Georgia fans have gotten used to watching a dominant defense lead UGA to championships. But that unfortunately has not been the case this season.
This year it has been Georgia's offense leading the Bulldogs to victory, and while it is fun to watch UGA score a lot of points it is frustrating to see the defense struggle. And one of the biggest areas of concern from the fanbase is the lack of sacks and turnovers forced by Georgia's defense this season.
However, when it comes to their lack of sacks, Kirby Smart isn't concerned because he said that has been the case for his entire tenure.
"We've been that way before. We have never been a sack machine, if you look at us statistically," Smart said via 247sports.com.
The data however does not agree with Smart's statement.
Kirby Smart isn't concerned about Georgia's lack of sacks
Smart is in his tenth season as Georgia's head coach, and looking at the previous nine years there have been a few seasons where UGA has been one of top teams in the country at sacking the quarterback. In 2021 they were No. 6 in the country with with 49 sacks and in 2020 they were No. 11 with 32. However, most years Georgia has been ranked between No. 40 and No. 60 in the country in total sacks.
So there is a little truth to Smart's statement about their lack of sacks throughout his tenure, but this season has been much worse than every other year. So far this season Georgia only has eight sacks which is No. 129 in the country. This is by far the lowest ranking and sacks total Georgia has had during Smart's tenure.
The previous nine years shows that Georgia doesn't need to be elite at sacking the quarterback to be a good team, but this year is not living up to the average UGA has experienced under Smart. So fans have every right to be frustrated at the lack of sacks from the Bulldogs this season, and it's clear that Smart needs to take a look at this data because eight sacks in eight games is nowhere near good enough.