Playing fast a must for Georgia defense against Tar Heels

North Carolina running back Elijah Hood rushed for 1,463 yards last season and averaged 6.7 yards per carry. The Tar Heels open their 2016 season Saturday against Georgia in Atlanta.
North Carolina running back Elijah Hood rushed for 1,463 yards last season and averaged 6.7 yards per carry. The Tar Heels open their 2016 season Saturday against Georgia in Atlanta.

ATHENS, Ga. - The Georgia Bulldogs are not lacking for questions entering Saturday's opener against North Carolina in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic.

How will Kirby Smart handle his debut as a head coach?

Will Greyson Lambert, who was named the starting quarterback Thursday morning, perform well and not look over his shoulder at true freshman Jacob Eason?

Can tailback Nick Chubb produce the stamina for 25 carries should the Bulldogs need him?

One question that shouldn't be overlooked is whether Georgia defenders can keep up with the Tar Heels.

"They are very fast," Bulldogs inside linebacker Reggie Carter said this week. "Our scout team has been doing a good job of getting back to the ball and working on the next play, because they really go fast."

North Carolina's offense set school records last season for points (570), points per game (40.7) and touchdowns (73), and the Tar Heels hope to establish more standards this year. Returning tailback Elijah Hood rushed for 1,463 yards and 6.7 yards per carry last season, and six of the top seven receivers are back as well.

Fifth-year Tar Heels coach Larry Fedora has molded an offense with a variety of tempos that has produced far more often than not, so it will be up to Smart and new defensive coordinator Mel Tucker to try to slow things down inside the Georgia Dome.

"We know they're going to go fast," Smart said. "It's what they want to do, and they feel like they're at their best when they go fast. It's a big part of the game, and it's a big adjustment for us because we don't see that every day, so obviously Coach Tucker has his hands full, as well as the rest of the team.

"The problem is no matter what we do, we probably won't be able to do what they do. It just never works out that way. We know for the most part what they're going to do, but we don't know what formations, what motions or what shifts they're going to do, but I hope our kids can go out there and play fast."

North Carolina returns four offensive linemen who have combined for 112 starts, and even its new starting quarterback is far from an unknown. Junior Mitch Trubisky played in nine games last season as the backup to Marquise Williams, completing 40 of 47 passes (85.1 percent) for 555 yards with six touchdowns and no interceptions.

Trubisky also rushed 16 times for 101 yards and three touchdowns, averaging 6.3 yards per carry.

"He brings a different dynamic," Smart said. "He's a very mobile, athletic kid. He played a lot last year in a lot of different situations. They rotated those guys early on, and they got some design quarterback runs that are really hard to stop.

"He's also a really good passer. He's probably the best quarterback that nobody knows about, and it's almost like he's a returning starter because of how much he played."

Saturday will be a challenging first test for a Georgia defense that has starting experience at every position but lost its top four tacklers from last year's team. The biggest objective will be stopping Hood, a 6-foot, 230-pounder who is coming off a single-season total that was topped at UNC only by Don McCauley's 1,720 yards in 1970.

Hood is one of just five returning Power Five conference backs who rushed for at least 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns last season while averaging 6.0 yards per carry, the others being LSU's Leonard Fournette, Florida State's Dalvin Cook, Baylor's Shock Linwood and Oregon's Royce Freeman.

That's some nice company.

"He's a great back with excellent balance," Carter said. "We've got to be fundamentally sound wrapping up."

Swift commits

The Bulldogs picked up a commitment Thursday afternoon from running back D'Andre Swift from Philadelphia. The 5-10, 215-pounder is rated by 247Sports.com as the No. 4 running back in the 2017 signing class and the No. 37 overall prospect.

Georgia has 15 nonbinding commitments and is ranked fifth in the 247Sports team rankings behind Ohio State, Alabama, LSU and Oklahoma.

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.

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