The early part of Georgia’s season was plagued by struggles from the secondary.
The Bulldogs had a catastrophic performance against Tennessee in which they allowed 371 passing yards and four touchdowns. Georgia gave up 41 points and was lucky to escape with a win after a game where their defensive backs struggled to play the ball in the air and suffered several coverage busts.
They couldn’t get off the field in their next game against Alabama either as they surrendered 13 third down conversions and 280 passing yards in a 24-21 home loss to the Tide. The Bulldogs’ struggles on the backend clearly has been a real concern. all season
Georgia's secondary has slowly been improving
However, the last few weeks have been more promising. Georgia held Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss to just under a 53 percent completion percentage in their win over the Rebels. Their last two games, wins over Florida and Mississippi State, saw Georgia hold their opponent to under 200 passing yards both times as well.
“We’ve played good in spurts and we’ve played poor,” head coach Kirby Smart said of the secondary’s play the last few weeks via dawgnation.com. “It’s kind of like everything. There’s things that I would like to see done better, and there’s things that were improved on. So it kind of depends on what quarter or what play you’re talking about.”
In a development somewhat mirroring Georgia’s, Texas has seen much better production from its passing offense lately which is bad news for UGA.
After struggling against Power Four competition to start the year and even a shaky showing against UTEP, Texas quarterback Arch Manning has thrown for over 320 yards in Texas’ last two games.
“He’s playing with more confidence,” Smart said of Manning. “Number one, he’s getting better protection. He’s seeing things well. He’s making good decisions. He’s getting the ball out of his hand quickly. I mean, he’s maturing.”
Texas will be a massive test for Georgia's secondary
Saturday marks a tremendous test for each of these respective units, who both seem to be rounding into form at the same time. And while Georgia may not have the same pass rush that devastated Texas in their first meeting last year— far from it, actually— they do still have the man who plucked four takeaways from the Longhorns in two games last year.
Daylen Everette is back for another year manning Georgia’s top outside cornerback spot as one of the most experienced defensive backs in the SEC. But his counterpart, Ellis Robinson IV, has had an up-and-down season despite flashing gobs of potential at times. Daniel Harris is also seemingly back in the mix after getting some burn against Mississippi State.
Texas has struggled to run the ball this season which has made it hard for them to sustain drives, resulting in more reliance on explosive pass plays. And Georgia, whose pass rush has struggled to get home all season, has had to rely on blitzes to create pressure.
If the Bulldogs want to rattle Manning, they’re going to have to send some extra guys at times and vacate space on the back end. It’ll test the quarterback’s ability to deal with blitzes and simulated pressures, as well as the secondary’s ability to hold their own without as much help.
That’s where everyone will see which side of this matchup between Texas’ passing offense and Georgia’s passing defense has improved more. And it could end up deciding one of the biggest games of the college football season.