Georgia football defense excited to stuff Kentucky offense: ‘We’ll be able to play physical with them’

ATHENS — Georgia defenders can’t wait to take the field on Saturday. For a number of reasons.

For one, this unit continues to get better and better every week. It helps that Jalen Carter is rounding back into form after posting three-straight strong performances. Having a physical force like Carter in the middle of the defense makes things easier for the rest of the unit.

“He’s explosive, he’s quick, he’s disruptive, he’s in the backfield,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “He’s on the quarterbacks, in terms of when you get to quarterbacks before they throw it, you typically have a shot at getting a force out, and when you get running backs in the backfield, maybe before they’re passed line of scrimmage, you got a shot to get an arm on the ball or knock it out. He’s certainly a powerful, explosive player.”

There is also this week’s opponent in Kentucky. While Tennessee and Mississippi State want to throw the ball all over the yard, Kentucky does not. Despite having an NFL prospect at the quarterback position in Will Levis, the Wildcats threw for 109 yards last week against Vanderbilt’s anemic secondary.

Kentucky wants to score and shorten the game by running the football. It helps to have Chris Rodriguez, one of the SEC’s most physical running backs. Kentucky has built itself into a respectable program by being one of the more physical teams in the league.

Georgia knows that, with the past two contests against Kentucky being remembered for their physicality.

“One of the things we have to do to get ready for a team like this is to have physical practices,” linebacker Smael Mondon said. “We like when a team is just trying to run downhill at us because we’ll be able to play physical with them.”

There’s been a palpable excitement to get to go play Kentucky this week, as it figures to once again be a game where the Georgia defense shines. Add in the NFL concepts that Kentucky offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello employs and the members of the Georgia defense hope to use this game as a way to showcase how they would play against an NFL scheme.

“That intrigues the players a lot more, playing against an NFL style offense,” Smart said. “It motivates them a little more because they know that a lot of teams look at those tapes. With their coordinator coming from the NFL, it’s more the kind of style of what they’ll play against at the next level. So, that part excites them.”

Even coming off the loss to Vanderbilt, Smart knows Kentucky will give Georgia its best shot. Add in that the game is expected to be played in sub-freezing temperatures and it figures to be a game decided by which team is the most physical.

That should play right into the hands of this Georgia defense, one that has given up less than 105 yards rushing in each of the last nine games.

“We just get back to our base stuff,” linebacker Chaz Chambliss said. “Going back to 12, 13-personnel packages and playing hard nose football.”

Georgia football defense excited to stuff Kentucky offense

More Georgia football stories from around DawgNation