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'Family ball' approach fuels Georgia defense throughout reload season

On3 imageby: Jake Rowe12/27/22JakeMRowe

ATLANTA, Ga. — Georgia’s 2022 defense, statistically speaking, has been almost as good as it was in 2021. If you know what took place between those two years, it sounds almost impossible.

The Bulldogs lost eight players to the 2022 NFL Draft. That includes the No. 1 overall pick, five total first-round picks, and seven picks within the first two days of the three-day event. Yet here they are, ranked No. 1 in the nation, allowing 12.3 points per game (two more than last year) and just over a half yard more per play.

How? There are new starters everywhere. Stud defensive tackle Jalen Carter essentially missed half the season. Georgia has had to rely on true freshmen at safety, defensive end, and within its third-down package. It lost senior outside linebacker and emotional leader Nolan Smith for the season during the Florida game. It went out and held the high-flying Tennessee offense to just 13 points the following week.

Recruiting and talent plays a big role. Coaching is also heavily involved. But everything hinges around connection and selflessness.

“This is not selfish ball over here, this is family ball,” sophomore inside linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson said on Tuesday.

Dumas-Johnson, known by coaches and teammates as “pop,” says that statistics play zero role in how the Bulldogs evaluate themselves. There’s a play-for-each-other mentality born out of the skull sessions and intentional connection-building exercises Kirby Smart implements each offseason.

There are in-game, even in-play examples as well. Many of UGA’s pass-rush stunts require one or more men to essentially set a basketball-like pick to free up a teammate to get a run at the quarterback.

Another side exists to the whole “family ball” dynamic. It’s not always sunshine and roses. Things don’t go well every play of every game. It was on display with the 2021 team when Nakobe Dean ripped into Channing Tindall after Alabama nearly scored a touchdown inside the red zone because the latter was out of position.

Tindall responded by coming back on the next play and sacking Bryce Young for big loss, forcing Alabama to kick one of its three red-zone field goals. Accountability like that is easier talked about than executed.

That’s where the concept of family and connection comes into play. Players are going to play hard, coaches are going to coach hard, it’s all in love, and feelings can’t get hurt. Georgia is pretty good at that.

“We coach our guys hard and they receive hard coaching,” Georgia co-defensive coordinator Will Muschamp said. “I think you can do that if there’s a certain connection and that’s a word we talk about in our organization a lot. I think there’s a huge connection because you can be very honest with somebody when you have connection, probably not so much when there’s not a connection. At the end of the day they know we have their best interest and that’s to help them be the best football player they can be which helps be the best team we can be at the University of Georgia. I think there’s a huge buy-in from that. I think of that, and me just being at Georgia for two years, it’s built off of last year’s team and the belief and the connection that we had from a year ago and it (has) bled into this season with our players as well.”

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