Kirby Smart will tell you his defensive line doesn’t have that one dominant player, someone opponents must game-plan around in order to keep from taking over a game.

That doesn’t mean he’s displeased with what he has.

On the contrary, although the Bulldogs need to depend on what Smart terms “a committee” when it comes to the interior of his defensive line, he’s overall pleased with what he’s seen.

“We’ve got a bunch of guys who have played really hard, although we have no, one dominant player,” Smart said. “A lot of our success on the defensive line has come from creative things on the edges, different looks, multiple things, more pressures.”

Interior havoc? Well, that hasn’t happened quite yet.

Tyler Clark and Travon Walker are the only interior linemen with a sack to their name, combing for just two of the 12 collected by the defense through the first four games.

In terms of tackles for loss, Clark, Walker, Jordan Davis, Justin Young, Netori Johnson, and Devonte Wyatt having combined for 6.5 of the team’s 24, although Smart said blaming the group for any perceived lack of production isn’t fair.

“A lot of the negative criticism that came wasn’t fair to them. Because they were put in tough situations. No defensive line just rolls out there and rushes three guys and four guys and dominates,” Smart said. “It’s just not going to happen day in and day out in our league, so to help them out, you’ve got to get some single blocks, you’ve got to get more people coming, you’ve got to cause havoc and held them to have the freedom to make some more plays.”

Of the group, the aforementioned Clark has been the most impressive. The senior is tied for fourth on the team in tackles with 17, and has six quarterback hurries, tied for the top spot among Georgia’s interior linemen.

Injuries have kept end David Marshall from seeing a ton of action, while veteran Julian Rochester been cleared since the start of practice but has yet to play, coming off a torn ACL, and there's no indication whether or not he will.

Defensive end Malik Herring, who was thought to be in for a big junior season, comes into the Tennessee game with just three tackles, although his six quarterback pressures tie him with Clark for the lead at the position.

“We’ll continue to evaluate those guys; they work really hard. We’ve got a group of guys that work hard and they all share the reps, they share the load. So sure, we want our guys to be more productive and create more negative lost-yardage plays,” Smart said. “but I’m very pleased with how hard they play, and the understanding they play with in our scheme, and when you say defensive line, you have to make sure if you’re saying the interiors, or are you talking about everybody that puts their hand in the dirt up there. There are other guys who put their hands in the dirt—the outside ‘backer guys.”