the game.”

Georgia held Texas to 2-of-14 on third down and 1-of-5 on fourth down.

The Bulldogs’ defense, with the help of punter Brett Thorson, gifted the Georgia offense great field position this past weekend. It also paved the way for head coach Kirby Smart’s squad scoring 17 points off Longhorns turnovers.

“Georgia’s offense? Not great,” McElroy said. “A lot that needs to be sorted out on that side of the ball. Passing game, huge issue. Bunch of interceptions, a lot of dropped passes, errant throws. That I think is something that needs to get ironed out, for sure … The offense is not where it needs to be for Georgia.

“But that defense, that was a vintage Georgia defensive performance. It was really nice to see. Because I don’t feel like I’ve seen it in a few years.”