Georgia Football: 3 simple defensive keys for Dawgs to shutdown the Gators

Dawgs need to make Gators one dimensional

As cliche as it sounds, Georgia football has to make Florida one-dimensional if they want to win this ballgame.

The Gators average 254.3 yards on the ground and 247.43 through the air, which shows they are a decently balanced offense.

However, as Kentucky and LSU proved, the Gators will have a hard time beating a team if you shut down the run.

The last team Georgia played that was this run-heavy was just two weeks ago, as the Wildcats averaged 200-plus yards on the ground a game.

Well, Georgia allowed them to gain just 55 yards rush, and Christopher Rodriguez Jr. had seven of them.

The Dawgs did a great job forcing them to make plays through the air, and while Florida is a better passing offense than Kentucky, those 12 combined interceptions stick out to us here.

If Georgia suffocates the running game, it’ll provide more opportunities to throw interceptions. Yes, Florida has had a few explosive passing plays through their first seven games, but they’ve had far more rushing ones.

So Georgia needs to live and die on stopping the run because it’s more important to do that than put all the eggs in stopping the passing game.

The Dawgs do a great job at creating pressure on quarterbacks as they have 122 quarterback hurries on the season, 24 sacks, 43 tackles for loss and 22 pass breakups.

This defense knows how to shut down a rush attack, and with just one running touchdown on them all season, they should be confident that they can stop Florida.

However, it’s going to take a total group effort to get it done because this rivalry game is never one to go into overly confident.

Head coach Kirby Smart knows, his players know and so Saturday will likely provide a great game that the Dawgs eventually run away with to stay undefeated on the year.