Georgia football will overpower Ohio State with its dominant defense

Georgia football and Ohio State face off with each other on Saturday. While both teams are full of talented players, there always seems to be some memory loss from opposing fans when it comes to the Dawgs’ defense. Every time the Dawgs play in a big game, people forget how dominant their defense can be and have some kind of audacity to think Georgia’s defense isn’t as good as it looks.

So instead of letting all the false narratives run wild, let’s look at the Dawgs’ defense and the Ohio State offense. How do they match up with each other? Is Ohio State’s offense that much more prolific that Georgia’s defense won’t know what to do with the Buckeyes?

Ahead of the Peach Bowl, head coach Kirby Smart said the Buckeyes were different from anyone the Dawgs’ have faced in recent years. This statement is obviously true because Smart said it, but at the same time, Georgia’s defense knows how to handle big offenses like Ohio State has.

Georgia football has a defense that can and will expose Ohio State.

The Wolverines and Dawgs are both smash-mouth football teams that like to bully opponents. Michigan laid out the game plan to beat the Buckeyes when they took them down earlier this year. Everyone saw what Michigan did to Ohio State, and you cannot convince us that Smart and his staff didn’t watch that game on repeat.

Ohio State averages 44.5 points a game this season, and against the three teams still ranked on its schedule, it averaged just 29 points. As for the Dawgs, they gave up 12.77 points a game, and against the three teams still ranked on its schedule, they gave up around 15 points.

Sure some people think that this Georgia defense going up against this Ohio State offense is good-on-good, but at the same time, the Buckeyes haven’t faced a group quite like the Dawgs.

Sure, Georgia’s secondary gives up 215 yards on average through the air, but they also limit teams to 77 yards on the ground. Yes, Georgia likes to stop the run first, and Ohio State is someone that averages 294.2 passing yards a game and throws 31 times a game, but that isn’t out of the norm. Tennessee averages 332.3 passing yards and 32.8 times a game. The Dawgs held them to 13 points.

While Ohio State has the numbers, Georgia’s defense has the defensive ones to match it. Ohio State averages 525.5 offensive yards a game, but Georgia gives up 292.3. The Buckeyes average 7.1 yards a play, while the Dawgs limit teams to 4.6 yards a play.

Third downs will be a difference-maker in this game. Georgia has the No. 3 defense on third down, allowing opponents to convert 26.7%. Ohio State converts 46%, which is No. 20 nationally. If Georgia can get the Buckeyes off the field on this down, it’ll be a similar outcome to the other big games the Dawgs have played this year.

Tennessee converted 2-of-14 third downs, which is a massive reason Georgia demoralized the Vols. Ohio State will look to do what Tennessee couldn’t, and CJ Stroud is a talented quarterback that could hurt the Dawgs, but Georgia will have other ideas.

When you look at these two teams on paper, it’s a great matchup, as it should be regarding the College Football Playoff, but still, Georgia’s defense is getting overlooked.

Why would Ohio State be the outlier or the one that does what elite offenses like Tennessee and Oregon couldn’t? We’re not discrediting the Buckeyes at all, but at the same time, we know what kind of intensity Georgia’s defense brings to the table.

This game will be good because it will test Ohio State and its offense. However, the Buckeyes’ stats come from playing against lesser opponents. Georgia had its moments this season too, but against top talent, the Dawgs rose to the occasion and dominated.

Georgia’s defense presents a better argument than Ohio State’s offense. The Dawgs have done more against formidable opponents, while the Buckeyes struggled in their bigger games. To suggest that Ohio State’s offense is that much better than the other prolific ones that Georgia has faced is silly because it isn’t hard to make stats look good when you have a schedule like the Buckeyes.

Ohio State is about to run into a predatory powerhouse they haven’t seen all season, and it could get ugly for the Buckeyes if the Dawgs’ defense can shut it down early. Georgia has a chip on its shoulder and wants to make history more than anything — to do that, Ohio State is the next victim.