Grade Report: Georgia's Defense Showed Some Struggles

The grades are in. Here is how Georgia's defense graded out against Kent State in week four.

Author:
Jonathan Williams
Sep 26, 2022 8:57 AM EDT

For the first time, all season, Georgia as a team struggled against Kent State in week four. They allowed 22 total points, the most since the 2021 SEC Championship game against Alabama, and even allowed a few explosive plays, something Georgia typically does an excellent job of limiting.

They still remain at the top of the polls, and despite their struggles, Georgia's defense did do a good job of limiting Kent State from reaching the end zone and held their ground several times in their own territory to force the Flashes to settle for just three points. With that said, here is how Georgia's defense graded out after their week four performance:

Defensive Line: B-

Georgia was missing their star defensive lineman, Jalen Carter, on Saturday, and it showed. Kent State was able to find success in running the ball up the middle, and the lack of experience up front reared its ugly head. While it may not have been the best showing, Georgia did limit the Flashes to just 93 total rushing yards, which is still a really solid number from a defensive standpoint.

The bright side is Georgia was able to get a good number of players some valuable playing time with Carter out, and that is something that could pay off in the long run.

It was by no means a horrible performance for Georgia's defensive line, but it also wasn't the typical style of play that we have all come accustomed to seeing from them.

Linebackers: A

The linebackers were definitely the highlight of Georgia's defense against Kent State. Jamon Dumas-Johnson had himself a day with two sacks, and three tackles for loss, while leading the team with six total tackles. Nolan Smith also tacked on a sack of his own.

Kent State utilized a lot of pre-snap motion on offense which can make life very hard on a linebacker due to having to keep track of so many moving pieces before the ball is snapped, but Georgia's linebackers never really seemed to get overwhelmed. It was another solid showing, and for that reason, they received yet another high grade after week four.

Secondary: B+

Georgia's secondary played a pretty solid game on Saturday. They did give up the one explosive in the second quarter that resulted in a 56-yard touchdown, but other than that, there are really no complaints from the secondary.

Safety, Christopher Smith, forced yet another interception, his second on the year, and as a unit, they limited Kent State to just 188 passing yards.

The Bulldogs' secondary has been one of their best units all season. It may not have been a "take your breath away" type of performance against Kent State, but they held their ground, and they did more than enough to help secure a win on Saturday.