Georgia offensive line paving the way with health and rotation

ATHENS, Ga. — After going for over 100 yards on Saturday, Georgia running back Kendall Milton made sure his offensive line was going to eat well this week. He promised them dinner if he hit triple digits with his rushing total, and it’s a much deserved meal for the boys up front who continue to improve with each and every outing.

“Yeah, our O-line’s gotten better with the year,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said. “I mean, we’ve had games where we played better than others, but sometimes that has to do with the opponent you play. We’re healthier, so with health comes depth and the ability to play more guys. I think we stayed fresher in terms of the guys we rolled in and played.”

“There was a unity among that group of we can achieve together and it’s not really about us getting the credit. It’s more about the backs getting the credit,” he added. “But a lot of offensive line play is usually dictated by who you’re playing against and how you play, those kind of things.”

Pro Football Focus graded out Georgia’s run blocking at 79.5, it’s second-highest grade in that category this season. Meanwhile, it’s overall blocking came in even higher at 81.8, also second-highest of the season as the offensive line didn’t allow a single sack or tackle for loss against an Ole Miss defensive front that ranked top-10 nationally entering Saturday’s game.

“I think it’s improved. I think that comes with just keeping guys healthy,” Fairchild, who stepped in as a starter for Georgia during the absence of Amarius Mims, said about the team’s blocking. “Getting guys back in the rotation has a lot to do with it. Yeah, just keeping guys healthy is a huge part of it, so I think that has a lot to do with why it’s improved.”

“Yeah, we just prepared how we normally do,” he added, asked specifically about the talented Ole Miss defensive front that they held in check. “I think Sed (Sedrick Van Pran) has done an amazing job, and so has Tate (Ratledge) and (Xavier) Truss, at just making sure that everybody’s at film, watching film after practice. I think that plays a huge [role] to me because that’s something that I didn’t do, you know, before coming to college. I didn’t really watch film. I wasn’t a huge film guy, and so now doing it on a day-to-day basis I think has improved my knowledge of the game the most and being able to watch tendencies and stuff has helped us a lot.”

Fairchild and the rest of the offensive line will want to be spending their fair share of time watching film this week as Georgia’s next opponent brings an equally impressive set of talent in the defensive front to the table. Tennessee ranks No. 2 in the SEC and No. 5 in the NCAA for tackles for loss with 82.0 on the season. Individually, James Pearce has 11.5, good for fourth in the conference, while Aaron Beasley and Tyler Baron add over 8.0 a piece, both ranking top-15 in the SEC.

“They got good players. They play really hard. They strike at the point of attack. They’re aggressive. They’re hard to move because they’re big, then they have, you know, elite pass rushers. I mean, you got an elite pass rusher, you got people who can push the pocket, it creates sacks and things,” Smart said of the Vols. “They are very good defensively and a really big challenge especially when you talk about the front. There’s the rush, but then there’s controlling the line of scrimmage for your ability to run the ball and they’re good at both.”

Georgia will counter Tennessee’s attack with its offensive line rotation. With Mims back, six different Bulldogs played at least 34 snaps up front. That doesn’t even include Truss, who started at right tackle and began the season as a starter at left guard.

“I think we do a really good job of just playing for each other and being able to do that, you know, with guys splitting time, I think that speaks a lot about our line as a unit,” Fairchild said. “We’re really connected, and I think that just speaks a lot about how that shows — the connectivity … It’s a huge advantage I think. It’s an advantage because, you know, guys can stay fresh. Guys can play 20 really hard plays, and then the next guy 20 really hard plays, and you just keep rotating. I think it’s just a really good advantage just keeping guys fresh.”

Kickoff time for Saturday in Knoxville is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS. Georgia already has the SEC East clinched, but the Bulldogs certainly still have something to play for with an opportunity to tie the league’s longest winning streak, and of course their College Football Playoff hopes hanging in the balance.