After watching some of the early games in Week 8 of the college football season, Georgia football will prove to the world once again why defenses win championships.
They’re off this week, but so far, the way they play is plenty of evidence.
Recently, college football has been all about high-power offenses that drop 40-plus points a game, but defense is making a comeback with the Dawgs leading the way.
Look at Illinois and how they shut down Penn State on Saturday. Granted, it took nine overtime periods, but they made defensive stop after defensive stop when it mattered most.
Even if Sean Clifford wasn’t 100%, the Nittnay Lions couldn’t do anything against Illinois’ defense. Then again, they really couldn’t all season long but were able to score just enough. Not this week, they were exposed, and there is one less undefeated team.
Oklahoma struggled against Kansas’ defense until their depth bailed them out when they finally scored at the end of the game. The Jayhawks held the Sooners scoreless in the first half.
Cincinnati had Navy on their heels all game and only scored 27 points.
The point here is, Georgia football has a no-name defense that is better than the teams some of these “playoff” contenders played on Saturday.
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If teams like Oklahoma and Cincinnati want to beat the Dawgs, they’ll have to play better than they did on Saturday. We would include Penn State, but they are out after losing to a 3-5 Illinois team.
Ohio State plays late Saturday night against a 2-4 Indiana team, and Alabama plays Tennessee. So the debate is still up in the air for those two teams.
The biggest difference between Georgia and the other top-ranked teams is their defense. Alabama has a good unit but not quite like the Dawgs.
Georgia’s opponents average 6.4 points a game, which gives the Bulldogs the No. 1 scoring defense in the country.
The Dawgs give up just 64 yards a game on the ground, which is No.2 nationally behind San Diego State. Then through the air, they are No. 2 nationally, giving up just 144.9 yards a game.
For total defense, the Dawgs give up just 209.1 yards game, ranking No. 1 nationally. Wisconsin, which is No. 2, averages 225.8 yards.
They are the only team in the country to beat four ranked opponents on the year.
So while they are undefeated or have one loss, it’s hard to say they will challenge Georgia when they’re struggling with lesser teams. Yes, on any given day, a team can beat another team — hello Illinois. However, if you want to win a national title, no team can get in the way of that.
Georgia can avoid that issue if they continue to take each week like it’s the last game of the season, and they want to prove a point.
That edge will elevate the Dawgs over the other teams in the top 10.
Their dominance on defense is so suffocating other teams won’t know what to do with it. Even watching the film doesn’t help much outside of seeing what to expect. If these teams cannot score on these teams that they should, what makes anyone think they will score on Georgia?
Defenses used to win championships year after year, and while the offensive talent that has come through college football has silenced that a bit, the Dawgs are coming in hot with a defensive unit that is bringing back the trend.
With Jordan Davis, Nakobe Dean, Adam Anderson, Lewis Cine, Kelee Ringo, Quay Walker, Nolan Smith, and the other guys showing out each week, it’s hard to say they aren’t making an argument for it.
Even with the Dawgs off for the week, they should be happy to see these other schools struggling. Georgia’s defense is so good that they will demoralize these other playoff contenders when they eventually play these teams.
That statement may be a bit premature, but after watching the crazy weekend of football games while Georgia rests, it should make Dawg fans feel a lot better about their chances.
As crazy as this season has been this year, it would make sense that a Georgia team would break a 41-year drought.