Georgia Bulldogs Football: 5 Things the Florida Gators Exposed

Nov 1, 2014; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Florida Gators running back Matt Jones (24) runs with the ball against the Georgia Bulldogs during the second half at EverBank Field. Florida Gators defeated the Georgia Bulldogs 38-20. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The Run Defense May Not be as Good as Advertised

Up until the game with the Gators, the concerns on defense seemed focused around the young, inexperienced and thinly manned secondary. The talk before every game was about whether or not the Georgia defensive backs would be able to hold up and avoid being burned for big plays.

Nobody thought to worry about defending the run. That was in the bag.

The problem is this. Every other team before Florida also saw Georgia’s secondary as a weakness, and tried to exploit it. This opened up opportunities for the Bulldogs front seven to create quarterback sacks and fumbles, and for the secondary to make interceptions for big plays.

But Florida simplified, and went practically exclusive with the run against Georgia. If the Dawgs brought the corners up, Florida pounded up the gut. When Jeremy Pruitt brought his safeties into the box, the Gators bounced it to the flanks, and ate up huge chunks of yards

Georgia had no answer.

The pass rushers couldn’t make an impact, because Treon Harris rarely dropped back into the pocket, and the secondary was too concerned with run support to take advantage of the six pass attempts that were made in the game.

If you don’t think Auburn and Georgia Tech didn’t take notice of how easily the Georgia run defense could be beaten, you aren’t thinking at all.