Josh Pate gives one key factor that will put Georgia over Alabama in rematch

Josh Pate believes that Georgia's improving play on the defensive line could be the difference in Saturday's SEC Championship game.

If there was one area that the Bulldogs were struggling in when the Crimson Tide came to Athens on September 27, it was with the pass rush. Georgia managed a sack on Ty Simpson in the 24-21 loss, but overall the Alabama quarterback had plenty of time to throw and never felt rushed or uncomfortable.

"They didn't sack Ty Simpson in the first game. They didn't even pressure him enough in the first game," Pate said. "But their havoc rate over the last half of the season has been over 20 percent in two of the past three games."

Smart and Schumann worked overtime in the lab

We all knew that Kirby Smart was not going to stand for having an insufficient pass rush all season. The low point of the season might've been the 43-35 win over Ole Miss. In that game, the Bulldogs couldn't get to quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, and it was on the offense to carry Georgia to the win.

That game was on October 18. Ever since then, the Bulldogs have played with a new sense of urgency up front, and it shows in the numbers. They are getting more pressure on the quarterback and forcing more mistakes. 

The Georgia defensive line showed its growing confidence against Texas in mid-November. They kept heat on Arch Manning all game and held the Longhorns to 2-for-12 on third downs. Last week against Georgia Tech, it was the defensive line that shut down the Yellow Jackets run game. 

Pate credits Smart for continuing to coach and develop his young defensive linemen during the season. He couldn't make major changes to the personnel or scheme, but he and defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann continued to tinker and make small adjustments until the players found success. 

"You're not going to reinvent yourself on the fly during the season, but what you can do is you can just keep coaching the 'you know what' out of your team to find fractions of inches and squeeze the sponge that much harder to get a couple more drops out of it," Pate concluded.