Georgia Bulldogs Defense is The Best Ever and Getting Better
Following the 27-0 shutout victory over the Missouri Tigers, we here at The Bulldog Maven wrote a piece laying out the statistical argument for this Georgia defense to be the best ever.
At that time, they were allowing a school-record 74.8 rushing yards per game, a measly 5.7 YPA through the air, and hadn't allowed a rushing touchdown all season.
And somehow over the last two weeks, playing Auburn and Texas A&M, two teams that were averaging over 30 points per game heading into the contest, this defense has only gotten better.
This UGA defense currently holds the school record in the following categories:
- Rushing Yards Per Game: 68.8
- Rushing TD Per Game: 0.09
- Yards allowed per play: 4.3
- Yards allowed per Air Attempt: 5.59
In an era of college football where teams are scoring 40 to 50 points per game, Georgia is allowing just 10.7 which is second-best in the history of the program behind the 1981 Bulldog Squad. Which, I think we can all agree was a slightly different offensive era than the one we are experiencing today.
In the four games headed into yesterday's matchup, Texas A&M was averaging 240 yards per game on the ground. Last night, they were held to -1 yards on 20 attempts. Negative rushing yards.
The ability to stop the run has led to the opponent being forced to throw the football and yesterday - in a wet and raining situation - Kellen Mond and the Aggies were forced to put the ball in the air 42 times.
It's something Jordan Davis spoke about after the win.
"We just preached stopping the run all week. We wanted to get negative plays and the chips started falling as we wanted. We suffocated the run and they had to start passing. We wanted to make them one dimensional this week." - Jordan Davis
It's always nice to have an all-world defense, but the timing of this record-breaking crew's arrival could not have been better. This past offseason LSU head coach, Ed Orgeron went out and hired one of the brightest young offensive minds in the game of football, Joe Brady.
Since Brady has instilled the widespread passing attack, LSU has seen their points per game go up 16.1. Their total yards have skyrocketed, gaining almost 160 yards more per game than last season.
I don't think it's reasonable for any Georgia fan, player, or coach for that matter, to believe they can score with LSU at this point. However, I do think there is a chance the greatest defense Georgia has ever assembled could possibly contain LSU enough to win in Atlanta.
