Last season, Georgia was considered to not only feature one of the best (if not the best) defenses in the country, but one of the most vaunted defensive units in the Bulldogs’ football history, as well. The squad led the FBS in scoring defense (12.6 points allowed per game) and rushing defense (74.6 rushing yards per game)—for the latter, the first time Georgia had ever finished tops in the nation—while allowing the fewest rushing touchdowns (two) in the SEC since 1970.

The Bulldog defense put a stamp on its 2019 campaign with an impressive performance in a victory over Baylor in the Sugar Bowl. The Bears, who entered the game averaging 431.2 total yards and 35.1 points per contest, gained only 295 yards and scored just 14 points against Georgia’s distinguished defenders.

Still, according to senior inside linebacker Monty Rice, last year was last year—and this year is a whole new ballgame.

“We don’t need anyone on the team, especially on defense, to start feeling [full of themselves] based on last year,” said Rice, who earned second-team All-SEC honors and was recognized as Georgia’s defensive MVP last season. “We’ve been hyped up on Twitter, and all of that, that we did so great last year.”

While apparently not focused on the past, you could say the Georgia defense is anticipated to flourish in the present—perhaps even more so than a year ago. The Bulldogs return 11 of their top 14 tacklers from 2019, including Rice who led the team with 89 tackles. Besides the 6-foot-1, 235-pound native of Alabama, six other Bulldog defenders were recently named preseason All-SEC (first, second, and third teams) by the conference’s coaches: defensive linemen Jordan Davis and Malik Herring, defensive backs Richard LeCounte and Eric Stokes, and fellow linebackers Nakobe Dean and Nolan Smith.

In 2020, Georgia is expected to be especially strong at linebacker. Besides the aforementioned Rice, Dean, and Smith, the Bulldogs return redshirt sophomore Azeez Ojulari, whose five-and-a-half sacks led the team a year ago—and whose 39 quarterback pressures were the fifth-most at Georgia since the school began keeping a record of the statistic in 1998. In addition, seniors Jermaine Johnson and Walter Grant, juniors Quay Walker and Adam Anderson, are all returning linebackers who saw 110-plus snaps last year.

As for this year, it’s a football season that Rice admits he didn’t think would come to fruition because of COVID-19.

“Yeah, I wasn't very confident we were going to play this year, especially after the other conferences (Big Ten and Pac-12) shut it down,” Rice said. “But we’re here for a reason, so let’s play.”

Rice and company play Arkansas this Saturday in Fayetteville. The Razorbacks, on the whole, are expected to struggle in 2020, but the Hog offense could, at times, present a challenge for the Georgia defense.

Arkansas senior running back Rakeem Boyd rushed for over 1,100 yards while averaging more than six yards per carry last season. Senior quarterback Feleipe Franks, a transfer from Florida, completed 59 percent of his passes for more than 4,500 yards, 38 touchdowns, and 17 interceptions in 28 career games with the Gators. Offensively, Arkansas returns four of five starters upfront and is considered to feature one of the better offensive lines in the SEC. Last season, the Hogs allowed only 19 sacks while averaging 4.7 yards per carry, after yielding 32 sacks while gaining just 3.9 yards per carry in 2018.

According to Rice, no team, and certainly not Georgia, should revel in past successes. The past is the past—and there’s no time like the present to make a significant impact on a new football season.

“Arkansas, that group over there, they don’t care about what happened last year—and neither do we,” Rice said. “So, it’s time to make a new stamp.”