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The Georgia Bulldogs defense is making a case this season for one of the best units the sport has ever seen.
With seven senior starters and the other contributors being transfers or high-ranking recruits, you can see why teams have had a rough time putting up points on the Bulldogs this season.
With the Kentucky Wildcats coming to town, the unit has been bitten by the injury bug, especially in the secondary.
On Thursday, it was reported by Palmer Thombs of Dawgs HQ that Tykee Smith will be out the remainder of the season for Georgia after tearing his ACL this week in practice.
BREAKING: #UGA down another defensive back, as transfer Tykee Smith has torn his ACL and is done for the year:https://t.co/UdWMtmwrGT
— DawgsHQ (@DawgsHq) October 15, 2021
This injury comes after Smith missed the majority of the first five games of the season after he suffered a foot injury in the preseason. After returning against Vanderbilt in late September, he played last week against Auburn and recorded three tackles as he was trying to get back up to game speed for the reminder of the season.
The West Virginia transfer was expected to be a key piece to this Georgia secondary as he came to Athens after two solid seasons in Morgantown. Named an All-American in some capacity by several outlets, he totaled 111 tackles and four interceptions in his first two seasons before the injury bug bit.
For the game this weekend, Georgia’s secondary will be a little banged up as starting safety Christopher Smith is also questionable for the game after he separated his shoulder against Auburn last Saturday.
The secondary has been a pleasant surprise for this Georgia defense after losing three player this past offseason. If Kentucky is going to win on Saturday, they will need to make some big plays through the play-action passing game to help lighten the box for the run.
With a couple of key pieces missing for Georgia, we will have to see if Will Levis can use that arm talent to take advantage of a few backups that will be playing.