Bulldogs' defense croaks No. 3 Horned Frogs for second consecutive national championship
Bulldogs' defense croaks No. 3 Horned Frogs for second consecutive national championship
INGLEWOOD, CA. — After giving up 71 points in the last two games to LSU and Ohio State, Georgia’s defense came to play against No. 3 TCU in Monday’s national title game.
The Bulldog offense thrived and scored a season-high 65 points against the Horned Frogs; however, the defense’s performance should get overlooked, especially because of how it played.
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart was “proud” of the way his defense dominated on Monday.
“I was proud of the defense after two outings that we did not perform well,” Smart said. “They (TCU) have a first-round receiver and they’ve got a quarterback that was a Heisman Trophy finalist. I thought our defense performed well tonight with their backs against the wall.”
TCU scored 51 points against No. 2 Michigan during the Fiesta Bowl in the CFP semifinal, but the Horned Frogs were held to just seven points on Monday at So-Fi Stadium.
Smart also referred back to what he talked about at SEC Media Days in July, which was about how the Bulldogs won’t ‘be hunted’ and how they were ‘the hunters’ this past season.
“Really aggressive plan, not holding back anything,” Smart said. “We wanted our kids to play without fear. All year I told them, ‘We ain’t getting hunted, guys. We’re doing the hunting and hunting season’s almost over. We’ve only got one more chance to hunt.’ We hunted tonight.”
Georgia brought a lot of pressure and tried to throw TCU dual-threat quarterback Max Duggan off-balance. The senior was rattled enough, affecting how he played all game long.
Duggan completed 14-of-22 passes for 152 yards, zero TDs and two INTs. He was also held in check on the ground and totaled -38 yards after being sacked by the Bulldogs five times.
Georgia out-gained the Horned Frogs 589-188 in the blowout. Their longest play came in the first quarter on a 51-yard pass from Duggan to senior wide receiver Derius Davis.
Georgia defensive back Javon Bullard, who was named the Peach Bowl Defensive MVP last week, also earned the same honor in Monday night’s national championship contest.
The Milledgeville, Ga. native only had one total tackle but recorded both of the Bulldogs’ picks, and he also had a fumble recovery, which was caused by safety Chris Smith.
Bullard, who left the game early with a shoulder injury, was humble about the whole situation.
“As a kid, you always dream of moments like this,” Bullard said. “Just to see those moments and accomplishments and things like that come true, it’s just a surreal feeling. I’m extremely blessed to be in the position I am in. I just thank God for it every day.”
The Bulldogs made a statement after the Tigers and Buckeyes torched them the past two games. They needed to redeem themselves and they certainly did against TCU on Monday.
Smith, who had three tackles and a forced fumble, wanted to end his career at UGA as a champion.
“We just wanted to leave no doubt,” Smith explained. “(We) just (wanted to) focus on the present, and not focus on what happened in the past, or the performances we’ve had in the past, and also not focus on the future. We wanted our focus to be in the present day and accomplish the mission we set out to complete at the beginning of the year.”
Georgia sniffed out TCU’s game plan early and its defense set the tone in the first quarter. After giving up an explosive play on a busted coverage, which led to the Horned Frogs scoring a few plays later, the Bulldogs woke up and didn’t allow another point.
Their offense entered the game as one of the nation’s most explosive offenses. They lead the country in plays that go for 15-plus yards but were held to three against the Bulldogs.
TCU head coach Sonny Dykes credited Georgia and Smart for being prepared.
“I think anybody that saw that could see that we certainly didn’t play our best. You’ve got to give Georgia a ton of credit,” Dykes said. “They did a tremendous job of getting their team ready to play. Those guys came out and played exceptionally well. They’ve got a good football team.
“Really talented. And the thing that I was impressed about Georgia coming into the game was the way they played hard all the time,” Dykes added. “They played well and really had a lot of pride in their performance, and the way they played. You could see it today.”
TCU went 2-of-11 on third down and 0-of-2 in fourth-down situations. Georgia also held the Horned Frogs’ offensive attack to average just 3.7 yards per rush attempt. The Bulldogs constantly got into the backfield often with seven tackles for loss in the title game.
Georgia inside linebacker Smael Mondon totaled a team-high five tackles, with four of them being solo. Jamon Dumas-Johnson was also all over the field as he racked up four stops.
Junior cornerback Kamari Lassiter and outside linebacker Robert Beal Jr. each had three tackles. There were seven more Bulldogs that had more than one stop in the victory.
A few younger Georgia defenders such as Mykel Williams and Bear Alexander played well. The freshmen defensive linemen had two tackles each and they also recorded a sack.
The Bulldogs also got contributions from other underclassmen including Darris Smith, JaCorey Thomas and Jalon Walker. They all each totaled one tackles apiece in the win.
Despite Smith playing his last game donning a red and black uniform, he issued a warning for the future of the Georgia program after winning back-to-back national titles.
“We have a lot of great players on this team,” Smith said. “I think this team is going to be a problem for years to come.”