Joe Burrow obviously gets a ton of attention for LSU, and rightfully so.
The Tiger senior is a favorite for this year’s Heisman Trophy after putting together one of the best seasons a quarterback in the SEC has ever seen, completing 78 percent of his passes (314 of 401) for 4,366 yards and 44 touchdowns.
While it will be up to Georgia’s front seven to try and disrupt Burrow as much as possible, the challenge facing the Bulldog secondary is equally as daunting, as it pertains to Tiger wideouts Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase.
Together, the duo has combined for 155 of Burrow’s 314 completions, with Jefferson (6-foot-3, 192 pounds) catching 81 balls for 1,092 yards 13 touchdowns. Chase (6-1, 200) has been even more impressive, catching 70 passes for 1,457 yards and 17 scores.
“He gets a lot of YAC (yards after catch),” Bulldog safety J.R. Reed said of Chase. “He catches the ball, makes guys miss, and he also high-points the ball. His catch radius is all over the place. So even when defenders are in good position, he can go up and get the ball. That's just one of the things that makes him such a great receiver.”
The Bulldogs, however, have confidence they’ll be just fine.
“Of course, as a unit, we believe we can play with the best out there. We believe we have the best defensive back corps out there,” cornerback Eric Stokes said. “You’ve always got to have that confidence that you can defend anybody. That’s especially true for DBs. If you don’t have confidence, it’s pretty hard to play.”
Reed could not agree more.
‘We're very confident. Confidence is the key when you play DB. Coach (Kirby) Smart and Coach (Charlton) Warren have done a great job over the year to get these guys ready,” Reed said. “We have some things that we can adjust to, and we're going to run some different things and show those guys some different looks.”
Smart just hopes they work.
As Georgia’s head coach is quick to point out, LSU’s receiving corps isn’t limited to just Chase and Jefferson.
Thaddeus Moss (36-423-1) and Terrace Marshall Jr. (32-454-8) are equally as dangerous, plus there’s running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire who has also caught 43 passes to go along with 1,233 yards on the ground.
“We're certainly going to prepare as hard as we can, and do the best job we can to prepare for a very talented offense,” Smart said. “You can't line up in one thing against these guys and expect to be successful, but at the same time, you can't have confusion and chaos. They feast on that.”
Don’t look for the Bulldogs to do much rotating in the defensive backfield for this one.
Reed and fellow safety Richard LeCounte have played basically every defensive snap for much of the year, while Stokes, DJ Daniel, and the recent return of Tyson Campbell have allowed Georgia to almost exclusively man coverage in the secondary.
“I think we match up really good,” Stokes said. “We know they’ve got some really good wide receivers, with two of them having over 1,000 yards. They can cause mismatches; you pray for the best when you match up against them.”
Now, don’t get Stokes wrong.
When he says “pray,” he’s not taking anything away from himself or the rest of his mates in the defensive backfield.
“Of course, we’ve got the talent,” he said. “We’ve just got to make sure we do our assignments and keep watching film like we’ve been doing.”
Reed feels he and the rest of Georgia’s secondary will be prepared.
“We faced very good offenses in this SEC. We went against Florida. They have very good receivers out there,” Reed said. “We played Auburn, a team that's very good and can put up some points, and also just faced an A&M team that can spread the ball around. Those two receivers do a great job out there making plays and making guys miss. We have to do a good job in tackling when those guys get the ball.”
