Kirby Smart finally admits what he should have about Georgia Bulldogs defense following SEC Championship win
Glenn Schumann and the Bulldogs defense fixed their pass rush thanks to huge leaps from players like Chris Cole, Quintavius Johnson, and more
The Georgia Bulldogs’ defense completely smothered and embarrassed the Alabama Crimson Tide in their 28-7 SEC Championship win on Saturday. From allowing negative yards on the ground to racking up three sacks and tons of pressure to creating havoc on every single down with creative and aggressive blitz packages, Georgia utterly annihilated Alabama with its defense.
That wasn’t surprising. What was rather surprising was the fact that Kirby Smart finally admitted that his defense has taken huge leaps forward. When the Bulldogs’ pass rush was struggling early on in the year, Smart would never admit it.
And even when it started catching fire late in the year, Smart shrugged it off and acted like the pass rush and defense were never a problem. Saturday after the SEC Championship was in the bag, it was as if Smart could finally just breathe freely and recognize the wildly impressive rise towards greatness that his defense has taken over the course of this season.
Kirby Smart finally recognizes the massive leap forward that his defense took in SEC Championship win
A lot of credit was given to the special, underrated playmakers (like Cole Speer, Malachi Toliver, and London Humphries) and the game’s MVP (Gunner Stockton) early in the postgame press conference, but Smart made sure his defense got all the credit it was due.
When asked about the physicality and improvements on the defense, especially compared to the first time Georgia played Alabama, here’s what Smart said:
“[Our physicality] was a huge difference. It was the domination on that side of the ball,” Smart said after the big win. “A lot of it came with a chip on [our players’] shoulders from the last one. It came with a chip on their shoulder from improving. We told them after [the first Alabama] game there wasn’t a lack of execution in that game at home. They outplayed us. They out-executed us. They probably out-coached us.
“We weren’t going to let that happen again in terms of the way we played. They’re getting better. Young kids are growing up. There’s a lot of naysayers out there for [Glenn] Schumann and his staff. They never flinched. They kept getting better, kept growing the players. They played really well tonight.”
The entire Georgia defense had been improving since the Ole Miss game earlier this year. Georgia went from ranking nearly last in the FBS in total sacks through the first eight weeks to tallying over a dozen sacks since November kicked off. Quintavious Johnson, Chris Cole, JaCorey Thomas, and even the extremely talented freshman Zayden Walker all got in on sacks against Alabama on Saturday. The pass rush was a huge part of Georgia’s dominance, and it’s helping the Bulldogs look like they have a national title defense when it matters most.
Smart continued on his defensive improvements when talking about third-down defense and game planning from his coaches:
“I explain [our success on third down defense] by a great game plan by coach [Glenn] Schumann. He studies a lot of tape. He has confidence in his plan,” Smart added. “The defensive staff got those guys to believe and played hard. They had a little chip on their shoulder. They wanted another shot. We executed better. We affected the quarterback more. [Alabama QB Ty Simpson] played almost out of his mind the last time we played him. A lot of the calls were the same. Calls weren’t different. The execution was a little better. The rush was a little better.”
Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson admittedly did play a worse game (by a lot) against Georgia this time around. He almost didn’t miss a single pass when these two teams played the first time. However, much of the step down in performance for Simpson can be credited to the huge steps forward from the defense that Smart finally recognized.
The calls were indeed the same. Several of the blitzes were carbon copies of the first meeting. The difference? The execution. The speed. The pass rush. The entire Georgia defense doesn’t even look like the same team from September or even October, when it gave up five straight touchdowns to start the game against Ole Miss.
Smart and defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann have this Georgia team looking ready to take on any and every opponent in the College Football Playoff. The Bulldogs have almost assuredly locked up a first-round bye, so now they can just get healthy and add even more layers to an already elite defense that might just carry them to another national championship win here soon.
We’ll be back with more Georgia Bulldogs coverage here at A to Z Sports soon! Follow me (@FF_TravisM) and A to Z Sports (@AtoZSportsNFL) on X for all the latest football news!
Georgia Bulldogs News
Kirby Smart and Georgia Bulldogs crushed Alabama so badly the entire College Football Playoff bracket should change
Georgia’s defense destroyed Kalen Deboer, Ty Simpson, Crimson Tide as the Bulldogs playoff path just got much, much easier
