Defensive takeaways from the Georgia football victory over Arkansas
For a little over two quarters, Georgia football was on upset alert in Fayetteville. An ugly first 35 minutes on offense had the Bulldogs trailing 10-5 in the middle of the third quarter.
However, with a defense like Georgia's, the Bulldogs are never out of the game. The unit scored Georgia's first points of the season by way of a safety in the second quarter. The defense earned another six points on an Eric Stokes pick-six in the third quarter. Georgia's offense finally woke up in the second half to support the defense and claim a 37-10 victory.
LeCounte on track for school interception records
Richard LeCounte's 2020 season started roughly when he allowed a long touchdown pass in the first quarter. But he quickly recovered and finished his day with two interceptions. He returned the first interception 38 yards to the Arkansas 15-yard-line. The second pick was a leaping, one-handed grab of an ill-advised pass by receiver Treylon Burks.
This was LeCounte's second-straight game with two interceptions, he ended the 2019 season with two picks against Baylor in the Sugar Bowl. At that rate, LeCounte will obliterate Georgia's season and career interception records. The school record for interceptions in a season owned by Terry Hoage who picked off 12 passes in 1982. As for the career mark, Dominick Sanders, Bacarri Rambo and Jake Scott have 16 interceptions each.
LeCounte will need a humongous year to break both records, especially with the shortened season. But if quarterbacks (and other passers) keep testing LeCounte with bad passes, there's no reason why the senior can't break one if not both school records.
There's still no running on Georgia's defense
Georgia's defense was great in 2019, but the run defense was particularly outstanding. The Bulldogs went 10 weeks without allowing a rushing touchdown and only allowed 1,046 rushing yards all year (74 yards per game and 2.62 yards per carry). So far in 2020, not much has changed.
Arkansas ended the game with a measly 77 rushing yards with just 2.8 yards per carry. Rakeem Boyd, who rushed for over 1,000 yards in 2019, only rushed for 21 yards against the Bulldogs.
The defensive line led by monster nose tackle Jordan Davis completely dominated Arkansas's offensive line. The linebackers and edge rushers had no problem getting into the backfield to break up Arkansas's rushing attack.
Cornerbacks might be the best in the SEC
Georgia allowed Feleipe Franks to pass for 200 yards Saturday, but most of those yards were earned against safeties and nickel defenders. Georgia's cornerbacks Eric Stokes, DJ Daniel and Tyson Campbell didn't allow much of anything and broke up passes whenever one was thrown their way.
Stokes made Franks pay the most for throwing his way. In the third quarter, Stokes caught what was already a sloppy pass by Franks and sprinted 30 yards into the end zone for the score.
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