Glenn Schumann knows his defense can play like one of the best in the country.
It just hasn't done that all season.
"To meet the standard and expectation of what we have for playing defense at Georgia, you have to be consistent," Georgia's defensive coordinator said on Friday. "If you're inconsistent, then you're going to have ebbs and flows. And that could be whether it's in coverage, tackling, execution, how you fit runs. I think this group has shown that when we're at our best, that we can be really good."
Schumann admitted that it has been difficult searching for answers, something that he still doesn't have. It hasn't been one particular issue for the defense game to game, nor has it been one position group consistently making mistakes.
As Georgia prepares for the Sugar Bowl against Notre Dame on January 1, the Bulldogs are looking to finally play with that consistent dominance that has been the hallmark of Kirby Smart defenses.
That starts in the trenches with a defensive front tasked with containing Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard and a powerful Fighting Irish ground attack.
"Just staying in your gaps. Taking on a double team, not avoiding, not swimming out of your gap, keeping an edge so that the backers and secondary can fill off of you," outside linebacker Chaz Chambliss said. "Just everybody doing their job because when we do it right, I mean, it shows for itself."
On the back end, junior safety Malaki Starks said the Bulldogs want to be more aggressive. That covers everything from knocking the ball down to making tackles in the run game.
"I think that they're a group that has continued throughout this bowl process, playoff process, to work really hard and challenge themselves to get better in the areas that they need to," Schumann said. "We've got to do a better job down the field. And there's been moments where we have, and there's moments where we've come up short. I think that that group has grown a lot throughout the course of the year. There's still guys that may be older, but they hadn't played as much and now they've gained a lot of experience. And that's a position that you only play well by gaining real game experience."
There are overarching points that can be attributed to defensive consistency. Schumann mentioned tackling and limiting explosive plays as two examples.
In a game where Georgia will be led by a first-time starter at quarterback in Gunner Stockton, Schumann wants to see his unit play up to their capabilities.
"It's championship football, it's playoff football. It's a one-game season. I think that we have to do our part in every game," Schumann said. "We don't set goals on defense based on what our offense does. We set goals on defense based on what our standards and expectations are in terms of the points we want to allow... If we execute and we tackle well and leverage the football, we just want to play to the standard of Georgia defense. The rest will sort itself out."
