Georgia defense has something to prove against Ohio State after LSU ‘embarrassment’

ATLANTA — Ohio State has spent a lot of time answering questions about its lopsided loss to Michigan.

But the Buckeyes — who lost to the Wolverines 45-23 before finding the back door into the CFP — aren’t the only ones still seething over their most recent outing.

The Georgia defense — a prideful unit that Kirby Smart trumpets for its toughness and consistency — was riddled for 549 yards and four touchdowns by LSU in a 50-30 SEC Championship Game win on Dec. 3.

“That was an embarrassment,” UGA linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson said on Tuesday.

The No. 1-ranked Bulldogs and No. 4 Buckeyes will meet at 8 p.m. on Saturday in the CFP Peach Bowl Semifinal both intent on proving their worth and advancing to the CFP Championship Game.

For Ohio State, it’s a shot at immediate redemption and a possible rematch with Michigan. The Buckeyes are three years removed from their last Big Ten title and have a team full of players with little or no championship legacy.

Georgia, meanwhile, is a reloaded group that knows fully well it was not supposed to be here.

After all, there’s never been a collegiate football team that’s lost so much talent in one class — 15 players in the NFL Draft, and an additional 13 (four former staters) in the NCAA portal — much less one that’s gone 13-0 after doing so.

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But as Stetson Bennett said after the SEC title game, Georgia didn’t practice all year to go 13-0; the goal is a perfect 15-0 season, and there are possibly still two more games to play.

That’s why the Bulldogs don’t mind using the LSU game for motivation, even if they don’t like talking about it.

“You never see that game coming, and you’d have never thought we’d give up that many yards,” Johnson said.

“We flushed that and left that behind us, bigger things are ahead of us.”

LSU had an opponent-season-high 7 plays of 25 yards or more against the UGA defense.

The Bulldogs’ defense has indeed sagged of late: 19 of the 38 plays of 20 or more yards Georgia has given up all season have come in the last four games.

Ohio State is bigger, faster, stronger and more athletic than LSU, which was taped together in many respects and playing a second-string quarterback the second half of a game that saw it throw for 502 yards.

“We played some talented teams, and there are plays that will be made,” Senior Chris Smith said, putting the defensive breakdowns into perspective.

“It’s how you respond to it.”

Smith said the Georgia coaches know how the defense feels about that last outing.

“We don’t need any boost, there’s self-motivation,” Smith said. “LSU put a lot of passing yards on us, but that’s in the past, and we’re trying to focus on this next game.

“We worked very hard in the month we’ve had to practice, and we’ll continue to work this week and we’ll do what we can do be best prepared.”

Biggest scoring outputs vs. 2022 Georgia

• LSU, 30 points, 549 total yards (502 passing, 47 rushing) 7 plays +25

• Missouri 22 points, 294 yards (192 passing, 102 rushing) 5 plays +25

• Kent State 22 points, 281 yards (188 passing, 93 rushing) 3 plays +25

• Florida 20 points, 371 yards (271 passing, 100 rushing) 5 plays +25

• Mississippi State 19 points, 308 yards (261 passing, 47 rushing) 5 plays +25