Bulldogs endure physical week addressing rush defense
After giving up 418 yards rushing in one game against Florida this past Saturday, Georgia fell from 11th nationally in 47th in run defense. The Bulldogs dropped from second to eighth among SEC teams.
So obviously the book on how to play them is going to change, and they can expect more of the same. Coach Mark Richt said he expects Kentucky and everybody else Georgia plays this season to “run the rock.”
Knowing that, the Bulldogs have been working hard on making the necessary adjustments. The primary problem, they ascertained, was “setting the edge” and “keeping contain” when the Gators bounced inside plays to the outside.”
“It’s just been an emphasis on the little things, on how to play contain and how to set the edge,” Richt said. “They already know it, but we just are making certain they execute it is just the way to say it.”
The No. 20-ranked Bulldogs (6-2, 4-2 SEC) wrapped up preparations for Saturday’s game against Kentucky (5-4, 2-4) in Lexington. The Wildcats are a pass-first team that ranks just 10th in the league in rushing offense (153.2 ypg). But they feature some players who can “run the rock.”
Freshman Stanley “Boom” Williams of Monroe — a one-time UGA commitment — is expected to get his second start on Saturday. The 5-foot-9, 200-pounder averages 6.2 yards per carry and has scored two touchdowns. Junior Braylon Heard, a transfer from Nebraska, is averaging 6.4 yards per carry and scored touchdowns on his first two carries of the season, including a 73-yarder. Sophomore Jojo Kemp leads a running back corps of four that play regularly with four touchdowns.
Senior linebacker Amarlo Herrera said defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt didn’t orchestrate a major overhaul of the defense or the personnel. He merely emphasized fundamentals in a slightly-more-physical than usual week of practice.
“He just told us what we did wrong,” said Herrera, who leads the Bulldogs with 68 tackles. “We’ve just been practicing harder to make sure it doesn’t happen again. We’re playing physical and playing with more effort. … Yu’ve got to correct it. You’ve got to address the problem, address what happened, and that’s what we’ve done. We understand what we did wrong and we’re trying to fix it.”
The general thought is that outside linebackers and defensive ends are primarily responsible for providing perimeter containment. But Richt said that responsibility extends to defensive backs and linebackers as well. All of them have been focused on that this week.
“We’re not pointing any fingers at anybody,” defensive end Sterling Bailey said. “It was a team effort. You know, we could have eliminated some of the mistakes we made. … But our attitude going into Kentucky is we’ve just got to go there are take care of business. All our focus is on them.”
Said defensive end Toby Johnson: “We’re going to be prepared this week. We’re not playing. We’re dead serious. We’re going to be prepared if someone wants to run the ball. That’s all I’m going to say.”
We’re well beyond that game. We’ve moved forward. I hope y’all will.
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