ATHENS – Give Nolan Smith credit. He owns it like the wallet he carries in his pocket.
No sacks against Alabama in the last game? Smith said point at him.
“I hold myself and my group accountable,” Smith said during a video news conference with Georgia players Wednesday. “And also our D-line. That’s our job as pass rushers to get after the quarterback, and we didn’t do that. So, the difference between this game and that one is just we have to do it.”
While Smith’s martyrdom is to be appreciated, it’s not really all on him or his group that Georgia registered zero sacks in the 41-24 loss to Alabama in the SEC Championship game Dec. 4. Scheme and the Crimson Tide’s inherent abilities to thwart what the Bulldogs were doing also must factored in, and those were significant.
First, it must be dispensed with that Georgia simply didn’t try to pressure quarterback Bryce Young, that it was choosing instead to drop seven and eight into coverage and keep everything underneath them. That would have been quite a departure from what Auburn did one week earlier. The Tigers sacked Young seven times in an overtime loss the previous game.
ArLuther Lee
ArLuther Lee
No, Georgia very much tried to pressure Young via traditionally means and by blitzing inside linebackers and defensive backs. They just couldn’t get to him.
“It wasn’t for a lack of trying,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “We brought a lot of different pressures. They did a good job picking those pressures up. And, at the end of the day, there’s four or five guys that are one-on-one up there. Somebody’s got to win one-on-one.”
Alabama’s sophomore quarterback pretty much sewed up his Heisman Trophy bid that day at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. He threw for an SEC Championship game-record 421 yards and three touchdowns on 26-of-44 passing. Two of his touchdowns went for 67 and 55 yards to split end Jameson Williams. He had several other long completions. John Metchie caught one TD that went 13 yards, and Young ran 11 yards for another score.
It was big-play central for Bama in the Benz.
That the Crimson Tide was doing it against a defense that came in allowing only 6.9 points per game and led in almost every other category, too, made it more astounding – or remarkable – depending on one’s perspective.
There’s no doubt how the Bulldogs felt about it.
“That felt pretty bad,” senior linebacker Quay Walker said. “Knowing that we didn’t have any sacks on defense, any turnovers, you know you’re not going to win if you don’t do those kinds of things.”
Said Smith: “We say here all the time, ‘the best rush is the best coverage.’ We’ve got to get to the quarterback; there’s just nothing else about it. Last game we didn’t do that, and a lot of people were hurt about that.”
Of course, with the offensive players Alabama has, opposing defenses blitz at their own peril. That’s what often happened in the last matchup. When Georgia did send Walker or Nakobe Dean from the inside or defensive backs from the outside, they simply didn’t get to Young quickly enough or get him down when they got there.
That’s well-illustrated from the stats of the day. Georgia had 15 quarterback pressures, or hurries. That was three times as many as Alabama, which recorded three sacks in the game.
So, against, it wasn’t from Georgia’s lack of trying.
“We got really close a few times,” Walker said. “But, at the end of the day, you’ve just got to finish. That’s pretty much the main thing.”
Pretty much.
The next time out, against Michigan on Friday in the Orange Bowl, Georgia’s defense was back in business. The Bulldogs recorded four sacks in the 34-11 win, and two more quarterback hurries. But Cade McNamara is not to be confused with Young.
Heading into Monday night’s game in Indianapolis, Georgia ranks fourth nationally with 45 sacks, 22nd in tackles for loss with 92 and has 224 QB hurries, which the NCAA doesn’t recognize as an official stat.
In short, the Bulldogs feel like they have the scheme and personnel to get to Young. They intend to this time around.
“Ultimately, we want to get pressure and we want to get after Bryce,” Georgia defensive coordinator Dan Lanning said Wednesday. “I don’t want to get into how we’re going to do it and all our secrets. But certainly there are a lot of ways to do that.”
Again, Alabama deserves a lot of credit for doing what it did. Young and Williams’ talents are apparent. But the Tide’s offensive line also played extremely well against Georgia’s famed defensive front.
Meanwhile, Cincinnati was able to put some pressure on Young on Friday in the Cotton Bowl, recording two sacks and four hurries. Alabama also incurred some injuries on the offensive front, with right guard Emil Ekiyor (shoulder) and tackle Chris Owens (ankle) having to leave the game. Their status for Monday’s contest is unknown.
The Tide also lost Metchie, their receptions leader, to a non-contact knee injury in the SEC title game. Freshman Ja’Corey Brooks got the start in the Cotton Bowl and finished with 66 yards and a touchdown on four receptions.
But Young and Williams are still very much in the fold, and they proved to be a nightmare for the Bulldogs the last time around. So Georgia will either have to do something different or do what it does better.
“We watch film pretty close and try to see what’s successful against a team,” Lanning said. “I think they just had good answers and played better than we did that day. But we’ve always been pretty multiple and have a variety of ways we can attack teams.”
Said Smith: “We just have to do it; we have to find a way. I believe in our coaches, and I trust in the plan that we’re still working on that we’ll be able to do that.”
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