Georgia Needs Edge Rushers To Perform

Alabama scored forty-one points on Georgia's historic defense in the SEC Championship Game, and 27 days after their one and only sackless performance, they will need to bounce back against Michigan.

It was the first time all season that an otherwise dominant pass rush didn't smother an opposing quarterback. Edge rushers have been getting free all season, in part because of the interior defensive line.

Defensive tackles Jordan Davis, Devonte Wyatt, and Jalen Carter demand attention on every play, which leaves edge rushers in one-on-one situations outside. However, Alabama laid out the blueprint for slowing down the rush.

Davis is the best defender this team has, but at 6-6 and 340 lbs. he's situationally limited. Georgia prefers to have him on the field during rushing downs or against rushing personnel sets. You can keep him off the field, as Alabama did, with Tempo and formations.

On those plays, Alabama pushed the ball downfield, knowing that the edge rushers wouldn't win without a dominant presence on the interior.

Some of this had to do with Georgia missing their best pass rusher on outside linebacker Adam Anderson. Anderson is currently away from the program dealing with felony rape charges which surfaced after the Florida game.

Anderson consistently found ways to get after the quarterback and affect the game, and without his presence, Georgia has struggled to find pressure off the edge.

They allowed quarterback Bryce Young to operate from clean pockets for most of the afternoon, which did not yield positive results. The Crimson Tide marched up and down the field with ease, courtesy of chunk gains in the passing game.

While Michigan quarterback Cade McNamara is not as talented as Young, he still plays clean football and can capitalize in clean pockets. Michigan thrives when they can run the football between the tackles and then put the ball in McNamara's hands-off hard play-action.

When the Wolverines drop back to pass, Georgia needs to pressure the quarterback. They will already have loaded boxes and tight coverages to stop the run, which can lead to explosive pass plays if they can't bring pressure.

All eyes fall on outside linebacker Nolan Smith II and edge rusher Travon Walker. Those have been two of the three primary rushers this season, and they have played well in what could be their final season in Athens.

Both are talented and have the ability to win their matchups, but they need to bounce back in a big way. The Alabama tackles man-handled them for an entire afternoon, which hurt the defense as a whole. Though Georgia's defensive backs not blowing coverages on 3rd downs when the pressure does get home would be ideal as well. So, not all the pressure is on the defensive front.

They also need their depth to come into the game and make plays. Defensive lineman Robert Beal will certainly get some opportunities.

Defensive coordinator Dan Lanning schemes up pressures better than most defensive play-callers around the nation, should they should be able to find McNamara in big spots. However, the Georgia rushers need to get off blocks down-to-down to shut down this Wolverine passing attack.

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