Georgia Football: Five most important players for Florida game

Tyler Clark, DT:

There is a reason that I used a picture of Tyler Clark from the Rose Bowl at the top of this slide. Because last year, in those last three glorious games of the season, Tyler Clark was awesome. I mean honest to god, I thought he might be a first-round pick. His quickness and burst at the point of attack gave offensive linemen nightmares and he caused more breakdowns in pass protection than any other defensive linemen.

That same player hasn’t been there yet this season. Now part of that is that once again, the Dawgs play relatively conservatively on defense in the early parts of the season. They don’t go hunting against teams that they know they should beat. Instead, they focus on playing solid, contain defense and getting the opponents off the field. It’s one of the things that shows that Kirby Smart is not a clone of Nick Saban.

But this week, in a matchup that should decide who goes to Atlanta, it’s time for Smart and Mel Tucker to take the leash off a bit. It’s also time for Tyler Clark to step up and play like that bull we saw in those final three games. This Florida offensive line is not good. We saw that against Kentucky and LSU. If Tyler Clark plays at his best, he’s got the ability to pretty much ruin their day by tearing through their OL and putting Felipe Franks on his back.

Clark isn’t the only defensive linemen who need to step up and play like 2017. Jonathan Ledbetter is another guy who when the leash came off last year, really stepped up and went after QB’s in those three games. I’m not saying the Dawgs should be reckless on defense, but if those two guys play at the level we all know they can, this defense will take the game away from Florida. Georgia has the talent to win both lines of scrimmage in this game. They just need to go out there and do it.