Georgia Football: Big week for UGA’s defense heading to LSU
The Georgia Football team is going to have to play well to come out of Death Valley with a victory and that means they need their defense to put together a great performance.
Kirby Smart, the Georgia Football head coach is a defensive guy at heart. That means that as much as he loves to see his offense go out there and dominate a game, deep down, he loves nothing more than seeing his defense shut a team down. He’s been dissapointed in that regard the past few weeks with his defense and this week, the Dawgs will struggle if they let him down again.
UGA gave up over 200 yards of offense to Vanderbilt in the first half last week. They allowed Tennessee to score two touchdowns thanks to blown assignments and Missouri was able to run all over them. Those are not the kinds of performances that Smart is used to seeing from this unit. It’s certainly very different to last season which is why fans are so concerned.
This Georgia defense has yet to play a complete game. They’ve been good, even great at times, but they’re yet to put it all together in one performance. At times they’ve looked solid against the run, at others they’ve been downright impossible to throw on. Consistancy, however, has been lacking so far and that will need to change this week. The Dawgs are yet to play a game quite like being away in Death Valley.
LSU are good this season. Yes, they laid an egg against Florida this last week, but that makes this game even more important for them. They can no longer afford to lose this game and still potentially win the SEC West. This game will essentially decide their season so they are going to be desperate to beat Georgia.
Georgia’s offense will need to be good, but a lot if going to fall on this young defense. If they can take away the run game and put pressure on Joe Burrows, this LSU offense is not that dangerous. At times last week, their offensive line looked down right terrible. UGA has the players to win the battle on the line of scrimmage should they play to their potential. No matter how hostile an environment, that could decide the result.
Jake Fromm and the offense will be the side of the ball that could potentially struggle because of the atmosphere. UGA’s defense shouldn’t have the same issue and so it’s up to them to put the pressure on LSU and take their fans out of the game. If the Tigers struggle to move the ball, that crowd could turn into a negative for them because their fans will not be happy watching repeated 3-and-outs.
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Its a big ask for a young defense but this is what Kirby Smart has always expected from this side of the ball. If they play with discipline and reach their potential, there is no reason that the Dawgs won’t be able to hold LSU to under 20 points in this game. If that happens, Georgia should be able to emerge from a very challenging venue with a very good win.