Three things Georgia football defense achieves against Arkansas State

Georgia football’s defense is off to a great start and is creating havoc on the field. The Dawgs need to keep that going this week against the Arkansas State Red Wolves. Here are three things we’d like to see from the defense on Saturday.

One thing that Georgia football’s defense wanted to accomplish more of in 2019 is creating havoc, and this group already did that against the first two opponents.

Now the defense needs to continue that trend against Arkansas State. According to georgiadogs.com, the Dawgs only give up 11.5 points a game, 69.5 yards on the ground, and 185 through the air.

Teams are averaging 4.2 yards a play against this scrappy defense and are 9-of-30 on third down. This squad knows how to get teams off the field, at least they did through the first two games.

With Arkansas State being the final game before the gauntlet stretch begins for Georgia, here are three things I want to see out of the defense this week.

If the Dawgs can do these three things, I feel like the result will look similar to last week.

1: More turnovers, please

Georgia’s only recovered two fumbles and gotten one interception on the year. Granted the Dawgs haven’t needed a turnover to flip the momentum of a game, but it would be nice to see those spike pads out a little more.

J.R. Reed has to be itching to put those pads on again, and this week could be his chance. However, it may not be him that snags an interception or picks up the fumble this week. It could very well be a young guy.

I would love to see that defensive line force a fumble sack and have our defense pick it up and run it in for a touchdown.

Georgia’s havoc rate is up already this year, but it could go up even further if the Dawgs could make their opponents cough up the ball.

2: Keep the aggressiveness coming

The Bulldogs already have 31 quarterback hurries this fall, and it’s so much fun to watch them. They’re flying all over the field, and to the ball, it’s good to see. However, Georgia’s defense cannot let up this week.

I think the Dawgs need to keep doing what it has been when it comes to putting pressure on quarterbacks. The more we try, the better we get at busting through lines. Granted, I know you cannot blitz or show pressure each time because teams will burn the defense.

However, this defensive line should be able to force pressure regardless, especially against this team. The Dawgs are way bigger on their front seven and are incredibly talented.

I want to see big Jordan Davis shove a quarterback into the ground or have him help Nolan Smith get another sack.

Georgia’s focus is to get pressure, and this week is no different.

3: No stupid penalties

Sometimes Georgia gets quite fired up, and then the penalties come. There are also times when a player gets a flag thrown on them, but it was okay because it was an aggressive move.

Either way, Georgia’s got to be careful about penalties, especially stupid ones that can keep the opponent’s drives going.

Currently, Georgia’s gotten 15 flags thrown on them for 155 yards. The Dawgs average 77.50 penalty yards a game. That number is way too high. Now not all of those mistakes are on the defenses shoulders because the offense has them too.

This game Georgia needs to clean it up, play aggressively but don’t do stupid things. Those poor decisions allow drives to continue and if the defense gets a big third down stop, you don’t want them to get a first down becuase the Dawgs cannot stay level headed.

It’s simple, play smart, keep a level head and do your job. If the Dawgs can do that, Arkansas State won’t be much of a challenge.

Georgia shouldn’t have any problems against Arkansas State on Saturday, but the defense needs to still do these three things. There is a big test, if not the biggest test of the season coming up next week, and this week is when Georgia fine-tunes everything for it.