Max Olson’s advice? Don’t worry ($$).
There’s no need to be concerned about Georgia not being No. 1 right now. The Bulldogs have forced more punts than any other team in the country and have been a top-10 defense in points per drive, yards per attempt and third-down defense. They’d be No. 5 in stop rate if we were counting their win over FCS program UT Martin. They’re going to be just fine.
Feel better now?
Get The Picture 
YES
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After a short period of nerves at halftime of the Carolina game, I’ve been okay with how we’ve done so far. To me, we’re not as good as we were last year, but we’re still good enough to contend. We’ve played with our food, as they say, in just about every game and we’ve won all four handily. As we progress, I think we’ll hone our focus both on the field and on the sideline. Plus, we’ll start getting dudes back by the time things get super-serious.
I have no problem not being someone’s number one right now. I think there are several teams who have done more than we have at this point of the year (FSU, Texas, UNC, Ohio State, Penn State, Utah all have good wins – Washington, Oregon, Michigan, Duke are all interesting this year. There are a lot of contenders 1/4 of the way and that’s fun).
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Stoop, I agree with your statement that we are not as good as we were last year. In my opinion, the difference is a dominate D tackle. over the past few years we were so fortunate to have a Jordan Davis or Jalen Carter who required a double team up front, leaving gaps for LBs or stunting DL to get to the QB. We do not have that guy right now, which forces everyone behind the DL to play near perfect ball. The Dawgs should have enough to win the East, but anything beyond that is just gravy.
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I said this before the season started. We are good on defense but we aren’t nearly as dominant as we have been because we lack that elite D tackle that disrupts every play he is on the field. I also agree with you about winning the East and that is about all I’m willing to be confident about at this point.
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100% agree. My expectations coming into the season were the same, just win the East and see what happens. The
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Brinson is coming on, but yeah overall DL isn’t as dominant it seems. Also, we need to do better on the edge.
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This is what we need.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/eagles-rookie-jalen-carter-living-up-to-hype-as-a-new-age-warren-sapp/ar-AA1hiFGY#image=AA1gtllv|1
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But I have on good authority that something is just not right about the defense this year. Oh the concerns.🤣
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You must have been talking to Pops, and Kirby then.
That communication has been something the Bulldogs have struggled with in the last two weeks. It’s part of the reason Georgia has given up touchdowns in back-to-back two-minute situations.
“We don’t talk, so how do you know who has who,” Dumas-Johnson said on Saturday. “How do you know who the other man has? How do you know where the help is at? Lack of communication, that’s a big part of it.”
Smart spoke in depth about the state of the defense through four games. It’s still a work in progress and not yet playing its best football. “I think it’s been really good in spurts and really poor in spurts,” Smart said of the defense. “That’s been a common theme, that the consistency in performance – and it’s not game by game, sometimes it’s series by series. Controlling the line of scrimmage is something we have to do. If we don’t do that, it’s the bare minimum.”
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We’ve played 3 hopefully outmatched teams and South Carolina who, if not for their QB, nearly fall into that category as well. It’s hard to drive much from that. There’s a lot to be excited about, but there are areas that underwhelm, like both lines of scrimmage and Beck’s ability to quickly spot open receivers.
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hopelessly*
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derive* Damn auto[in]correct. You all get the point.
Anyone else have to login for every comment?
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No. In fact, once I’ve logged in, I don’t have to do it again unless I clear my browser cache.
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That’s the way it used to be for me. I hadn’t had to log in for over a year until today, but now, it’s every comment.
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I ain’t got time to worry about the Back-to-Back National Champions. On either side of the ball. They’re inexperienced, they’re dinged up, and they’ve got some growing up to do. They are also talented and well-coached. Anyone that doesn’t see this team as a work in progress needs to check their own expectations. Whether or not they improve fast enough for the worriers and entitled fans expecting (demanding?) a 3-peat, I find it absurd to expend energy in that manner. Kirby is worrying plenty enough, and he’s the only one that matters. This team is fun to watch if you accept they are young pups growing up before our eyes.
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Very soothing comment!
Sometimes we need to adjust our perspective.
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One man’s sweet tea is another mans whiskey…GO DAWGS!!
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Exactly how I feel. Fans demanding 8 points on every drive are getting on my last nerve.
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Who’s Max Olson to tell us not to worry?
Larry Munson considered that mindset to be a mortal sin.
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Of all the things I worry about, defense ain’t it.
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We’re not as good as we once was, but we’re as good as we were one more time. Oh Dave…….
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We’ve got to get better aganist the run. Been giving up way to much for UGA standards.
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Glad to see the Senator post this. All the Blame Bobo idiots have failed to understand that the Dawgs look at offense the same way that I look at UGA BBall: it’s nice for it to be good, but it doesn’t have to be. The D on the other hand is our identity. Those idiot announcers were yakking about our offensive identity on Saturday and I was non-plussed…who cares?? The defensive side has to be playing mind warping, Harrison concussing, soul crushing beatdown defense in order for us to get where we want to go. It is the engine that drives our team. It is no different than Saban’s Alabama; when they lost their defense, they became weak. We cannot as fans ingest the heresy that offense wins championships. Defense Uber alles! I digress…Glad to see this “stat.” It indeed soothes the soul. Especially, AFTER OUR BEST WR RECRUIT DECOMMITTED YESTRRDAY!!!!!
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But that last UAB drive before the half PAWWWWLLLL
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That one was on Kirby trying to be too smart.
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I’m a little worried about the defense, but that may be because I have become spoiled. For those concerned about not having a disrupter on the D-line, would we be better off or worse off if Bear had stayed? Because of his physical attributes it’s easy to say better off, and we (well, me, I guess) have no idea about his leadership, chemistry, etc. But, CKS didn’t seem like he was all that worried about it, and I have come to trust his judgment. Anyone have any inside info?
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Bear ain’t exactly tearing it up where he is.
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We are building our own identity this seadon called 3-peat. Why is that? Because as CKS stated “Better Never Rests” GATA.
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Our defense is down because Bobo’s offense isn’t testing them enough in practice.
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You sir win post of the day!
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