The 2025 Georgia football team started the season a little slow, but they are coming off a massive win against Tennessee, which announced to the rest of college football that they are not going anywhere. Still, some issues have popped up for the Bulldogs, namely, the defense has not been up to par compared to what their past defenses have looked like under Kirby Smart.
Georgia's most significant issue is that they have been unable to get to the quarterback, with only four sacks through games. That mark is tied for 105th in the country with Alabama. However, despite the issues, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart is unconcerned about the Bulldogs' sack numbers.
“We evaluate it based on opportunities, right? We haven’t had a lot of opportunities,” Smart said. “People try to measure those things on statistics and rankings, but can’t do that. We played a hefty run team in Tennessee, and a team that we were ultimately behind.
“And then the other two opportunities, we had the lowest number of snaps we’ve ever had, didn’t get many opportunities to, and we also subbed out a lot of guys. So I don’t sit here and say, my gosh, I’m so concerned about our pass rush. We’ve got to do a better job at everything we do. But I feel good about our rushers, and we’ve got to go out and execute. We've got to rush when we get an opportunity to rush.”
The rest of the defense, including the outside linebackers, is trying to keep that mindset in mind as they prepare for the Crimson Tide.
Quintavius Johnson said the defense focuses not on sack numbers but on each player doing his job in each play. However, that group is also aware of the standards they have to uphold.
“Something we live off is, do you have the mentality to eat off the floor?” Johnson said. “That’s something that Nolan Smith left in that room. So I feel like just living up to that standard and keep playing the type of defense we play.”
This game is enormous, so this defense needs to show up against Alabama. As we approached the game, Kirby Smart noticed how well Ty Simpson had been playing.
