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

But that doesn't mean Georgia's coaching staff and offensive players are taking the Buckeyes lightly on the defensive side of the ball. OSU is currently 12th nationally in total defense (303.9 yards allowed per game) and 13th nationally in scoring defense (19.25 points allowed per game). 

Those who garnered attention from OSU's defensive side of the ball during this week’s interviews included first-year defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, Ohio State defensive ends Zach Harrison, J.T. Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer along with linebacker Tommy Eichenberg. 

Throughout various media sessions, Georgia coaches and players were asked about their thoughts on the Buckeyes' defensive unit, touching on a variety of subjects. 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 what team he’d compare Ohio State to: I'm not a big comparison guy. I think Ohio State stands out on their own. They've got a lot of talent across the board, probably the most talented roster that we will have played against, but it's hard to do comparisons.
• On not letting the narrative that Ohio State is “soft” and that’s why the Buckeyes lost to Michigan affect his preparation for what could be a physical football game: I've not heard that narrative. I don't look at narratives. I look at tape, and the tape doesn't say they're a soft football team. I know how they practice. I know what players they have. I watch the tape. I know how physical they are. We don't get caught up in narratives. We get caught up in controlling what we can control, which is how we play.
• On if he expects a three-high defense from Ohio State or more stacking the box like the Buckeyes did against Michigan: I expect to get a little bit of all of them. Certainly it will determine what personnel we put in and how we use our guys. We've got three, four really good tight ends, and we hope to be able to use those guys in this game. A lot of that's going to boil down to how we play and what we do and try to dictate to them. They've got a really good defensive football team. They're very physical. They've done a great job dating back to the Oklahoma State days. Very good, aggressive, multiple packages on defense, where they give you multiple looks and things.
• On if there’s an advantage to playing in the Mercedes-Benz Stadium three times this year: Probably that you know where the scoreboard, the clocks, and all the different stuff is is the biggest thing. The field's the same. There's not a lot of difference in terms of the diameter and width of the field, but I think it's more about familiarity of the quarterback knowing the shot clock and the ribbons and the different things. The biggest difference is both teams are going to practice in there, so they'll be familiar with it by the time the game starts.
• On what it was like getting into the College Football Playoff last season with a loss, similar to how Ohio State did this season: Yeah, it really centered things. You recalibrate, and you look back, and sometimes the reality of your weaknesses pop up a lot more in a loss. We like to say why do you got to lose to learn? You shouldn't have to do that, but it certainly is a wakeup call in teams I've been with. It recentered everybody and refocused everybody. Obviously we've tried to do that without that. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't. It's just one of those things.

UGA's Kirby Smart on the mic.... at practice..

"Can't be a leader if you're last and you've been last a lot lately.... SAAAAAWWWWFFFFTTTT!" pic.twitter.com/9sElBUedDY

— Zach Klein (@ZachKleinWSB) December 29, 2022

Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Todd Monken

• On if he has a response to Ohio State defensive players saying they have “advantages across the board”: Well, I mean, they should have confidence. They have a good football team. I'm not going to sit here and say that we think in terms of this X, Y and Z. We have advantages. We have a good football team. Our tape proves that. Their tape proves it. So at the end of the day, we got good football players. They got good football players. At this point, it's going to come down to execution. It's going to come down to our preparation that leads up to this, and it's not going to come down to whether we think we have advantages or we don't think we have advantages because at the end of the day, both teams have good players. It's going to come down to doing the little things well in execution.
• On Michigan converting explosive plays against Ohio State and the chess match that could ensue as adjustments are made heading into the matchup: Oh, you know, a couple of the plays at the end of the game came when they were trying to stop the run. So it's kind of hard. The game was kind of at the point where they had to get a stop and they had a couple of long runs, but early in the game. They went zero and missed a tackle on hitch route. They were a second away from getting a sack, and they missed a tackle and he went the distance. And they had defenders run into each other one time on a wheel route. They caught him in a cloud coverage and hit across the field raised route. So they were able to take advantage of, you know, I guess you call sometimes a miscue by the defense or some play action, but again, the game is really simple. I mean, it's really, you know, how do we be explosive, how do we not turn it over. How do we get third downs. Do we score touchdowns in the red zone and how do we not lose our place and put you behind the chains. And they did those things. They were able to be explosive. They didn't turn it over. They held Ohio State at times. So it gave them a chance to continue to plug ahead. So like any — they're no different than any other team you play, is if you're not able to be explosive, you're going to have a hard time scoring. It just worked out in that game that Michigan hit some plays that gave them a chance to be explosive. And that's in games we've had success against unless we've been significantly better if you don't find ways to be explosive, you're going to have a hard time scoring points.
• On what he’s seen from Ohio State’s defensive ends: Well, they're long and rangy. And I think the one thing they're twitchy inside. I know you're talking about their outside guys. They create issues with their looks. So you have to be careful and not chase ghosts, but you have to be prepared because they're not afraid to pressure you. As these guys said earlier, from the field, from the boundary, different players pressuring you. So, you have to be dialed into what looks they're giving you, but definitely their edge guys can create issues. Again, like any team that we've played in the past that have had really good players up front, the best way to be able to negate that is to be able to run the football, be able to get the ball out of your hands, be able to protect, chip when you can. And if we're able to do that and not be in long-yard situations or get behind, then it doesn't eliminate really good players, but it limits their ability to affect the game. That happened last year against Michigan. We got ahead early. We were able to run the football. We got it out of our hands. Against LSU with their edge guys, that's the key to it. Otherwise, those guys can really disrupt the game.

Quarterback Stetson Bennett

• On what he’s expecting from Ohio State’s defense: First of all, they have really good players and they execute their system. They try to cause havoc. They can come from a lot of different places. They do their assignment, and in order for us to be successful, we have to do ours. And that's trusting Sed(rick Van Pran), whenever he's making the calls and talking to him. But at the end of the day, they've got a really good football team. We've got a really good football team, and it's going to come down to who executes better on Saturday.
• On if Ohio State’s defense has any advantages on Georgia’s offense: That Ohio State has? Yeah, certainly. I don't really want to get into the particulars right now, but obviously they were undefeated until the last game of the season. It's hard to do that. And we were, too, last year until we lost to Alabama, and then we ended up winning it all. So we certainly are not taking Ohio State lightly. Like they said, they've got advantages all over the board. So we're going to have to go play football.
• On gearing up for Ohio State: It's going to be a dogfight. I'm excited. You want somebody's best, and you're not going to get much better from somebody than they just lost their last game to a rival. They're going to be ready to roll.

Offensive tackle Broderick Jones

• On the difference between facing the combination of Zach Harrison, Jack Sawyer and J.T. Tuimoloau: I really don't try and just single out one specific player at a time. I would rather just watch the whole scheme of the game just because of, you know, they switch so many people out every time. So I just try and look at the scheme and how they will play if certain people were in. I just don't try and single out 44 or 9, even though they are great pass rushers. You know, they will be a big challenge for us. But I believe at the end of the day, it's really about the defense as a whole and the way we play, and not just the specific two players.

Center Sedrick Van Pran

• On preparing to face Ohio State: I think the biggest thing I would like to just focus on is like Coach Monken said, we both have good players on each side, and it really is going to come down to execution. I really have a lot of respect for Ohio State, their program and everything that they stand for, but also I have a lot of pride in Georgia football. So we just really look forward to continuing to prepare and just go out there and compete.
• On Ohio State's edge rushers: When you kind of look at it, they really do have some amazing edge rushers. Those guys really get after it, super athletic, different things like that. And as far as like the run game, you really just have to focus on what's the staple of what we believe in. One of the things that we believe in here is running the ball. So no matter how athletic or no matter how gifted or God-gifted somebody may be, you have to do everything in your might to fight to stand on what you believe in. And as the offensive line here at Georgia, we genuinely believe on being tough guys, and doing everything we can to help this football team win. So despite everything that they may possess, you have to give everything you have for this team, because it is everything, everything that we play for, everything that we work for. So despite their God-given talent, we have to go out there and give our all.

Tight end Brock Bowers

• On facing Ohio State’s defense: Any of those top four teams, they're big, fast, twitchy dudes. It's how fast we can react, like I said. We'll see how they play us this weekend.