University of Georgia Athletics
Dog Notes: Defense Stifles Tigers
November 12, 2016 | Football
By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
Stop after stop, the Georgia defense kept denying one of college football's most potent offenses. At the end of the Bulldogs' 13-7 win over No. 8 Auburn inside a raucous Sanford Stadium on Saturday night, that Dog D had held the Tigers without a second-half first down.
"They still had a hundred-something yards rushing, so you can always improve," deadpanned linebacker Roquan Smith, who led the Bulldog defense with seven tackles.
Georgia (6-4, 4-4 SEC) needed every stop it got from the defense, which surrendered 10 first downs in the first 30 minutes and zero in the second. The Bulldog offense moved the ball effectively — 343 yards and 21 first downs — but going 7-for-17 on third down and coming up short in the red zone kept the Tigers close.
Auburn (7-3, 5-2) came in averaging an SEC-best 494 yards a game, including 299.8 on the ground. It had 132 yards of offense in the first half, 107 rushing, and led 7-0. The Tigers finished the game with 164 yards of offense (127 rushing) and still just those seven points.
Georgia coach Kirby Smart offered up a ton of post-game praise for defensive coordinator Mel Tucker, the defensive assistants and the defense itself, which held Auburn without a first down after the midway point of the second quarter.
"Those [coaches] work really hard ... and those players believe that they're going to stop them, they believe every time they go on the field they're going to stop them," Smart said. "They've worked really hard and I'm proud of that staff and those players, because those players have bought in to the system that Mel's installed. And they really believe that they can stop anybody."
Smith Gets Six
The biggest Bulldog defensive stop of the game turned into Georgia's first points, when defensive back Maurice Smith picked off a Sean White pass in the third quarter and returned it 34 yards for a game-tying touchdown. If he hadn't caught it, the ball would have hit Smith dead in the center of the chest, as if White was throwing it to him.
"It did, and I honestly thought he was throwing it to me," "Mo" Smith said. "Maybe I had a white jersey on, I don't know."
It was the biggest play so far in the graduate transfer's one and only season with the Bulldogs. And the irony shouldn't have been lost on anyone that Smith, who spent four years at Alabama, got his first career touchdown against his old school's biggest rival. And by helping Georgia beat the Tigers, Smith was helping the Tide win the SEC West.
"It's beautiful," Smith said. "For me to end up scoring the first touchdown of the game, I never saw that coming."
Getting Creative
Georgia's offense was determined to throw the Tiger defense a few things it hadn't seen coming — hadn't seen period, at least from the Bulldogs. They creative plays didn't all work, but they were different and they're now plays that future opposing defenses are going to have to spend time preparing to stop.
Wideout Terry Godwin threw two passes into the end zone Saturday. The first was a mistake because there wasn't a receiver in the area on the first-quarter play from the Tiger 15-yard line, and it was intercepted. Smart said it was a play he wanted to run and offensive coordinator Jim Chaney called it, but Godwin needed to make a better decision with the ball since there was available target.
Godwin's second pass was almost perfect, and almost a win-sealing touchdown. Almost.
On third-and-goal from the 4, with the Bulldogs up 10-7 and 2:35 left in the game, quarterback Jacob Eason lined up on the right side, running back Nick Chubb was in the wildcat and Godwin was on the left. Chubb caught the snap, got it to Godwin moving to the right and Godwin lofted into the right corner for the 6-foot-5 Eason.
The ball had a bit too much air under it and the Tigers were able to get over and break up the pass, forcing the Bulldogs to settle for another field goal, and a 13-7 lead, instead of putting the game away with a touchdown. Still, it was hard not to acknowledge the creativity and aggression involved.
Smart said he wanted to be aggressive and go for the win. He also said around college football that play was 7-for-7 entering Saturday. The players certainly seemed to like the outside-the-box play-calling. Chubb and offensive lineman Tyler Catalina both said the Dogs had been working on that play for several weeks.
"We know it's something that can work," Catalina said.
"You just have to trust in the plan and that's what we all did," said Chubb, who finished with 101 yards rushing. "We all trusted in Chaney, the offensive staff and each other, and things start going for us and start rolling."
In the end, Georgia finished with 21 first downs to Auburn's 10, outrushed the Tigers 135-127 and outgained the Tigers 343-164. Isaiah McKenzie and Godwin had four receptions each and receiver Riley Ridley and tight end Isaac Nauta had three apiece.
A Fan Favorite
There were a lot of big cheers in the stadium Saturday: for former Georgia all-time greats Hines Ward and Champ Bailey; for former Georgia pitcher, and World Series champion, Justin Grimm; for Maurice Smith as he worked his way into the end zone after his interception.
Also getting really big cheers was kicker Rodrigo Blankenship, who seems to be becoming something of a rock star. He'd made nine straight field goals entering Saturday's game, including last week's game-winner at Kentucky, and was booting kickoffs through the end zone for touchbacks — one even hit an upright on the fly.
Early in the fourth quarter, with the game still tied, the redshirt freshman walk-on jogged out to try a 45-yarder, and it was to tremendous applause that he took the field. And the crowd roared as his kick had just enough gas to sail past the crossbar for a 10-7 lead.
The crowd roared again a little later when he came out, trying for an 11th straight connection, but this time he came up short, by about a yard, on a 49-yard try. With 2:25 to play, the glasses-wearing, eccentric kicker connected from 21 yards to make it 13-7.
"It's special to him and he's a good kid," Catalina said. "We actually had to tell the crowd to quiet down so we could hear the snap count."
Don't hear that everyday.
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
