Perhaps they've improved. Perhaps it's inferior competition. Perhaps its a combination.
Whatever the reason, the Georgia Bulldogs are quietly establishing themselves as a top-20 defense in Jeremy Pruitt's second season as coordinator. In Saturday's 27-3 win over Kentucky, the Bulldogs (6-3, 4-3 Southeastern Conference) held the Wildcats to eight first downs and 180 total yards.
Playing in his final Sanford Stadium game against an SEC opponent, senior defensive tackle James DeLoach was responsible for two of Georgia's three tackles for loss.
"This was probably my best game," DeLoach said. "We all just focused as a team and executed the game plan, and everybody was wanting to help us seniors go out the right way. I couldn't ask for any more than playing with these guys.
"We push each other, and we don't act like anybody is better than anybody else."
Georgia's defense also feasted on Missouri, limiting the Tigers to six first downs and 164 yards in a 9-6 win on Oct. 17.
The Bulldogs currently rank 14th nationally in total defense (allowing an average of 305.3 yards per game) and 20th in scoring defense (18.4 points per game). They are seventh in red-zone defense and tied for 10th in third-down defense.
"I know they were really good yesterday," Bulldogs head coach Mark Richt said Sunday afternoon. "They basically pitched a shutout when you consider the three points (Kentucky) did get came after we laid the ball right there on the 20. They've put a few games together where we've played really outstanding, and now we've got another challenge with a little different style of offense.
"Hopefully we'll just continue to improve. I've been pleased with what they've done, for sure, knowing that there are still things to correct. Considering the amount of youth we're playing, especially in the back end, it's been pretty impressive as of late."
The four lowest-scoring teams in the SEC this season are Missouri, Vanderbilt, South Carolina and Kentucky, a quartet the Bulldogs have swept. The Bulldogs travel to Auburn (5-4, 2-4) this week to face an offense and program that has mostly disappointed this year but whipped then-No. 19 Texas A&M 26-10 on the road Saturday night.
This is just the third time since 1978 the Auburn-Georgia game will pit two unranked teams, with the other occasions in 1991 and 2009.
"What I saw last night was a team that was playing extremely well on both sides of the ball and on special teams," Richt said. "(Auburn) ran the ball great and seemed like they could do it any time they wanted to. Their quarterback, (Jeremy) Johnson, played well, and their defense was extremely physical and fast.
"They had a lot of energy, so we've got our work cut out for us."
Odds and ends
Richt said freshman receiver Terry Godwin and sophomore tailback Sony Michel will continue to take direct snaps this week and that quarterbacks Greyson Lambert and Brice Ramsey will play again. Richt on Godwin: "He does have the ability to throw the ball, too, so I'm sure that package will have a few throws coming down the road." The offensive line that started against Kentucky is expected to start again, Richt said.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.