Georgia inside linebacker Tae Crowder (30) and safety Richard LeCounte (2) combine to tackle Austin Peay running back Ahmaad Tanner, who played at Dalton High School. The Bulldogs had allowed an average of 101 rushing yards a game this season before yielding 172 last Saturday at Missouri.ATHENS, Ga. - It's not revealing classified information to declare that Georgia's chief defensive desire Saturday afternoon will be to stop Tennessee's running game.
It's an objective the second-ranked and undefeated Bulldogs have most college football weekends, and it's why they haven't exactly been happy campers since last Saturday's 43-29 victory over Missouri. Georgia allowed only 54 rushing yards at South Carolina on Sept. 8, but the Bulldogs' second Southeastern Conference contest this season was very different because they yielded 172 yards on the ground and four rushing touchdowns.
"Four rushing touchdowns? That's not up to our standard," Bulldogs senior inside linebacker Juwan Taylor said this week. "The goal every game is to play with physicality, discipline and composure, and we weren't as physical as we were supposed to be. We didn't have the discipline with our assignments, and we had too many penalties.
"We pride our defense on stopping the run, and we gave up four rushing TDs."
Georgia's 172 rushing yards allowed were its most this season and the most since Oklahoma amassed 242 in the double-overtime shootout at the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day. Auburn racked up 237 last November, when the Tigers handed the Bulldogs their lone loss of the regular season.
The Bulldogs gave up an average of just 126 rushing yards a game last season despite the difficulties against Auburn and Oklahoma, and they were yielding just 101 a contest this season before last Saturday. Georgia coach Kirby Smart was not overly pleased during his Monday news conference.
"We didn't play the run game real good last week, and that's what we pride ourselves on," Smart said. "We've got to do a better job of attacking the run. At the end of the day, stopping the run is an attitude and a disposition you create within your team, and we didn't have that. In the previous games, I didn't think it was a major problem.
"We weren't trying to stop the run a lot of times against Middle Tennessee, because that was a different kind of game. We didn't stop the run very well against Missouri, and I'll be the first to admit that."
When a run defense falters, it's common to blame the point of attack up front, but Smart said it is much more than that.
"There is a coordinated fit," he said. "We didn't close. A lot of the D-linemen aren't in on the tackles, but they're the glue that holds things together on the inside. You play games certain ways. You change things up. You change your strategy so the other team doesn't know what you're doing all the time, and a lot of those rushing yards had to do with that.
"A lot of them had to do with unwillingness to strike people. If you don't strike people, you won't stop the run in our league, so you've got to strike people and be physical up front in order to do it."
Junior defensive tackle Michael Barnett believes his position group has played well for most of the month but described last Saturday as "an off day for us."
Tennessee (2-2, 0-1) has averaged 211.2 rushing yards per game this year and has increased its rushes from 38 against West Virginia in the opener to 44 against East Tennessee State to 50 against the University of Texas at El Paso to 54 last week against Florida. The Volunteers shredded UTEP for 345 rushing yards but had 156, or 2.9 per carry, in last Saturday's 47-21 loss to the Gators.
The Vols have a proud history of running the football, a tradition that includes 18 1,000-yard seasons, which is helping give Georgia an immediate opportunity at redemption.
"I'm definitely amped up for this game," Taylor said, "and I think our whole defense is."
Swift slow to heal
Georgia sophomore tailback D'Andre Swift missed the G-Day spring game with a groin injury, and he told reporters after Wednesday's practice that it was a problem during the 49-7 win over Middle Tennessee State on Sept. 15. Swift had just four carries for 12 yards against the Blue Raiders.
Swift, who said he receives treatment three times a day, had 16 carries for 71 yards at Missouri.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.