Can protection nonetheless win a nationwide championship?
No. 5 Georgia goes to check that principle in 2021. The Bulldogs suffocated No. 3 Clemson in a 10-3 vitctory within the Duke’s Mayo Basic on Saturday; a throwback efficiency within the age of pinball-machine offenses.
The Bulldogs sacked Clemson sophomore quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei seven occasions, and security Christopher Smith’s 74-yard interception return for a landing proved the defining play in an evening dominated by the Dawgs’ protection.
MORE: Georgia outlasts Clemson in defensive slugfest
Georgia (1-0) claimed the primary large chip of the 2021 Faculty Soccer Playoff race; one which this system wanted to start out Kirby Sensible’s sixth season. The Bulldogs entered the sport with 4 consecutive losses to top-five opponents, and the forever-pressure on this system to finish a nationwide championship drought that extends again to 1980 was an limitless subject of dialog this summer time.
In any case, Florida gained the SEC East final season. Sensible is 0-3 towards Alabama, and regardless of off-the-charts recruiting, the notion that the Bulldogs took a child step backward in 2020 had develop into the notion regardless of the return of a loaded roster.
Georgia modified that with a dominant defensive efficiency. The Tigers had -5 yards within the first quarter, and 10 speeding makes an attempt for 1 yard at halftime. Clemson couldn’t alter to a nasty defensive entrance and a blitz-happy scheme from defensive coordinator Dan Lanning.
Smith’s game-changing interception got here with 2:58 left within the first half. He stepped in entrance of an inside route by Clemson star receiver Justyn Ross and beat Uiagalelei to the tip zone. That got here after the Tigers had recovered a fumbled punt.
Georgia’s protection additionally coated quarterback JT Daniels lone large mistake; a third-quarter interception in Clemson territory. Again-to-back sacks pushed the Tigers out of field-goal vary. When the Tigers lastly discovered the crimson zone, Georgia compelled a subject aim.
With 4:52 remaining, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney opted to go for it on fourth-and-5 from the Georgia 45-yard line. The Bulldogs compelled a hurried throw. That stress was merely an excessive amount of all evening from a fast-and-furious protection.
Which prompts that query: Can that protection win the SEC?
LSU and Alabama gained the nationwide championship the final two seasons with record-setting offenses within the offense. Can Georgia reclaim the SEC East with this protection and counter what appears to be like like one other offensive explosion in Alabama down the road?
Daniels and an inexperienced group of receivers might want to get higher, and Georgia might want to faucet into its floor recreation, which closed the sport within the closing 4 minutes. Daniels completed 22 of 30 for 135 yards, and he hit 11 completely different receivers. Zamir White had 13 carries for 74 yards.
Clemson had an elite protection too, but it surely simply wasn’t higher than the Bulldogs in a heavyweight conflict. Will Georgia be adequate to take care of that momentum whereas Alabama, Ohio State and Oklahoma proceed to roll with their 40-points-per-game-offenses?
Given Georgia’s SEC West opponents are Arkansas and Auburn, that’s a query that may simmer in Athens till the Oct. 30 matchup towards Florida. That’s higher than asking whether or not one-loss Georgia can survive that SEC minefield with out one other loss; one thing that hasn’t been achieved within the Sensible period.
That nationwide championship expectation is defensible now.
The Bulldogs may have the No. 2 rating to show it by Tuesday.
