Love them or hate them, Georgia has the epitome of a bend but don't break defense. It can be painfully frustrating at times, especially watching the likes of Tennessee, Alabama and Ole Miss march down the field at will on them. That being said, this continues to be one of the best second-half teams in the country. They make adjustments particularly on the defensive side of the football.
Amid all the Gunner Stockton glory, and rightfully so, FanSided's Josh Yourish wrote about the other star player for Georgia no one is talking about in his Table for 12 article for Week 10 on Saturday Blitz. That would be linebacker CJ Allen. While Dawg Nation has known how important Allen is to the overall livelihood of Glenn Schumann's defensive front-seven, Yourish did a great job of explaining it more so.
These paragraphs from Yourish over on Saturday Blitz proves that Allen can cover up others' messes.
"Georgia’s pass rush has been wildly underwhelming this season. That, along with a lack of run-stuffing, has allowed opponents to convert on late downs at a 44.8 percent clip this year while facing a first percentile average distance of just 5.91 yards. That distance was just 4.85 yards for Florida on Saturday, yet the Gators finished with a 23 percent late-down success rate and -1.61 EPA/play."
Clearly, Georgia will give up some yardage on most plays, but Allen will be there to make the tackle.
"CJ Allen was everywhere in Jacksonville, recording 11 tackles and seven stops, the most by a Georgia defender since Allen in Week 14 against Georgia Tech last season, and the most by a Georgia defender in regulation since Allen, as a true freshman, in a 52-17 win over Ole Miss in Week 11 of the 2023 season. "
Although Georgia may not be able to win it all because its pass rush, they will be in it because of Allen.
CJ Allen is the straw that stirs the drink for the Georgia Bulldogs defense
While other schools may want to claim the title of Linebacker U, Georgia almost always has one at the top of the game in college football. Over the last decade, it has seen three of its linebackers win the Butkus Award with Roquan Smith, Nakobe Dean and Jalon Walker all earning the major trophy. Allen may not achieve that this year, but he has been the most consistently strong performer for Georgia.
Overall, Georgia will occasionally give up the big play because of its inexperienced secondary and its undeniable lack of a pass rush. However, this team has tremendous composure in all three phases. It trickles down from its excellent head coach Kirby Smart, but it also needs the right team leaders to carry out his message on the field. Stockton is that on offense, as Allen has become that on defense.
Ultimately, Georgia remains one of the toughest teams in the country to beat because it usually saves its best for when the game matters. Georgia is one possession away from being undefeated and potentially ranked No. 1 overall. Rather than play woulda, coulda, shoulda, let's just be thrilled that Georgia has a player of Allen's caliber in a key position group of linebacker. He has been impressive.
If Georgia plans on making some noise in the playoff, it will need others to rise to Allen's level soon.