Former Georgia Bulldogs defensive end and college football expert David Pollack offered some analysis on the UGA defense after Georgia’s 13-12 road win over the Kentucky Wildcats.
“I don’t think Georgia’s defense had Kentucky’s offense enter the red zone,” said Pollack. “It felt like Georgia’s defense were on their heels because of Kentucky.”
Georgia’s defense has not allowed a touchdown since the 2023 SEC championship game, but they certainly wish they had played a little bit better against Kentucky.
“Now listen Jordan Hall, Warren Brinson, Mykel Williams like you had guys that were out, but it’s next guy in. That’s fine, but when I watched their defense they they gave up more yards rushing than we’ve seen,” continued Pollack.
Georgia allowed Kentucky to rush for 170 yards on 45 carries. It was the most rushing yardage Georgia had allowed since the 2023 Georgia Tech game. The Wildcats averaged 3.8 yards per carry, which is not a great number, but it was enough for Kentucky to churn out 23 first downs and hold the ball for more than 35 minutes.
Georgia came into the game knowing Kentucky wanted to run and could not stop the Wildcats. Kentucky showed improvement after suffering a 31-6 loss to South Carolina in Week 2, but the Bulldogs knew exactly what Kentucky wanted to do. The Dawgs just could not throttle the Kentucky rushing game coming off a week in which the Wildcats completed just six passes.
Rushing defense was an issue for Georgia last season and that issue does not appear to not be completely resolved for the Bulldogs.
“Kentucky was very physical. (Quarterback Brock) Vandagriff was efficient,” said Pollack. “I wonder when Georgia plays a better passing attack if they give up run plays like that and they can create a little bit of balance. I wonder about the the secondary and the coverage in the back end. I don’t think we’ve seen enough of that yet enough. Playmakers to really put them in a bind.”
The bad news for Georgia is the Bulldogs face an elite offense in their Sept. 28 game against the Alabama Crimson Tide. The Georgia defense will need to play well against Alabama to give the Bulldogs a good chance to win. Georgia’s offense does not have a touchdown against a Power Four opponent in the first half this season.
