Getting defensive

Perusing the weekly SEC defensive stats can be challenge if you’re looking to find Georgia players listed among the leaders in the different individual categories.

You’re just not going to find many.

Sacks? Azeez Ojulari has three, tying him for eighth in the conference. Tackles for loss? No Georgia players on the list. Passes defended? Eric Stokes has eight, tied for the 10th. Interceptions? No Georgia players on the list. Fumbles forced? Mark Webb has two. Fumbles recovered? No Georgia players on the list.

One quick look at the leading tacklers in the SEC, Monty Rice is the first Bulldog that pops up, and he’s tied for 22nd with 58.

Fortunately, football is not an individual sport. Now look at the team stats, and the Bulldogs are standing out above the crowd.

Georgia (8-1, 5-1) ranks second nationally and first in the SEC in scoring defense (10.1 points per game), as well as fifth nationally and first in the SEC in total defense, allowing 260.3 yards per game.

Against the run, the Bulldogs’ SEC-leading 74.6 rushing yards per contest is fourth nationally. The Dawgs rank third in the conference in pass defense, 185.8 yards per game.

What makes the group stand out? Kirby Smart, who was around some very good defenses at Alabama, said the answer is simple.

“The number one thing that stands out is their work ethic. I mean they work really hard every day,” Smart said. “The meetings, the game planning meetings are a joy to be in, because they're very interactive, meaning they communicate with you. They don't just sit there and listen. They answer questions. They ask questions.”

Smart gives defensive coordinator Dan Lanning, along with assistants Glenn Schumann, Tray Scott and Charlton Warren credit for that.

With the exception of Warren, the Bulldogs boast one of the younger groups of defensive coaches that you’ll find in college football. What they may lack in overall experience, they make up for in enthusiasm.

“[The players] take on the personality of their defensive staff, which is energetic, and play hard,” Smart said. “I mean, you're always going to have certain qualities with a good defense, which is physical, fast, good open-field tacklers. They've got some of those same traits as the good defenses I've been able to be around.”

The Bulldogs are playing this well without, at least as of now, a “superstar” as Georgia had with the likes of linebacker Roquan Smith.

“We’re just a bunch of guys who go out there and do their jobs,” senior safety J.R. Reed said. “It’s not about one single person, but guys who are going out there and working hard.”

Defensive tackle Michael Barnett fits that description.

Although the Bulldogs certainly have some young players like nose tackle Jordan Davis, and linebackers Azeez Ojulari and Nolan Smith who may ultimately develop into early-round NFL picks, this is a defense where effort and attention to detail are focal points.

“I feel like we don’t pride ourselves in trying to be a superstar. We pride ourselves in the scheme of the defense and really try to do what the coaches tell us,” Barnett said. “If he tells us to be right here, we try to be right there. As far as the defensive linemen, we try to play our gaps and work on techniques and what-not. We don’t look at the stats and what-not. It’s did we make this tackle? Did we miss that tackle? Did we make the interception, did we miss the pass deflection? things like that."

The next challenge for Georgia’s defense will be the offense of Auburn.

Auburn ranks fifth in the SEC in total offense (425.1 yards per game) and sixth in scoring offense (32.7 points per game), although the Tigers have scored just 20 (in a 23-20 loss at LSU) and 20 (a 20-14 victory over Ole Miss) in their last two contests.

The Bulldogs would appear to match up well from a strength-on-strength standpoint, Smart said his defense can’t be focused solely on slowing down the run.

“It's no more extra important this week than it ever is. It's important every week. But you can't do it at the cost of giving up explosive plays, and that's the balance you come to with Auburn. You can sell out to do that, and you got explosive playmakers on the outside,” Smart said. “You can't sell out and stop the run and expose yourself to the wideouts they've got and a quarterback (freshman Bo Nix) that's a good playmaker and ability to throw the ball and is playing as good as any freshman I remember playing in this conference, walking in and just playing straight off the street."