Georgia football: Kirby Smart explains why pass rush is so effective

Georgia football coach Kirby Smart knows opposing quarterbacks don’t like facing the Bulldogs pass rush. Following a 40-13 victory against South Carolina on Saturday, he elaborated on what he believes makes it so dangerous.

“Our guys get off and pass rush and there’s a lot of detail that goes into that,” Smart said. “The amount of time all the defensive guys spend on creating rush — it’s not just one-on-one ‘I beat my guy.’ It’s gains. It’s twists. It’s stunts. It’s knowing when it’s a pass and when it’s a run. When you can take advantage of things. Our linebackers call to our front to get them in pass rush mode.”

The Georgia defense was relentless in the victory as it recorded three sacks and forced two turnovers versus South Carolina. They also held the Gamecocks to only 82 yards rushing on 2.4 yards per carry.

Georgia jumped out to a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter and never trailed. They went into halftime with a comfortable 26-6 advantage.

Bulldogs quarterback JT Daniels stole the show as he finished 23-of-31 passing for 303 yards and three touchdowns. All three scores went to a different receiver.

It was a great performance from both the offense and defense, and Smart said his team can only get better from here. The coach is prepared for teams to play the Bulldogs differently after seeing their defensive success.

“I think our guys are great get-off guys,” he said. “I do think people are gonna scheme us up a little bit. They’re gonna protect first. They’re gonna chip us. They’re gonna seven-man protect. We’ve got to have some answers. Some of our sacks have been coverage sacks, but tonight they had a nice plan. They got the ball out quick and made it simple for the quarterback. They beat us one-on-one some. When you lose one-on-one, you lose third downs.

“I don’t know how we can improve it, but I can assure you our coaching staff will never rest. When you’re ripe you rot and when you’re green you grow. And my god we’re gonna stay green.”

Smart wasn’t the only one impressed with the Georgia pass rush, however. South Carolina coach Shane Beamer had plenty of compliments for them following his team’s loss.

“They’ve got like 100 five-star football players on their defense,” Beamer said. “They have a defensive lineman that weighs 340 pounds and runs better than everybody on this call. They’ve got five-star defensive backs. They’re big, physical and fast. Other than that, they’re really freaking good.

“That’s why they have the top defense in the country. It’s hard to run the football against them. There wasn’t some magical scheme they came up with. They’ve got five-star recruits and they’re really physical.”

Georgia will look to continue its undefeated season when it faces Vanderbilt at noon ET Saturday on the road.