Throughout the 2025 regular season, the outside world was sounding the alarm on the Georgia Bulldogs’ defense. Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs, who have developed a reputation for having some of college football’s most vaunted defenses year in and year out, didn’t look particularly good on that end to begin the year.
There was the 44-41 scare against Tennessee in which Georgia’s pass rush struggled to get home and its secondary had a litany of coverage busts that allowed Volunteers quarterback Joey Aguilar to carve the Bulldogs up and nearly get Tennessee' s first win over Georgia in nine years.
Georgia’s 24-21 loss to Alabama the following game was an even worse pass rushing performance as the lack of pressure allowed Ty Simpson to sit back and make just enough throws to hand the Bulldogs their first home loss since 2019 in a game where the Bulldogs outrushed the Tide by 110 yards. And then Georgia allowed five touchdowns to Ole Miss on its first five drives before finally clamping down in the fourth quarter to get the 43-35 win.
“There was naysayers throughout the season, and probably with good reason,” Smart said via 247sports.com. We had a couple of defensive games midseason and later that we didn’t play up to our standard, and a lot of that had to do with the team we’re playing.”
Georgia's historically slow start didn't impact their process
The Bulldogs had just seven sacks in their first eight games and an inconsistent secondary that surrendered some big plays. But within their building, the belief in their young defense never wavered.
“I get to sit in meetings with offense and defense, and I listened to the defensive coaches explain to the defensive players that we’re going to be really good when we get this right, and you need to trust and believe in the process that we have and get better,” Smart said. “And they got better.”
Georgia’s pass rush has been an entirely different beast in its last five games as they have a whopping 12 sacks in that span.
Freshman pass rusher Zayden Walker has been a revelation in the second half of the year, with two sacks and a forced fumble against Texas and Alabama combined. Linebackers Chris Cole, CJ Allen and Raylen Wilson have continued to be forces, and the Bulldogs have also gotten some serious late-season juice from defensive linemen Xzavier McLeod, Elijah Griffin and Christen Miller.
Never mind that the Bulldogs’ run defense has remained stout all season and is currently allowing the fourth-fewest rushing yards per game in the country at 79.2. Their masterpiece so far came against Alabama in their 28-7 SEC championship romp, where they shut down the Tide to the tune of -3 rushing yards.
“We just tried to make it one-dimensional,” cornerback Daylen Everette said. “That's one thing we emphasized coming into this season, we got to do better stopping the run on defense.”
Georgia's secondary has had the biggest turnaround
Georgia's secondary has looked like a different group lately too. Demello Jones has become one of the SEC’s most physical cornerbacks lately and ran Daniel Harris into the portal. Everette made another big play in a big game by intercepting Simpson in the SEC championship. And the most dominant of all, the player who has perhaps grown more than any Georgia defender throughout the year in Ellis Robinson IV.
Robinson has arguably been the best cornerback in the country over the past month. In his past three games, he has allowed one catch and held quarterbacks to a dreadful 6.9 passer rating when targeted. He also has recorded two interceptions to cap off his stellar month to finish the season.
In the Alabama game, Robinson completely erased star receivers Ryan Williams and Isaiah Horton as he allowed zero catches on 39 coverage snaps and three targets. He’s looked like a more confident player whose physicality has also made leaps and bounds.
Georgia’s defense is playing its best football at a time where it needs it the most. And with a few weeks of rest ahead of the Sugar Bowl, which will either feature Tulane or a rematch with Ole Miss, the emphasis is on continuing to grow and not be satisfied with the recent positive results.
“The last thing you can do is think you’ve arrived on defense or offense and not grow,” Smart said. “That’s the key point in this window of opportunity, who actually separates themselves and does get better.”