As Georgia prepares to host Tennessee in a must win matchup at Sanford Stadium in Athens on Saturday night, there’s one area of the Vols’ team that presents a significant problem for the Bulldogs.
That’s a Tennessee defensive line that’s played great this season and been a major difference maker in nearly every game. Only four SEC teams have recorded more sacks than Tennessee this season with star edge rusher James Pearce Jr as well as counterpart Josh Josephs being two of the top outside defensive linemen in the country.
“They’re extremely disruptive with four people,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said on Monday. “They do pressure and they pressure well, but they don’t have to. They get after people with four guys rushing. They two-platoon, play a lot of guys. They got elite rushers on the edge, which we all know about.”
Tennessee’s ability to rush the passer is big in every game but it’s going to be particularly significant in this game because of Georgia quarterback Carson Beck’s struggles while pressured this season.
The struggles have been particularly bad over the last month. During that time Beck has a 0.0 QBR while throwing five interceptions and just for 43 yards.
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Georgia’s offensive line hasn’t been a major weakness in pass protection for most of the season but it was a significant shortcoming last week against Ole Miss when the Rebels’ front four beat up Georgia’s front all night and sacked Beck five times. Like Tennessee, the Rebels have one of the best defensive fronts in the country. They were also playing in front of a rowdy home crowd which Tennessee won’t have the benefit of on Saturday night.
It’s not just Tennessee’s edge rushers that make its defensive front stout. The Vols strength is in numbers as well as an underrated interior defensive line according to Smart.
“Nobody talks about how hard they play internally,” Smart said. “I think Coach Garner’s done a tremendous job with the physicality they play with across the board on the defensive line. It’s tremendous, and they play really hard.”
Fourteen different Tennessee players have recorded its 22 sacks this season including seven total sacks from interior defensive linemen Omarr Norman-Lott (3.5), Bryson Eason (1), Omari Thomas (1), Jaxson Moi (1) and Daevin Hobbs (0.5).
Despite struggles the last two weeks, that group has been incredibly disruptive in the run game. Georgia has an uncharacteristically poor rushing offense which hasn’t helped alleviate any pressure off of Beck.
With both teams boasting stout defensive lines and shaky offensive lines, whoever can have the most success on the line of scrimmage could very well decide the winner in this game.
Kickoff between Tennessee and Georgia is at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday night in Athens. Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Holly Rowe are on the call for ABC.
