Nick Saban identifies keys for Georgia to beat Notre Dame in Sugar Bowl
The Georgia Bulldogs enter the Sugar Bowl against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in a game that most people anticipate to be a very good game. With that, former head coach Nick Saban knows that the Bulldogs have two keys they need to focus on if they’re going to win and advance in the College Football Playoff.
During an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Saban broke down how stopping the run and keeping Gunner Stockton on schedule are going to be vital for the Bulldogs.
“I think two things for Georgia,” Nick Saban said. “Number one, they’ve got to do a good job up front building a fence on these runners and stop the run, which means they’ve got to tackle well. They can’t put all the pressure on the secondary to make tackles in space because that’s gonna be a problem.”
The Notre Dame rushing attack has been a strength of the team all season. The Irish have largely relied on running backs Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price. Together, they combined for 1,740 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns on the ground. That’s gone alongside 751 rushing yards and 15 rushing touchdowns from quarterback Riley Leonard.
With that, the Irish rank 11th in rushing offense nationally, averaging 222.38 yards per game on the ground. Their 42 rushing touchdowns are fourth in that stat. It stands to reason they’ll continue to lean on that ground attack.
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On the offensive side of the ball, Georgia is going to be without starting quarterback Carson Beck. Instead, they’ll turn to Gunner Stockton, who played the second half of the SEC Championship Game. In that time, he completed 12 of 16 passes for 71 yards and an interception. That interception loomed large at the time, and Saban is concerned it could happen again if the Bulldogs force him to play from behind the sticks.
“The second thing is can they keep Gunner Stockton out of long-yardage situations where this guy has to make plays? If they can keep him sort of on schedule where the down and distance is in his favor, you know if it’s a run, a pass, a bootleg, whatever, that’s how he’ll operate the best. If they have a lot of self-inflicted wounds and get behind the sticks, then he’s probably going to have a tough time and that’s when Notre Dame is gonna dial it up on him and give him some looks he’s probably not ready for,” Saban said.
“What happened in the Texas game when he threw that bad interception may happen again.”
The winner of the Sugar Bowl, be it Georgia or Notre Dame, is set to move onto the semifinal of the College Football Playoff. There, they’ll take on the Penn State Nittany Lions.