In the city with the world's busiest airport, it's only appropriate that linebacker Nakobe Dean compared Georgia's defense to an airplane.

The Bulldogs have said all year they want to ascend throughout the season. Each week, they want to get incrementally better.

On Saturday, the Bulldogs notched their third shutout of the season in a 45-0 win over Georgia Tech. But as Dean said, this is just another step on the path to the team's ultimate goals.

The stat sheet shows another dominating performance for the Bulldog defense. In addition to keeping the Yellow Jackets off the scoreboard, Georgia held them to just 171 yards of offense.

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said after the game he's proud of the defense's effort in its third shutout of 2021. He especially applauded the reserves who kept Georgia Tech scoreless in the fourth quarter.

"I’ve coached a lot of seasons in the SEC, I feel like I’ve been around the league for 20-something years, and three shutouts is hard to come by," Smart said.

However, one of Georgia's defensive leaders still isn't satisfied.

Mainly, Dean noted the Bulldog rush defense gave up too many yards at times. Georgia allowed just 2.8 yards per carry, but the Yellow Jackets did find some gaps.

"We had to go make adjustments," Dean said. "People had to wake up a little bit, had to play ball, get a little started. It was definitely rough at times. We’re doing to definitely go back and look at it."

If Georgia's season is an air flight, those occasional run struggles are nothing more than little pockets of turbulence. They're no more detrimental to the overall outcome than South Carolina's long passes or Tennessee's early success, but they're small reasons for concern nonetheless.

Georgia's flight is now about to attain peak altitude. The upcoming games will define the season, beginning with next Saturday's SEC Championship Game with Alabama.

The Bulldogs have talked all year about trying to peak and play their best football at the end of the year. Now, it's time for one of the best defenses in Georgia history to show it can do just that.

"We talk about getting better every week and ascending, continuing to ascend every week," Dean said. "I just feel like this is just taking a step in the right direction of what we’re trying to do."