Grading Georgia's 2020 Defense
Greatness has been the standard for Georgia's defense since Kirby Smart became head coach in 2016. This year was no different.
Despite suffering a myriad of injuries and having to pick up the slack for a struggling offense, Georgia's defense was still one of the best in the nation. The Bulldogs allowed only 20 points per game, a fantastic total considering the team played only SEC schools in the regular season.
Run defense was once again Georgia's strength. The Bulldogs allowed just 72.3 rushing yards per game and 2.4 yards per rush. This is thanks to Georgia's elite interior defense.
Nose guard Jordan Davis has a case for being the best interior defensive lineman in the SEC, and the players rotating around him were more than just complementary pieces. Devonte Wyatt, Malik Herring, Travon Walker and Jalen Carter combined for 72 tackles and 11.5 tackles for a loss. Behind them were a group of linebackers, led by Monty Rice and Nakobe Dean, who could be relied on to plug any gaps that formed.
New to Georgia's defense this season was a better pass rush. Georgia ended 2019 with 30 sacks and increased its total to 33 sacks in 2020. The Bulldogs averaged 3.33 sacks per game, an awesome statistic no matter how you spin it.
Edge rusher Azeez Ojulari led the team with 9.5 sacks, backup Adam Anderson trailed him with 5.5 sacks. Jermaine Johnson added five sacks and backup linebacker Channing Tindall had three. Those are all solid totals for a normal season so it's important to remember the team played three or four fewer games this year.
Georgia's stellar pass rush complemented its solid pass coverage. Cornerback Eric Stokes locked down his receivers all season long. Tyson Campbell gave up a few big passes, but those instances were rare.
Georgia's pass coverage took a step back in the middle of the year when Richard LeCounte suffered injuries in a vehicle accident. Lewis Cine wasn't ready to be the top dawg at safety, but he came into his own by the end of the year. Christopher Smith's deficiencies were more apparent, but he too improved. The pressure of filling in for LeCounte would be too much for most players, but to Smith's credit, he never crumbled.
Grade: A
- Run Defense: A-plus
- Pass Defense: A-minus
- Scoring: A
- Turnovers: A
- Havoc: A
All grades aside, Georgia's defense struggled in the two games it needed most this season. Against Alabama, they gave up uncharacteristic explosive plays, and against Florida, they had uncharacteristically poor eye discipline in the secondary leading to blown coverages.
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