{"id":168787,"date":"2022-12-26T12:56:03","date_gmt":"2022-12-26T12:56:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/former-alabama-star-and-super-bowl-champ-has-advice-for-ohio-state-endorses-kirby-smarts-georgia-defense\/"},"modified":"2022-12-26T12:56:03","modified_gmt":"2022-12-26T12:56:03","slug":"former-alabama-star-and-super-bowl-champ-has-advice-for-ohio-state-endorses-kirby-smarts-georgia-defense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/former-alabama-star-and-super-bowl-champ-has-advice-for-ohio-state-endorses-kirby-smarts-georgia-defense\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Alabama star and Super Bowl champ has advice for Ohio State, endorses Kirby Smart’s Georgia defense"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Mike Griffith <\/span><\/p>\n

DawgNation Staff<\/p>\n

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@mikegriffith32<\/a><\/address>\n

Posted <\/span>

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ATHENS \u2014 Super Bowl champion and former NFL All-Pro safety Roman Harper had advice this season for teams facing Georgia, and it would certainly also seem to apply to Ohio State.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou’re not going to run the football, all you’re doing is just wasting a down,\u201d said Harper, a former All-SEC safety at Alabama and New Orleans Saints team captain.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour advantage is the quarterback, just use it, and when you don’t think you have the advantage, use it more.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Harper was previewing the SEC title game when he shared his take on the UGA defense, but Buckeyes quarterback CJ Stroud seemed to be on the same page when he recently said Ohio State would have to ‘let it loose’ against Georgia.<\/p>\n

RELATED: Ohio State QB gives early hint at Buckeyes game plan for Georgia <\/p>\n

The No. 1-ranked Bulldogs play the Buckeyes at 8 pm next Saturday in the CFP Peach Bowl Semifinal at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Georgia brings the nation’s top-ranked run defense into the action, allowing just 77 yards per game on the ground and 2.94 yards per carry.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Georgia defense, and you hear Kirby (Smart) say it all the time, physical football travels,\u201d Harper \u201cThey hit people with body shots, and they don’t want to see Georgia in the fourth quarter because of the way they play and the way they hit you.\u201d<\/p>\n

RELATED: David Pollack shares Peach Bowl vision, thoughts on Georgia’s No. 88<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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To Harper’s points, teams are averaging just 3.8 points against Georgia in the fourth quarter, with many of those scores coming against backups or in so-called \u201cgarbage\u201d time.<\/p>\n

The Bulldogs have had just one game decided by single digits \u2014 a 26-22 come-from-behind win against Missouri back on Oct. one.<\/p>\n

RELATED: How Georgia signees face stiff challenges, no easing into Kirby Smart’s football culture<\/p>\n

The Georgia defense stiffened in that road win, holding the Tigers to just two field goals in the second half after the offense was held out of the end zone through the first three quarters.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s a never-ending wave of relentless play,\u201d Harper said, describing a reloaded Bulldogs’ defense that lost eight starters from last season to the NFL including five first-round picks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way they play physical football and take away what you like to do, they are smart, physical and tough,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd if my last was of age, I would send him to Georgia.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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