Georgia defense disappointed and looking to improve at stopping the run

ATHENS, Ga. — There’s a standard of success at Georgia when it comes to stopping the run. Right now, it’s not being lived up to.

The Bulldogs have finished top two in the country in terms of rushing yards per game in each of the last four seasons. Three of those four they’ve been best in the nation. But through three games in 2023, Georgia doesn’t even rank first or second in the SEC. Kirby Smart expects better.

“Historically it’s hard to run the ball against us. Historically, over the history of seven, eight years, we’ve been very high in run defense. When you do that, you force people to throw the ball,” Smart said after the first game. “We say you do more with less. You can cover more with less in the box and occupy gaps if you’re a defensive lineman or have the ability to strike, play the run. We have been good at that and we have to continue to be good at that. That sometimes can limit explosive plays because you don’t run the risk of bringing five or six guys that often.”

“We had several times where we were soft on the run. If they run for 4 or 5 yards with their size offensive linemen and our size defensive linemen, they’ve won. They had several of those,” he added after seeing a second game. “We’re still not playing the run defensively to the standard and my expectation of what an SEC upper caliber defense should do. We’re just not doing that. I think you get caught up in stats and outcomes. I’m all about, ‘Did we do it right all the time?’ And if we didn’t do it right all the time, why didn’t we?”

Smart can be a harsh critic at times, but he’s not alone in doing so on this occasion. His players expect better too.

While neither defensive lineman Zion Logue nor inside linebacker Xavian Sorey was on the field Saturday when South Carolina punched it in on the ground from a couple of yards out, both were disappointed to see it happen.

“The number one thing we always speak about when we get in the red zone: no one in our end zone. That doesn’t matter if the first group’s out or the rotational guys. No one in our end zone,” Logue said. “We just have to take pride in that from week to week. We know that’s kind of, like, where everybody’s going to attack us right now, especially when they get down there. We’ve just got to stand on the 10 and really bow our necks and not let people in the end zone.”

“There’s definitely a standard here where folks don’t score on us. Coaches be harping on that,” Sorey added. “Monday we went to the doctor. Cleaned everything up and watched film. Just get better day by day. And next week try to not let anybody in the end zone.” 

Logue said he wanted to close his eyes while watching the film of the Gamecocks getting an extra push on the Georgia defense. It happened on a 3rd and 1 that led to the first touchdown and once again on the second score. Seeing that happen, he wants to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

“It just makes your stomach sick. We show our standings every week, and with us being fifth in rushing defense right now, it makes me sick,” Logue said. “I want to fix it right now, but I can’t fix it ’til Saturday. You know, just focusing on daily improvement, making sure that when we do those goal-line parts of practice we really hone in and make sure that nobody’s in our end zone, even if it’s our one offense — like, they don’t get in the end zone. We just try to make sure we focus on that.”

“The space is a lot tighter. It’s not really a threat of shots. Maybe play-action, but once people get down there they’re going to try to get the big guys in,” he added on how it gets different defending without much distance to the end zone behind them. “We’ve got to go bigger personnel, and they’re just going to try and mow us just because it’s the ‘Georgia defense’ they want to be able to say they ran it in on us. We know we’ve just got to stay on our principles and stay on our morals about that.”

It’s a small sample size of course, and the 87.33 yards per game average is far from bad. It’s good for top-25 in the country and fifth in the SEC. And should the Bulldogs finish with that same number as the average, it’ll probably have them near the top of the nation. No more than four teams have finished any of the last four single seasons with lower per game averages in the country. However, given the competition they’ve played, it’s understandable why everybody in the building wants it to get better.

Top-ranked Georgia (3-0, 1-0 SEC) hosts UAB (1-2, 0-0 American) in its next outing. The Blazers come in outside of the top-100 in rushing offense and were held to a season-low yards per attempt in their last outing. Kickoff time from Sanford Stadium on Saturday is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2.