FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Georgia plays Michigan in the College Football Playoff semifinals at the Orange Bowl Friday night (7:30 p.m., ESPN). However, questions about the Bulldogs’ defensive effort against Alabama in the SEC Championship were tops on the mind of most reporters during Monday’s zoom session.
It’s easy to understand why.
If Georgia (12-1) wants to advance to the national championship game Jan. 10 in Indianapolis, it’s going to need to show more of the defense that dominated opponents during the regular season. A repeat of what happened against the Crimson Tide in Atlanta certainly will not get it done.
Dan Lanning, who acknowledged he will call the defensive plays during the playoffs before heading off to Oregon, said the Bulldogs are anxious to show the effort against Alabama was an anomaly.
"Our guys want to go out there and prove their worth. I think they've done that week in and week out this season, and the fact we had a hiccup doesn't affect what we want to do going forward,” Lanning said. “Luckily for us, in that game every single one of our goals still stands in front of us, and this opportunity. There's four teams in the nation that get to go play right now at this level, and I think we recognize that opportunity in front of us and want to go take advantage of it.”
Georgia can at least take solace in that, as good as the Wolverines might be, at least they won’t be facing Bryce Young. The Heisman Trophy winner torched the Bulldogs secondary for 421 yards and three touchdowns.
The Bulldogs’ defense was responsible for 34 of the Tide’s 41 points.
Nose guard Jordan Davis was asked if Alabama showed Michigan the blueprint for beating Georgia.
“I haven't heard of that,” Davis said. “It's the first time I'm hearing about that. But you know, you lose some, and you just go on getting better. Obviously, we're not going to be the same team from last game to this game with Michigan, but we just have to keep moving forward and worry about ourselves and just get ready for the game.”
Defensive back Chris Smith said the game did not cause him, or any of his defensive teammates to lose confidence.
“Well, it definitely didn't put any doubt in my mind about our defense. We go in and we put work in every week for our opponent, and things like that,” Smith said. “Obviously, things didn't go how we wanted them to go that day, but we're focused on a new opponent. We're focused on Michigan, and we're focused on being able to get a win so we can move on to the next level of our season.”
Players acknowledge the Wolverines will present a different sort of a challenge than the Crimson Tide.
While Michigan quarterback Cade McNamara is certainly capable of explosive plays, the Wolverines are a power-based team. Jim Harbaugh’s squad would just as soon run over a defense as around it.
“We've just got to trust Coach's game plan, and we've got to execute. We've got to execute at a high level,” linebacker Nakobe Dean said. “As far as contributing to the blown coverages, it was just we didn't have elite focus and elite execution. We've got to execute our job, do our job every day.”
Safety Lewis Cine said getting back to playing fundamentally sound defense has been one of the major focuses for the Bulldogs leading up to Friday night’s game.
“For us (the secondary), the fundamental stuff is tracking the ball at the highest point, tackling, because in bowl games there's a lot of missed tackles. We’ve got to make sure we communicate, from the D-linemen to linebackers to the four corners of the DBs, from corner to safety,” Cine said. “Other than that, it's just those little things that make a big difference when it comes to the games. A lot of people might not think so, but we think so, and that's why we're really focused on that.”
Getting pressure on McNamara and creating havoc for Michigan’s offense is a high priority, too.
The Bulldogs did not record a single sack against Young in the SEC championship.
“I mean, always you want to be able to affect the passer. Like I said before, I think it's a combination. They did a great job doing some things different schematically, and then obviously they have a quarterback back there that's elusive and able to run,” Lanning said. “There were several close calls that we weren't able to finish on, so it's certainly been a point of emphasis for us moving forward. That’s something we want to be able to take advantage of in this game. They're a good offensive line. They do a good job protecting the quarterback, so we have to try to find unique ways to create that pass rush.”
Linebacker Quay Walker summed it up best.
“At the end of the day, we pretty much didn't do our job on defense. We didn't get any turnovers, didn't sack the quarterback,” Walker said. “More than likely when that happens, you're not going to win the game. At the end of the day, no, we've just got to do what we've got to do, and that will take care of everything else.”
