Where is Shawn Williams when you need him?
It was about this time last year, right after a humiliating loss to South Carolina and right before Georgia went to Jacksonville to take on a Florida team that was ranked No. 2 in the land, that the Bulldogs’ safety made his now infamous statements about the defense playing soft and calling out some teammates.
The Bulldogs responded by limiting the Gators to 226 total yards, forcing six turnovers and, most important, not giving up a touchdown in a 17-9 victory.
But Williams now plays strong safety for the Cincinnati Bengals, so he’s not available to inspire his former team. But Georgia coach Mark Richt wouldn’t mind he was.
“I ought to call Shawn,” Richt said during his weekly news conference Tuesday. “Maybe I’ll see if I can get him on a conference call or Skype him in here. We could put him on the big screen and have him talk to the team. I might do that.”
Richt was kidding. But based on what the Bulldogs’ defenders have done to date, it could be argued they could use a metaphorical kick in the pants.
Georgia’s numbers aren’t pretty to look at. Nationally, the Bulldogs rank 101st in points allowed (33.3 pg), 95th against the pass (253.4) and 115th in the red zone (92.3 percent).
The points-allowed numbers are somewhat tempered by the fact that Georgia has given up four special-teams touchdowns. Also, offensive miscues and other special-teams mistakes have led to seven other opponents’ touchdown drives of 36 or fewer yards.
But it hasn’t been all bad. Lost in all the controversy of targeting calls and special-teams disasters in the loss to Vanderbilt two weeks ago was a pretty decent defensive effort. The Commodores’ 337 total yards represent the second-lowest output for an opponent this season. North Texas managed only 245. The Bulldogs also had three sacks and recorded two interceptions for the first time this season.
“I actually thought we played better in that game,” Georgia defensive coordinator Todd Grantham said. “But at the end of the day, you’ve got to play the hand you’re dealt. You win or you lose, and we didn’t win, so we’ve got to learn from it and move on. There were some strides made and some guys did some good things. Hopefully we can build on that and continue to improve.”
Said sophomore outside linebacker Jordan Jenkins: “A lot of people look at that loss and say the defense didn’t do anything, the defense didn’t play well. But defensively, I felt like that was one of the better games. They were only 5-for-15 on third down, and I thought we played stout against the run. I feel like defensively we played pretty well that game.”
Meanwhile, Florida appears to be one of the least potent offensive teams Georgia will face this season. The Gators’ No. 1 unit has been ravaged by injuries. They lost quarterback Jeff Driskel, wide receiver Andre DeBose (knee) and running back Matt Jones (knee) before this week. On Monday, they lost starting left tackle D.J. Humphries to a knee injury that will sideline him two to four weeks.
Not coincidentally, Florida enters Saturday’s game ranked 109th in total offense (336.9 ypg), 108th in passing (175.4) and 101st in scoring (21.1 ppg).
Between the way the Bulldogs have played and the way the Gators have played, Georgia’s defenders are feeling pretty confident.
“I believe everyone feels good,” said junior defensive end Ray Drew, who leads the team with five sacks. “With the excitement that’s going to be added with this game, everybody’s going to be out here bouncing around and be in the moment. So I believe everybody is feeling pretty good about the way we’re playing right now. We’ve just got to continue to build on it.”
There actually has been gradual improvement all season. The Bulldogs’ front seven started somewhat slowly this season, but now Georgia is one of the SEC’s best teams when it comes to pressuring the passer. They rank third with 19 sacks, or an average of 2.71 per game.
So there is some reason for optimism heading into this game.
“Every week I expect our guys to play good,” Richt said. “Hopefully they will this week.”
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