Allen Helps Punch Up Georgia Defense

Allen Helps Punch Up Georgia Defense

By Ansley Gavlak
UGA Sports Communications

For Georgia, the mission heading into Saturday's 35-15 win over Kentucky was simple: start fast and keep the momentum going.

"You have to keep your foot on the gas," linebacker CJ Allen said. "It was nice to start off with the offense scoring. We are just trying to get the ball back to the offense. We are trying to get it back to them as soon as possible."

Allen helped Georgia do just that. After pacing the defense with five tackles and a sack in the first half, when the No. 12-ranked Bulldogs built 14-0 and 21-7 leads, Allen opened up the third quarter by charging running back Seth McGowan, punching the ball loose and recovering the fumble himself.

"We've kind of been preaching this whole week, this whole season, just trying to get a punchout, get the takeaway," Allen said. "I think this week, we actually honed in on that and actually did have some great takeaways at practice."

Georgia silenced Kentucky on the ground, holding the Wildcats to just 45 rushing yards on 22 attempts — 44 of which came from McGowan. The senior entered the game with 387 rushing yards and seven touchdowns through four games, including a 112-yard outing against South Carolina last weekend.

"I feel like that was one of the biggest plays in the game," linebacker Raylen Wilson said of Allen's forced fumble and recovery. "[Allen and I] talked about it day in, day out through practice. Then we talked about it this morning when we woke up out of bed. I mean, we were both talking about it. So, it's just, I mean, we are just happy. We're happy to get the ball out."

After allowing 13 third-down conversions in last week's 24-21 loss to Alabama — the most allowed in a game under Smart — the Bulldogs had some shaping up to do. After a week of practice, Smart emphasized the work the defense put in to make sure that didn't happen again.

"I can't tell you how hard [Fain & Billy Slaughter Defensive Coordinator Glenn Schumann] and the defensive staff have worked," Smart said. "We sacrificed 30-40 practice minutes, which are like golden nuggets. To y'all, 30-40 minutes is nothing, but 30-40 minutes out of a week to nothing but attempts and strip-outs and targeting balls and punching balls is really big."

That work paid off when Allen's forced fumble set Georgia up on Kentucky's 38-yard line. All it took was a 36-yard Gunner Stockton pass to Oscar Delp down to the 5-yard line and later a 2-yard rush into the end zone from wide receiver Dillon Bell, to stretch its lead to 28-7 to start the second half.

Allen led Georgia's defense with six tackles and two tackles for loss, including a sack in the second quarter, making for a notable performance for the preseason First-Team All-SEC and All-America Second Team honoree. The junior from Barnesville, Ga., ranked fifth on the team with 41 tackles as a freshman in 2023; last season, his first as a regular starter, he ranked second with 76 stops, one behind safety Malaki Starks' 77.

In Georgia's SEC opener against Tennessee, Allen posted a team-high and career-high 11 tackles while also breaking up a pass in the overtime win. After five games this season, Allen leads the Bulldogs with 36 stops, four ahead of Wilson.

Georgia forced its second turnover in the fourth quarter when defensive back Ellis Robinson IV hauled in his second career interception, grabbing the ball in the corner of the end zone to prevent a touchdown on a fourth-down throw.

"Ellis is an athlete," Allen said. "He's an athletic freak, so I'm not too surprised by that."

Allen and the Bulldogs will get back to work this week, including maybe more punch-out drills, before heading to Jordan-Hare Stadium next weekend for a rivalry showdown against Auburn.

University of Georgia Athletics

Players Mentioned

CJ Allen

Dillon Bell

Oscar Delp

Ellis Robinson IV

Malaki Starks

Gunner Stockton

Raylen Wilson

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