One of the bigger question marks facing Georgia heading into the season was how its defense would perform under new leadership.
Nine games in, it’s safe to say, really well.
That notion was further underscored Wednesday when Dan Lanning, the Bulldogs’ first-year defensive coordinator, was nominated for the Frank Broyles Award. That award goes annually to a coach deemed the nation’s top assistant coach.
If the Bulldogs can sustain their current defensive pace, Lanning might be a shoo-in.
As No. 4 Georgia prepares for Saturday’s trip to No. 12 Auburn, the Bulldogs are fielding the SEC’s most dominant defense, and one of the school’s best of all-time.
There are plenty of caveats and asterisks that can be included with regard to that distinction, but the statistical evidence is pretty impressive. Currently, the Bulldogs lead the league and are ranked among top five nationally in:
Scoring defense (10.1), rushing defense (74.6), total defense (260.3), opponents third-down percentage (29.6), opposing quarterback rating (103.6), red-zone defense (57.1) and touchdowns allowed (10).
On those last two counts, it should be noted that the Bulldogs are the only team on any level of college football not to have allowed a rushing touchdown this season.
Ultimately, Smart credits Lanning and his co-coordinator Glenn Schumann for making it happen.
“It’s the buy-in on that side of the ball,” said Smart, who won the Broyles Award as Alabama’s defensive coordinator in 2009 and was named the AFCA assistant of the year in 2012. “We’ve been playing a lot of players, the camaraderie, the defensive staff. Dan and his staff have done a great job of putting plans together, and the kids have executed them.”
Lanning certainly is not getting it done on star power. Only senior safety J.R. Reed got anything in the way of preseason accolades. And while the Bulldogs have their fair share of 5-star talent on defense, much of the good work being done of the field this season has been logged by former 3-star and 4-star players.
Reed, a transfer from Tulsa, cornerback Eric Stokes, nose guard Jordan Davis and linebacker Monty Rice are among the former 3-star recruits getting it done for the Bulldogs on defense.
“We’ve got a bunch of dudes on defense who can make plays,” said Rice, a junior from Madison, Ala., who leads Georgia with 56 tackles. “We don’t necessarily have to have superstars. I’d rather have 10, 11 really good dudes than one superstar. But that’s kudos to our coaches and how they recruit.”
Defensive players say they weren’t sure what the change to Lanning from the veteran Mel Tucker would mean for them. He’d never been a coordinator before and had only a five-year work history as an on-field assistant.
But they knew right away that energy and enthusiasm were going to be part of the equation with the 33-year-old Missourian at the controls.
“We knew the OLBs loved him,” senior nose guard Michael Barnett said. “When he became defensive coordinator, I saw the energy and everything that the OLBs were talking about. He was really energetic, and we’re prospering with him as our defensive coordinator.”
Lanning definitely is inclusive. He likes to substitute. A lot.
Lanning has established specialized roles at almost every position besides cornerback and safety. He has short-yardage and long-yardage linemen, third-down specialists at inside and outside linebacker and somebody for something everywhere in between.
Lanning said at the outset of the season he hoped to play as many players as possible. He appears to have accomplished that goal, with 44 players recording defensive stats in the first nine games, and more than that getting on the field.
“We’re reaping the benefits of all those kids playing,” Smart said. “That’s helped us tremendously.”
To be sure, Georgia’s defense has gotten some breaks. Since the Notre Dame game in Week 4, the Bulldogs have not faced any team’s established starter at quarterback.
That won’t be the case Saturday when they meet Auburn’s Bo Nix. Nix earned the starting nod as a freshman, and has played like it at times. He has struggled in the Tigers’ biggest road games, but has played very well at home. None of his six interceptions have occurred in Jordan-Hare Stadium, and he has completed 65 percent of passes there.
Smart gets a little defensive about the opposing quarterback caveat.
“We don’t control who they put out in front of us,” he said after the Bulldogs missed Missouri’s Kelly Bryant on Saturday. “Our kids go out and play really tough and physical. That’s all we ask them to do. They’ve done a great job of that.”
It certainly has produced impressive results. Even in the loss to South Carolina, the Bulldogs gave up only one passing touchdown and 297 yards total yards.
All those shiny stats will be put the test Saturday as the Bulldogs take on Auburn. While this is not the most explosive offense coach Gus Malzahn has put together in seven seasons on the Plains, and it is being operated by a freshman quarterback, it still has plenty of explosive elements.
The Tigers, led by running back JaTarvious Whitlow, actually average more rushing yards per game (219.3) than Georgia (216.1). But their real explosiveness comes from sophomore receivers Anthony Schwartz and Seth Williams. Auburn finds many creative ways to get them the ball in open space and are particularly effective with the jet sweep.
Schwartz, a national track star from Pembroke Pines, Fla., is considered the fastest player in college football.
“Good thing we’re not going to race him on the track,” Smart quipped.
But containing Schwartz and the Tigers speed on the edge will be a priority Saturday.
“You just have to get people to the ball,” Reed said. “When he’s in open space, we have to tackle him, we can’t let him break loose. We have, I think, three legit track guys on our team, too, on defense, so we’ll be fine.”
Georgia’s defense has been fine so far.
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