Jalen Carter, Georgia defensive line have Ohio State's attention ahead of Peach Bowl
ATLANTA — Georgia’s run defense has been a strength of its overall attack on that side of the ball. The Bulldogs rank as the best unit in the country, the only team allowing less than 80.0 yards per game (76.92). That’ll be important attempting to slow down Ohio State‘s rushing attack of Miyan Williams, Dallan Hayden and Chip Trayanum Saturday in the Peach Bowl, and maybe no player will be more important in that effort than defensive lineman Jalen Carter.
“He’s somebody you gotta account for every snap,” Muschamp said. “He can change the game certainly inside. He’s a very disruptive guy in the run game and in the pass game. So that’s something that’s — a guy that’s very disruptive. And you gotta account for him every snap, and sometimes it’s hard to help in protection for an inside player. It’s much easier to chip on the edges and be able to have some protection. You can turn the protection. We’re very aware of that, that we’ve gotta create situations where Jalen is one-on-ones, and that’s what we try and do as much as we can.”
Ohio State is aware of Carter too. It’s hard not to be when the 6-foot-3, 300-pound former five-star is one of the top prospects in the 2023 NFL Draft. Considered by many to be the best defensive player in the draft class, Carter was named an unanimous All-American with 29 total tackles, including 7.0 tackles for loss and 3.0 sacks, and 25 quarterback hurries in 11 games. All seven of his tackles for loss came in the final five games once he was healthy.
Carter’s not the only player that Georgia has on the defensive line either. Nazir Stackhouse, Zion Logue and Warren Brinson have been productive on the inside. Mykel Williams has been a talented freshman on the outside while Tramel Walthour has provided a solid veteran presence.
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“I think, when you look at their defensive line, first off, you see some really good players with really good size, but you also see multiple people that can play. You see really two, sometimes three deep each of the positions inside,” Day said. “I think they do a great job with their hands. I think they do a good job with their pad level, and they try to just eat up as many gaps as possible and try to create a mess inside, and they do a good job of that, and they have. They’ve done that against a lot of great teams and a lot of great offenses.”
“Well we have some talented players, but we also have depth,” Muschamp added. “There’s nothing more exerting than rushing the passer as a player. There’s nothing more tiring than rushing the passer. Tray, we’re able to roll so many guys that play in there, whether it’s playing Mykel inside or whatever we’re doing in our packages based on our personnel. Again, I think being able to play that many guys inside certainly helps us.”
Kickoff time between the Bulldogs and Buckeyes is set for 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPN. Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Holly Rowe will be on the call live from Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta with a spot in the National Championship Game on the line.
