Georgia football: overreactions after the Dawgs blowout victory over Middle Tennessee

Georgia football continued their undefeated start to the 2018 season Saturday with a 49-7 win over Middle Tennessee State.

Sacks are awesome. They’re the defensive equivalent to a long pass or run on offense. They knock opposing teams backwards and make the quarterback anxious in the pocket. So it’s easy to see why many fans are panicking at the fact that Georgia football is dead last in sacks nationally, and almost last in tackles for a loss.

The Bulldogs only have one sack in 2018, D’Andre Walker’s backfield tackle against South Carolina. Only 11 tackles have come in opposing backfields. Two of which belong to Walker, a senior outside linebacker in his only season as Georgia’s full-time starter.

For a three-game stretch that includes FCS team Austin Peay, SEC rival South Carolina and Conference USA contender Middle Tennessee State, one sack and 11 tackles for a loss is extremely low. On paper, that stat is very alarming. But head coach Kirby Smart laughed off questions from the media about Georgia’s lack of sacks. Instead, Smart praised Middle Tennessee’s quarterback for his quick release.

"“I don’t think we ever got a chance to rush the passer, put a stopwatch on that guy getting rid of the ball. I look more at total yards per completion, and how many points they had on the scoreboard. Everybody wants sacks, everybody wants pass rush, but if you put a stopwatch on him, and you take the whole offensive line off the field and don’t block anybody, I don’t know that we could have gotten to him, so we better defend the pass.”"

So why isn’t Smart concerned? Mostly because Georgia’s defense excels in other areas. The Dawgs are first in yards per completion, opponents are only gaining 7.39 yards every time a ball is caught. They’re ranked sixth in yards per attempt with a measly 4.78 yards allowed. Most importantly however, Georgia is second in scoring defense at eight points per game.

It’s hard to be upset with a lack of sacks when opposing passing games aren’t hurting you in the slightest. The only big passing plays Georgia’s defense have allowed this year have come in garbage time against South Carolina, and on a quick screen versus Middle Tennessee.

It’s encouraging that Georgia’s best game when it comes to sacks and tackles for a loss came against South Carolina, the toughest opponent of the season so far. In that game, the Dawgs had one sack and six tackles for a loss.

Against Austin Peay, the Bulldogs seldom blitzed and almost never left their base 3-4 formation. They played almost as conservatively against Middle Tennessee. Instead it seems like the focus is on pass coverage. The defensive backfield is the thinest on the team in terms of depth, so Smart wants to ensure that his corners, safeties and nickels are as prepared as possible for conference play.

The only way to do that is to have them in situations where they are covering passes and tackling receivers. Their jobs would be too easy and they may end up ill-prepared if the front seven is making two or three sacks each game. That preparation strategy seemed to pay off against South Carolina. The DB’s shut down the Gamecocks passing game which is led by a veteran quarterback and the best receiving duo on the schedule.