Georgia is getting a first-time visitor in Sanford Stadium this week, and Kirby Smart knows exactly what kind of challenge is coming with Oklahoma.
The Bulldogs will host the Sooners for the first time in program history, with plenty of Oklahoma fans expected to make the trip to Athens and hope a defense-led upset is in play. That part of the matchup is hard to ignore, because Brent Venables is bringing a unit that has been far more imposing than the offense across from it.
Smart made clear this week that he holds Venables in high regard.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for Coach Venables and the job he's done everywhere he's been,” Smart tole reporters this week. “I have known him for a long time and have the utmost respect for him as a coach and a man and a person. We go way back and he's probably been one of the premier defensive coaches in all of college football for a long time.”
He didn’t stop there.
“His defenses are very fundamentally sound, aggressive, and they attack,” Smart added. “They lead country or they're tops in the country every year in tackles for loss and sacks and I don't think people give their coaches and their kids enough credit for how they play.”
That reputation is backed up by what Oklahoma has put on tape. The Sooners allowed just 263 yards in their loss to Michigan, held up on third down, and gave up only 14 first downs. In their 14-6 win over New Mexico, they surrendered just 185 yards, piled up six sacks and held the Lobos to eight total points.
A big part of that toughness up front starts with defensive lineman David Stone, listed at 6-foot-3 and 310 pounds. He’ll be one of the key figures trying to slow down Georgia’s rushing attack.
Smart says the strength of the defense goes well beyond one player.
“I’ve got much respect for him and all of them,” Smart said this week. “I'll be honest with you, there's not a guy on their defense that comes in and doesn't play with great pad level and great effort.
When you turn on the tape, they run to the ball like they're in elite shape. They don't get tired.
They strike, they knock back, they get off blocks, and he's a leader of that. But I mean, they, they all do.”
Georgia’s offense has not been seriously tested yet this season. Gunner Stockton has made it look easy, and the Bulldogs have been effective running the football. But Oklahoma may be the sternest test they’ve faced so far.
If Stockton and the Georgia offense are ready for that level of resistance, the Bulldogs could be in line for a big day.
In Other News...
Georgia Fans Have Every Right To Hate This Vanderbilt Kickoff Slot
The SEC has set up Georgias Week 5 trip to Vanderbilt for an early start, with the Bulldogs and Commodores slated for either noon or 12:45 p.m. ET rather than a night kickoff. It is a jarring assignment for a game that already has some extra juice, especially with both teams unbeaten at 3-0 and the conference choosing to put Arkansas at Texas A&M and McNeese State at LSU into the night windows instead.
Georgia fans have an obvious gripe, and the matchup only gets more interesting because Vanderbilt quarterback Jared Curtis was once committed to Georgia before ending up with the Commodores. A primetime slot would have given the game a bigger stage, but instead the Bulldogs will have to get ready for an early one with plenty of context already baked in and a little less spotlight than many around the program probably expected. [Read more 🡒]
Georgia Still Has One Clear Issue Despite Another Comfortable Win
Another Saturday brought another comfortable result for Georgia, but the wider SEC picture kept shifting around the Bulldogs anyway. Ole Miss 32-24 win over LSU at Vaught Hemingway Stadium pushed the Rebels up to No. 4 in the AP Top 25, and Trinidad Chambliss turned in the kind of performance that changes the conversation around a league in which Georgia remains one of the standard-bearers.
For Georgia, the ranking movement only sharpened the focus on what still needs cleaning up, even after another routine victory. The Bulldogs are still very much in the mix with Texas, Kentucky and Tennessee in the leagues weekly churn, but the latest results made it clear that comfortable wins alone do not erase the one issue that continues to linger in the background. [Read more 🡒]
Georgia Just Got The Nate Frazier News Fans Needed
Nate Fraziers brief scare against Arkansas looks like just that, a scare. Kirby Smart said the Georgia running back suffered a minor injury in that game but is expected to be available for the Bulldogs upcoming matchup with Oklahoma, a welcome bit of news as the schedule starts to tighten up.
Georgia also appears to be trending in the right direction elsewhere on the depth chart. Linebacker Chase Linton, defensive back Tyriq Green and wide receiver Isiah Canion are all progressing well from injuries and are expected back soon, though it remains unclear whether any of them will be ready for Oklahoma. For a team heading into a tougher stretch, the bigger takeaway is that the Bulldogs are staying relatively healthy at the right time. [Read more 🡒]