It’s rivalry week in Athens today, as Ole Miss gears up to face Kirby Smart’s Georgia. The Bulldogs are climbing up the ranks very quickly this season. But there is one thing that’s very clearly amiss. Pat McAfee offered to help Smart out, but he’d rather save himself from the predicament for his wife’s sake.

On College Gameday today, McAfee pointed out to Smart that Georgia’s defense has been in trouble “getting to the quarterback” this season. He then made a prediction, which would only happen if the HC accepted a risqué challenge. “I’ve heard that if you were to stand up here and take your shirt off and look that way, your guys are going to get to the quarterback 10 times,” the analyst said. But Kirby Smart laughed it off, preferring to keep his shirt on. “Keeping my shirt on; my wife will be so embarrassed,” Smart retorted. But pressuring the quarterback is an area where Georgia is lacking.

The Georgia defense isn’t completely underwhelming this year. But it seems to have lost quite the oomph. Smart lost an overwhelming majority of the front seven to the NFL this year, which hasn’t been performing up to par since. But pass rush defense was a problem before the season, and continues to be a problem even today. Entering Week 8, Georgia was the second worst team in pass rush defense in the SEC, with just 1.1 sacks per game. Only 8 have come so far. 

Only one sack has come from the defensive line so far, from rookie Nnamdi Ogboko. The secondary has a lot of freshman talent, like Ellis Robinson and Demello Jones. They haven’t been able to perform up to par. The pass rush problem was pointed out to Smart previously, but he wasn’t too concerned. “We evaluate it based on opportunities, right? We haven’t had a lot of opportunities,” Smart said at a presser in September. “People try to measure those things on statistics and rankings, but can’t do that,” he added. The Alabama game followed this comment, where Ty Simpson was sacked only once by Georgia’s defense.

The defense has been struggling to stop explosive plays as well. So far, this unit has allowed 17 plays that have gone for more than 20 yards. It ranks 11th in the SEC in passing defense, allowing 215.5 yards to come through the air. On the whole, Kirby Smart has been able to cover up this issue with a series of wins. But Georgia is facing one of the best QBs and offenses in the SEC tonight, and they aren’t going to be easy to disrupt.

Georgia’s absent pass rush will be exploited by Ole Miss and Trinidad Chambliss

The disrupting will be done by Ole Miss’ Trinidad Chambliss instead. The QB is a textbook threat for Georgia’s defense. Chambliss is a phenomenal passer, and is just as dangerous with his legs. With a pass rush as bad as this, it is going to be difficult for the defense to contain Chambliss. Ole Miss’ offenses don’t have a good record on the road, and those penalties are coming up as well. But Lane Kiffin is absolutely going to attack this weakness at Athens today.

Chambliss also has an ability to get out of pressure situations, which makes him a difficult target for the defense. And, Ole Miss is racking up those explosive plays with every game. They are No. 1 in the country with explosive plays of 30 yards or more – that’s the level of power this Georgia defense is going to face. Trinidad Chambliss himself is averaging 15.1 yards per completion. If someone like Chambliss can outsmart a defense as elite as Kirby Smart’s, there needs to be some serious work done here.

“[Ole Miss staff] should get the greatest award there is for finding this guy and having the department within. I don’t know who scouted him, who found him, but he is a really good football player that they went out and got and did a tremendous job,” Smart said in praise of Chambliss recently. But now, that surprise QB stands a chance of setting the tone for Georgia’s most glaring problem so far. Will Kirby Smart have his opportunity today?