Kirby Smart reveals how Georgia rebuilt its defense on the fly

Few believed Georgia would avoid a defensive drop-off in 2022. After posting one of the best defensive seasons in recent history in 2021, everyone knew it was going to be difficult for the Bulldogs to match that this year. However, they’ve done exactly that as they’ve followed up last season’s No. 1 defense with this season’s No. 2 defense.

Earlier this week, Kirby Smart addressed how his defense has remained at this incredible level this season. He says it starts with the leadership of that unit. Considering where he said they were in the spring, he says that none of their success would be possible without it.

“We had good leadership last year and we’ve got good leadership this year. If you have good leadership, then you’ve got an opportunity to grow and get better,” said Smart. “This group was not where it needed to be in the spring. We had some long days in spring practice. But they filled in the holes nicely that we needed.”

The Bulldogs finished second in the nation in points allowed per game with only 12.8. Of their 13 games, they’ve held six of their opponents to 10 or fewer points. Georgia’s offense was elite as well as a Top-12 unit in the country, but, as a program, they make their mark defensively and it was a big key to them both finishing the season undefeated and winning the SEC Championship.

Smart says they’re going to have to show it again, though, in the College Football Playoff. Their first opponent, the Ohio State Buckeyes, has the NCAA’s second-best offense with an average of 44.5 points per game. Now, on their biggest stage yet, Smart says they’ll have to have their best performance yet.

“They’ve improved throughout the year,” Smart said. “They need to be at their best now when their best is needed. We need to get better to be the team we need to be defensively.”

Few if any teams could survive losing eight players on one side of the football to the NFL Draft, especially since five were good enough to be selected in the first round. Still, Georgia has done it and more than kept pace with their unit from a season ago. With that said, the way for them to go down in history with that 2021 unit is to win a national championship like the defense before them did which starts with the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl later this month.