Georgia football LB zeroed in on LSU team, not environment

BATON ROUGE, La. — Georgia senior inside linebacker Juwan Taylor is running out of time with the Bulldogs, so you might think he would want to soak in a storied environment like Tiger Stadium.

Not so, says Taylor, who is clearly bringing a no-nonsense approach into the 3:30 p.m. showdown in Death Valley between the No. 2-ranked Bulldogs (6-0, 4-0 SEC) and No. 13 LSU (5-1, 2-1).

“We just have to not worry about the atmosphere,” the 6-foot-1, 218-pound Taylor said, “just go out there and play our game.”

Taylor said he doesn’t know about the Mike the Tiger exhibit, and he doesn’t seem to care.

The objective, Taylor indicated, is to stay focused on the task at hand.

Business Trip 💼#ATD #GeorgiaFootball pic.twitter.com/w4rpyEPYkn
— Georgia Football (@GeorgiaFootball) October 12, 2018

“I’ve heard things, it gets very loud (in Tiger Stadium), but we try not to worry about that,” Taylor said. “We try to focus in and lock in and do what we can to get the ‘W.’

“It will be exciting but you don’t want to get too overhyped, so you have to humble yourself in that situation.”

Humble is one thing, but apparently disrespect is another.

Taylor made it clear he’s not buying into any talk the Bulldogs’ front seven has dropped off since last season, even after losing SEC Defensive Player of the Year Roquan Smith.

“I don’t see nothing wrong with our front seven — nothing,” Taylor said. “We’re willing to be tested in any way.”

As far as Taylor is concerned, the Georgia defense has been prepared for the sort of physical contest that awaits them.

“I feel like we’re tested, we’ve been tested since fall camp we’re ready for anything, this camp has been very challenging so our coach did a great job with that,” Taylor said. “He challenges us every day to come out and set the standard with our front seven.”

Smart and defensive coordinator Mel Tucker will be looking for that standard against LSU, early and often.