Georgia football has had one of the best defenses in college football this season, and after looking into Michigan, it seems these two teams will match up evenly.
With Jordan Davis and Nakobe Dean pacing the Dawgs and Aiden Hutchinson with the Wolverines, these defenses will be looking to wreak havoc on Dec. 31.
The Dawgs have the better defense on paper, but stats don’t always tell the story. Michigan is a scrappy bunch who play hard-nosed defense, and while some of the stats suggest otherwise, this group doesn’t bow down easily.
Georgia football and Michigan stack up evenly when comparing defenses.
The Wolverines give up on average 16.08 points a game, 121.5 rushing yards, 194.69 passing yards and 316.2 total yards.
As for the Dawgs, they average 9.54 points, 81.9 rush yards, 172.62 pass yards, and 254.3 total yards a game.
Then if you break it down one step further, Georgia allows 5.3 yards a rush, 5.42 yards per pass attempt and 4.0 yards a play. The Wolverines allow 3.5 yards a rush, 5.97 yards per attempt and 4.7 yards per play.
Pretty evenly, right? Then havoc-wise, Hutchinson is a monster for Michigan as he has 15.5 tackles for loss and 14 sacks. He is a workhorse and helped the Wolverines win many of their games.
Dean has 8.5 tackles for loss and five sacks. That is a massive difference, but that is also because the Dawgs have five players with at least four sacks. So while it’s a group effort for Georgia, Michigan relies on Hutchinson a lot.
That statement isn’t saying it’s just Hutchinson because that whole group does a great job, but he is a massive piece of the puzzle for the Wolverines.
This game could come down to whose depth lasts longer. Whoever can find a way to cause more pressure and havoc will also be helpful. But just looking at these two defenses, they’re going to make each offense work hard because neither give up yardage very quickly.
Georgia and Michigan take on each other on Dec. 31, and it very well could be one of the best semifinal games in College Football Playoff history. These two teams stack up evenly, which means it could very well come down to who has a better game plan and does a better job coaching.