Do You Have to Have a Defense Any More in College Football?
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Dean Legge’s recent Thoughts: “2022 Was Never Going to be Easy for the Georgia Bulldogs,” got me thinking about expectations and the questions that are, and often are not, asked about college football teams.
As for expectations, Coach Kirby Smart has built the Georgia Bulldogs into an annual national title contender so fast, that some fans seem to have no memory of games from yesteryear. You know, like from way back in 2016! If you had told fans exiting Sanford after Georgia barely beat Nichols State, that in a few years people would be complaining about the reigning National Champion Bulldog’s 30-point win over Auburn, they would have thought you had over-tailgated. Success at the level Georgia has had since 2017, means Georgia Football now gets graded on a very difficult curve. Yet, that is exactly what the winning culture Kirby has built in Athens is all about: you are either elite in all phases of the game or you are not! And the very reason Georgia will contend this year and for years to come is that every aspect of the team’s play is (now) measured against Georgia’s standard, not the opponent.
Coming into the 2022 College Football Season, the overwhelming consensus among media members was that Alabama, Ohio State and Georgia were the top College Football Playoff National Championship contenders, with a handful of teams in the next tier that had an outside chance. Yet, among those three, virtually all “experts” thought Alabama and Ohio State were a cut above Georgia. To be sure, it was more than reasonable to predict in the preseason (as it still is today) that Alabama or Ohio State will win the title this year. However, Georgia never had more “questions” looming over its contender status than the other two.
The Georgia Bulldogs WIN the 2021 NATIONAL TITLE!
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Of course, Bama and the Buckeyes returned Heisman winning and Heisman hopeful quarterbacks, in Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud, in what certainly expected to be great offenses once again. And Georgia returned (only) Stetson Bennet and lost so many players from its historic defense. Putting aside that Stetson and the Georgia offense were likely to be better this year and were much better last year than many were willing or able to admit as I wrote in “Georgia Bulldogs QB Stetson Bennett: Living in Reality About the Mailman,” the experts often focus on a team’s offense, not the other two phases of the game.
The very nature of college football, and even more so in the transfer portal era, is roster turnover each year. Every team has major preseason questions. Ohio State returned a fantastic quarterback and offense, but their defense was shaky at times last year. The assumption was that either a new defensive coordinator would magically fix any problems its defense had or who really cares.
Alabama returned its dynamic signal caller in Young, but I was told they cannot win without wide receivers Jameson Williams and John Metchie – two players that were not going to be suiting up in 2022. The point is, apart from those two indispensable players, Alabama (like everyone else) had some question marks; and still do on their offensive line and in the secondary to name a few. Again, Alabama may win it all this year, but the questions asked and not asked of them, and other teams is puzzling. Questions about a team’s offense just seem to resonate more among college football experts.
The Georgia Bulldogs WIN the 2021 NATIONAL TITLE!
Check out DAWGSTRUCTION NOW!
The third Saturday in October was the talk of college football, as the Tennessee Volunteers pulled off a 52-49 upset over Alabama and Tennessee students cherished the long-awaited win by throwing a goalpost in the river. The game featured over 1,136 yards in combined offense, very little defense and gaffes on special teams. In the aftermath, most pundits have been talking about both teams being considered among this year’s elite. While they certainly are contenders, few have asked if either team has a strong enough defense to win a CFP title.
52-49 is a score reminiscent of Big 12 shootouts from a few years back. The consensus then was (and the track record bore out) that those teams did not play enough defense to win a championship. We will see how the remainder of this season plays out, but there will always be three phases of football. I suspect Kirby Smart and the Georgia defense, along with their improved offense, and solid special teams play, will answer some of these questions soon enough