No. 5 Georgia is looking for defense to reclaim standard set by 2021-22 national championship teams
Even so, the defensive coordinator isn't ducking the fact that the 2024 defense didn't meet the Georgia standard even while the Bulldogs won their third Southeastern Conference championship in the Kirby Smart era.
Georgia's path to 11 wins, the SEC championship game victory over Texas and a spot in the College Football Playoff was filled with harrowing results by the defense.
The defense produced three NFL first-round draft picks — Mykel Williams, Jalon Walker and Malaki Starks — despite giving up 41 points in a loss to Alabama and closing the regular season with a 44-42 win over Georgia Tech in eight overtimes.
It's no coincidence that Georgia's back-to-back national championships in 2021 and 2022 were built on defense under Smart, a former defensive coach. Georgia led the SEC in points and yards allowed in three consecutive seasons, beginning with the 2021 team that led the nation with 10.20 points allowed per game.
The proud tradition of strong defenses slipped in 2024 when the Bulldogs fell to eighth in the league with 20.57 points and 329 yards allowed per game.
'You start rationalizing stats, then you're just making excuses for a performance that wasn't up to our standard,' Schumann said last week. 'The number one thing we need to do better in run defense is tackle better. In fact, we did not tackle to our standard last year.'
Georgia, No. 5 in The Associated Press preseason Top 25 poll released Monday, carries high expectations, including on defense. The belief the 2025 defense can return to its lead role may be at least partly based on the championship standard of units led by such players as Travon Walker, Jordan Davis, Eric Stokes, Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith.
'Speaking of a defense, I think it really comes down to the little things,' said linebacker CJ Allen, expected to be a leader of the unit. 'Our whole theme and this message this whole offseason for the whole team has been fire, passion, energy. Playing with fire, passion, energy, being able to affect each other means a lot. Just coming out doing the little things.'
Freshman defensive lineman Elijah Griffin, one of the top signees, has an opportunity to make an immediate impact.
'EG's doing great,' Schumann said. "You always want to temper expectations on young players, but he has a maturity to him, a work ethic to him. He's obviously a big guy with a lot of athleticism. So we hope that Elijah's able to help us this year. ... He's had a good start to camp.'
Linebacker Raylen Wilson and safety KJ Bolden are other leaders of the defense. Smart said he is watching the defensive line, led by junior tackle Christen Miller, as a key to the emphasis on stopping the run.
'We need him to be a playmaker,' Smart said of Miller. 'We need him to be disruptive. We talk about habit, we talk about quickness, speed, experience. He's our most experienced player. He has taken on this role of knowing the burden lies with him to set a standard for that group.'
Smart said the goal of stopping the run 'starts with that group. I mean, it's everybody, but it really starts with the defensive line, and what kind of mentality that room has. And so far, he has approached that the right way.'
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