On the surface, the numbers look pretty good.
Georgia's defense has allowed 10 points through two games. All those have been allowed by the team's reserves in the closing minutes of blowout wins.
Yet head coach Kirby Smart and his Bulldogs aren't satisfied.
"I think you get caught up in stats and outcomes," Smart said. "I'm all about, 'Did we do it right all the time? And if we didn't do it right all the time, why didn't we?'"
There are some positives that the Bulldogs can't ignore.
Both safety Malaki Starks and linebacker Smael Mondon said they like how the team has been "flying around" and playing with energy. Georgia also recorded three interceptions against Ball State after taking the ball away just once in the season opener.
While two of those interceptions were "lucky" in Smart's eyes, Starks had one that showcased his learning ability.
"He had a play very similar to that the week before," Smart said. "He didn’t make the play. We talked about, hey Malaki, those are the plays you’ve got to make if you’re going to get interceptions and turnovers. He made an elite timing of the ball and jump, caught the ball at its highest point, really great play. He forced that one."
However, that learning is something Smart wants to see more consistently from his defenders.
"Coach Schumann (Glenn Schumann, defensive coordinator) comes over and says, 'Hey, the next time they do this, this is what we want to do.' It's like the little game Memory," Smart said. "You pick the little card up and see the cherries, and then you go over here, and you pick the little card up. Then you have to put it in and remember what was where. What was that? Where was that? So we've got guys that can't play Memory good. We tell them on the sideline, this is what we want you to do when this happens. Then they go out there and don't do it. Then they give up a 9-yard play, and everybody goes, 'Oh, golly, man, Ball State got 9 yards on the Georgia defense' and make a big deal about it, and we just had a teaching session over what you should and you didn't do. We have to play Memory better if we're going to be any good."
Smart also listed run defense as something he wants to see improve. He said he feels the Bulldogs still aren't defending the run to the standard of an upper-caliber SEC defense.
But at the end of the day, Georgia's first two opponents have found it nearly impossible to put points on the board. The tests ratchet up next week when conference play kicks off with South Carolina, but things have gone about as well as possible so far.
Still, the chase for perfection continues.
"It feels good for sure," linebacker Smael Mondon said. "But we know we’ve still got room to improve, so we don’t have no big head, for real. Just keep working."
