What Georgia Coaches and Players Think of Ohio State's Offense Heading into the Peach Bowl

By Garrick Hodge on December 30, 2022 at 10:45 am
Will Muschamp
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
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Throughout the week leading up to Saturday's Peach Bowl, there was a common thought shared by Georgia's coaching staff and players alike: The Bulldogs will have their hands full when the Ohio State offense is on the field.

The Buckeyes bring one of the most explosive offenses in the country, ranking second in scoring offense nationally with 44.5 points per game scored, only second behind Tennessee (47.3).

When first mentioning the offense, Heisman finalist C.J. Stroud and Biletnikoff Award finalist Marvin Harrison Jr. immediately come to mind. But various Georgia coaches and players were asked throughout the week about various different aspects that make the Buckeyes' offense so difficult from an opposition standpoint. 

We compiled some of the best quotes from the week from Georgia at media sessions to get the Bulldogs' perspective on facing the Buckeyes. We've also added a few additional tidbits from those sources regarding the upcoming College Football Playoff matchup as well.

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart

  • On preparing to face a team with the talent Ohio State has: I feel like it's that way each week. I mean, you play against really talented teams every week, and you want to be at your best. I certainly think when you talk about the caliber of recruits that Ohio State has, our kids know their kids, and they know each other from the recruiting experience, and now more than ever kids pay attention to that. They go do trips together. They go play in all-star games together, and there's a lot of overlap there between Ohio State and Georgia. And I think the familiarity kind of brings on a new energy of competition. They want to go compete against the best, and this will be two of the premier programs going against each other.
  • On Ohio State’s offensive success with quarterbacks and receivers: It's both. It is great quarterback, great system, great coaches, great receivers. They've come up under four, five, six first rounders. Those kids watched those guys before them play. It is very similar to our inside backer room where you had three inside backers last year drafted for us, and the inside backers that are now playing emulate those guys. They watched them work. And that group they've got now is as talented group as there is in the country.
  • On how he feels about Georgia’s defensive line going against Ohio State’s offensive line: It's a great matchup. You look across the board, there's a lot of great matchups in this game. That's one of the interesting ones because they're certainly very talented on the offensive line. Got a great group, a lot of experience, and our defensive line will be challenged with Nolan (Smith) being down. We kind of do it by committee now outside of Jalen (Carter), and it'll be a great competitive matchup for both groups.
  • On the stress OSU’s offense can put on Georgia’s defense: They got really good wideouts. It's usually one or two or a tight end or a back. They've got a lot. And when you start looking at it, they've got a guy who can distribute the ball to all of them. He is an elite passer. He knows what he's doing with the ball. He has great velocity on the ball so he can throw it to all parts of the field. There's not a touch throw or a direct throw he can't make. So you can't really say what part are you working on because if you work on one part, the other part gets you. Everybody's gotta do their job, and you gotta win some one-on-one matchups. You're going to be one on one on lot of plays in the field. You gotta win some of those. How you respond to the ones you don't will probably determine the outcome of the game.
  • On if there’s any pressure on Georgia to repeat as national champions: This is a different year. We got a different team, very different team this year than last year. So I don't get caught up in one year to the next. Wipe the slate clean and try to redraw the art piece, and you start all over each year with what you got. This year's team was very different than last year's.On what he remembers from recruiting C.J. Stroud: I loved his mom, man. What a tremendous woman. She's awesome. Went all the way across the country and got to sit in his home and visit with him. He has a really good disposition about him. He's not real high, not real low, not real emotional. He keeps a really level head, which to me at quarterback is one of the number one qualities you can find. He came on a visit to our place as well and got to see him at the Heisman. He's just matured. To see him grow, he's always had tremendous arm strength and touch and velocity on throws, but he's become a complete quarterback there in their system.
  • On what he remembers from recruiting C.J. Stroud: I loved his mom, man. What a tremendous woman. She's awesome. Went all the way across the country and got to sit in his home and visit with him. He has a really good disposition about him. He's not real high, not real low, not real emotional. He keeps a really level head, which to me at quarterback is one of the number one qualities you can find. He came on a visit to our place as well and got to see him at the Heisman. He's just matured. To see him grow, he's always had tremendous arm strength and touch and velocity on throws, but he's become a complete quarterback there in their system.

Co-defensive coordinator Will Muschamp

  • On if Ohio State’s game against Michigan provided a blueprint on how to beat the Buckeyes and if Georgia plans to use anything it saw on tape from that game against OSU: No. We do what we do. But Ohio State is up and down the field the first half, and Michigan got off the field on third down and they had a couple of turnovers.
  • On facing C.J. Stroud: Wow, I mean I think he's an elite passer. That's the first thing that jumps out. He can make all the throws. He puts the balls in catchable areas where a lot of just don't have that talent to do that, a lot of people don't have that talent to do that. And he certainly can. I think it was Michigan State two years ago he takes a zone read 70 yards for a touchdown against Northwestern. This past year, with 5:30 left to go in the game, designed quarterback run out the backside. So he has legs and athleticism to evade in the rush and create off-rhythm plays which is obviously very difficult to defend, but the number one thing that jumps off the film is his ability to throw the football.
  • On the game-wrecking potential of Jalen Carter: Well, he's somebody you gotta account for every snap. He can change the game certainly inside. He's a very disruptive guy in the run game and in the pass game. So that's something that's — a guy that's very disruptive. And you gotta account for him every snap, and sometimes it's hard to help in protection for an inside player. It's much easier to chip on the edges and be able to have some protection. You can turn the protection. We're very aware of that, that we've gotta create situations where Jalen is one-on-ones, and that's what we try and do as much as we can.
  • On what he remembers from the one time in history OSU and Georgia have met, a 1993 Citrus Bowl matchup the Bulldogs won (Muschamp was a player for Georgia at the time): It was a good win for the Dawgs. We had a pre not game, but I guess a luncheon, and Herbstreit got up and threw a pass across the room, I knew we had a shot to win. (Laughs). Make sure he knows I said that.

Co-defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann

  • On how Georgia handles defensive playcalling in a game with multiple defensive coordinators: I think a lot of the decisions are made throughout the course of the week, and so there's a plan in terms of what the situation is in the game, in terms of where they are on the field, what they're doing offensively. And we make our decisions collectively about how we want to answer that. And there's a lot of conversation between drives about where do we go from there, and then we just follow that plan the next time we're on the field. Obviously, there's some situations where decisions have to be made rapidly at that point, and there's not a lot of conversation there, but that's where you go back to your preparation and your discussions ahead of time, and you just kind of follow that blueprint. But it's done collaboratively. It's something that everybody shares a piece in terms of what part of the game plan it is. And then we just try to enact that as a staff when it's going.
  • On facing C.J. Stroud: I think in general when you have an extremely talented player like he is, it's never one play. Consistency is what makes somebody different, and he's consistently accurate. He has great touch. He's a good decision-maker, and he trusts his playmakers around him. So I think that all those traits sound easy, but they're tough to have on a consistent basis. So he's consistently accurate. He consistently has good touch and decision-making, and he trusts the people around him. And I think his consistency is what makes him different.
  • On Ohio State’s offensive weapons: I think it's a really well-rounded offense across the board. It's obviously certain guys get more of the accolades, but the receiver room is deep, whether it's both guys outside. It's the playmakers in the slot, the tight end has done a really good job on vertical balls, and as a blocker, the running back room has been by committee, and it's been productive throughout. Everybody who's been in there has run the ball well. And I think when you look at that, you have a talented offensive line with great size. So it's a really well-rounded offense. And that makes it easy to trust the guys around you. But they each have their own skill set, but I just think it's a really well-rounded offense.
  • On what SEC team is most comparable to OSU from a schematic standpoint: I think it's fair because of the passing success to make reference to (Tennessee and LSU). I also think they run the ball at a high level. They're running the ball for almost 200 yards a game, which Tennessee runs the ball well. I think there's some carryover to Florida in terms of the type of sets and run game they have as well and some of the passing game concepts that show up there. So I think there are little pieces. I mean, guys, football is — you can watch six different teams and see carryover from each team, so there's a little piece of what they do offensively in everybody we've played to an extent.

Safety Chris Smith

  • On facing C.J. Stroud: I would say he's an elite passer, very poised with his game, and you can tell they run everything through him. Like I say, like coach say, he got legs. He can pretty much do it all. He's a Heisman finalist, and that just says enough for the kind of player he is.
  • On which SEC team they’ve faced that has the closest resemblance to the tandem of wide receiver talent OSU does: I would probably compare them to actually the last game we played, LSU had a lot of great receivers as well as Ohio State, and they all bring different things to the game as wide receivers, but they're all special talents at the end of the day and something that we have to be able to account for and focus on.
  • On what the secondary has been focusing on in preparation for OSU after allowing a surplus of passing yards to LSU in the SEC Championship: We've just been focusing on our technique and fundamentals. It's been when a month that we've had to be able to practice and get prepared for this game, and just locking in on a game plan. That game is in the past. We know we didn't perform our best and we can perform better, and that's what we want to do for this game on Saturday.
  • On if playing at Mercedes-Benz Stadium gives Georgia any advantage: I wouldn't say it's an advantage. I feel like both teams are going to be locked into the match. And we're not going to be worried about the outside. We're going to be worried about what we gotta do on the field. So I don't think it's no advantage.

Defensive lineman Zion Logue

  • On what SEC team is most comparable to OSU from a schematic standpoint:  I'll tell you two teams, Tennessee and LSU, just because those guys, they run it a little bit too, but they can sit back in the pocket and let it fly around the field a little bit. I think we respect their quarterback, just like we did those two teams. And college football respects their quarterbacks as well. So I think those are the two teams that I would stack them up against.

Cornerback Kelee Ringo

  • On if there’s added motivation facing Marvin Harrison Jr.: I wouldn’t say there’s too much added motivation. But of course, I feel like this is a great opportunity for me and the rest of the secondary with how explosive their team is. Also with their quarterback and the other receivers that they have too. I’m just trying to come in with extreme confidence and hope we can continue to do our job. 

Linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson

  • On what SEC team is most comparable to OSU from a schematic standpoint: I agree with Zion. Just the depth both of them teams had, Tennessee and LSU, compared to Ohio State, definitely wide receiver room. Plus the good quarterbacks they had, at the time, the quarterbacks they had, arm length, vision, and the legs, and them -- not shooting picks on their running backs, but they had good backs, too, but not able to show them up because of the wide receiver room that them three teams have in common.

Linebacker Smael Mondon Jr.

  • On facing C.J. Stroud: Elite passer, with really good ball placement. He puts the ball where his receivers can have a chance to make a play. So that's hard to defend. 

Linebacker Chaz Chambliss

  • On facing C.J. Stroud: Just a great player overall. The offense goes through him. He's a great passer, and he can show his legs when he wants to.
  • On if playing at Mercedes-Benz Stadium gives Georgia any advantage: I don't think it's an advantage at all. Playing-wise, both teams are going to play hard. It's a one-game season right now, so it's all or nothing.
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