Tougher challenges await Georgia’s defense

Twice this season, Georgia has allowed an opposing team to control the clock and tempo in the first half. 

The first came against Alabama in a 24-21 loss, which saw the Bulldogs make too many mistakes to overcome an absolute dreadful first-half defensive performance. 

The second came in a 20-10 win over Auburn this past Saturday, where the defense allowed the Tigers to methodically move the ball for over seven minutes on the opening drive. The Tigers scored a touchdown and added a field goal on their next possession, which took five and a half minutes, to go up 10-0. 

And before the end of the first half, Auburn would have gone up 17-0 if not for Raylen Wilson punching the ball from Jackson Arnold at the goal line and Kyren Jones recovering it. This drive took almost eight minutes off the clock. 

The optimist would say the forced fumble was the catalyst to Georgia’s mid-game turnaround. The realist would say the Bulldogs must figure out how to keep these horrid defensive starts from happening.

While Georgia was able to get off the field in the second half, the defense was gifted a few self-inflicted errors by the Tigers. In particular, Georgia benefited greatly from a costly Preston Howard fourth-down drop that would’ve continued a drive in Georgia territory in the third quarter.

Georgia’s defense recorded only one sack, which was from CJ Allen at a timely point of the game. However, Georgia’s defensive line was unable to generate the kind of pressure needed against stiffer competition, such as Saturday’s opponent in Ole Miss. 

The Rebels rank second in the SEC in total offense at 515.3 yards per game. Quarterback Trinidad Chambliss has only been sacked five times this year, although three of them came in a closer-than-expected win this past weekend against Washington State. It’s crucial to pressure the quarterback, and that’s becoming a weekly broken record. Unfortunately, the Bulldogs have been unable to scheme pressures leading to multiple sack opportunities. 

Georgia clawed its way to a win over a pesky Auburn team that also gave Texas A&M and Oklahoma fits. While Auburn was never going to be an easy out, it’s not the same caliber of opponent that Ole Miss is. 

At this stage of the season, Georgia is going to have to win games by overcoming its deficiencies. The offense will need long drives of its own, like when it took up almost nine minutes to go up 20-10 in the fourth quarter. The offense will need to continue protecting the football by not giving the opposition easy scoring chances like it did against Alabama. 

At this stage of the season we know Georgia’s defense is strong against the run but incredibly vulnerable against good passing teams. Kentucky and Auburn, Georgia’s two most recent wins, didn’t possess the personnel to win games through the air. 

That will soon change, beginning with Saturday’s home game against the Rebels.