Jarvis Jones thinks Dogs’ defense just as good as LSU’s, ‘if not better’
Georgia linebacker Jarvis Jones (L) may have inadverently threw down a challenge to LSU when he talked up the Dogs' defense on Monday. (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)
ATHENS – It was a simple question that was posed to Georgia’s Jarvis Jones during a teleconference call with reporters on Monday. The sophomore outside linebacker was asked if he thought the Bulldogs’ defense was somewhat overshadowed by LSU’s and how he thought the two units stacked up.
Jones answered it quickly and honestly.
“I mean, everybody praises LSU defense, but I know we’ve got a pretty good defense,” said Jones, the SEC’s leader in quarterback sacks with 13.5. “We’re not cocky at all. We’re just going to play. We do our job and get after it on the field. We like having fun. We love playing football. We’re aggressive. We play just as well as them. A lot of people don’t give us credit [for] how we play. I think we play two different styles.”
Then came the line that caught everybody’s attention.
Said Jones: “I think our defense is just as good as theirs, if not better.”
That statement, tweeted out by several reporters, reverberated all the way to Baton Rouge. LSU wide receiver Russell Shephard quickly noticed it on Twitter and forwarded it to his teammates with the message, “is this guy serious?” That was followed by more than a few “ha-ha’s” and multiple exclamation points.
Suddenly, a little interleague argument has developed between the teams about which one has the best defense. Not surprisingly, Jones’ teammates have come to his defense, so to speak.
“He said it, so I’m going to back him up,” Georgia safety Bacarri Rambo said. “I’m going to be right there with him. That’s my brother, that’s my family, so whatever he says we’re all going to back him up. . . . I also can say I believe we have one of the best defenses in the country, right up there with the LSUs. We have some very talented guys on the defensive side of the ball, too, and I can back it up when I say that.”
Said junior linebacker Christian Robinson: “Look at the numbers. We’re hanging. We’re up there in numbers, too. If we go out there and do what we’re supposed to do on this Saturday, we can end up better than they are not just in the numbers but by winning the game. You don’t want to get into word battles, but if they want to go and say things like [Shephard said], that’s the worse thing to do. There has been a lot of teams that go out there and run their mouth a lot and get beat.”
LSU is ranked slightly ahead of Georgia in every major defensive category and the Tigers have done it against a tougher overall schedule. But the Bulldogs are no slouches. They, too, rank as a Top 10 defense. Following are the latest national rankings:
LSU——-Category———Georgia
2——–Total Def.———-5
4——–Rush Def.———-6
3——-Pass Eff. D———-4
2——–Scoring D———10
6——–Passing D———11
16———Sacks————17
The one thing Georgia feels it may have going for it on Saturday is a more diversified offense. The Tigers are very much a run-first offense while the Bulldogs throw the ball a little more. Georgia feels the Tigers’ propensity for wanting to run the ball straight at opponents with their bevy of big backs and dare them to stop it actually plays into its hands.
“They’re not going to go away from their game scheme, so we’ve just got to bow up,” Georgia safety Bacarri Rambo said. “We’ve got to keep attacking and making tackles and not allow big plays. We know they’re going to run the ball, so we’ve just got to be prepared for it.”
Said Robinson: “I think we’ve shown we can hang with teams that run it. Auburn relied heavily on the run and we shut them down. LSU is not shy about their run game. That’s all they want to do and then they’ve got some receivers that can go get it. So we’ll take the challenge, not in a cocky way, but we can hang. So we’ll be ready.”
Said Jones: “It’s a challenge for us as a defense. But you always want to be challenged and you want to step up accomplish those challenges. So it’s going to be a big day for us and we’re looking forward to it.”
An intriguing matchup just got more intriguing, don’t you think?
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683 comments Add your comment
TampaDawg
November 29th, 2011
3:34 pm
@Everybody Listen Up .. I agree almost entirely. Except with Zach Mettenburger. He was kicked for being arrested on about 8 different counts and was trying to work over a younger girl in the process. To me, I wish it would have been drug use, at least then it would have just been himself involved.
Everybody Listen Up
November 29th, 2011
3:36 pm
Regardless it was serious enough for UGA to take action, but LSU welcomed him with open arms.
Everybody Listen Up
November 29th, 2011
3:37 pm
All that there is to say is: if the SEC sack leader says he’s going to bring it and that his defense will go toe to toe will LSU’s and a LSU WR responds with an arrogant comment like that, then this will be a LONG game for their offense. Sheppard obviously is conceded. He didn’t think before he “tweeted” (the dumbest form of communication since the time of cave men) and his mouth will get him killed. He should have thought about the fact that he might not get the ball but 3 or 4 times considering LSU runs 1st and passes 2nd and UGA does not give up long TD passes…so why is a WR talking trash?
yo
November 29th, 2011
3:38 pm
Fortunately for Jones and the Ga Defense they don’t have to play LSU’s D. It is the UGA offense that may not appreciate Jones having added fuel to the fire when it is all said and done.
gdawginkalamazoo
November 29th, 2011
3:39 pm
Flat Tire, I like the passing game too. I think they could be successful Sat.
ARdawg
November 29th, 2011
3:39 pm
dawginzoo
I’ve seen that work before just not with the Dawgs or with Thomas. A few years ago, the Rodgers kid on Oregon St against the “vaunted” USCw defense. In theory it’s great if it works. I don’t know where the breakdown is whether it’s the lineman or Thomas but, something isn’t working as planned.
Thomas is a good back with quick feet but he bowls over with a lineman fart. He is much more effective outside the tackles or around the ends
BILLY JACK
November 29th, 2011
3:41 pm
Most folks on here are techies posting under different names pretending to be LSU folks or people who have never played football at any level.Jarvis is a finalist for the butkus award orson the mackey award-murray will be up for player of the year on many ballots m mitchell for freshmen of the year.Georgia will make a game of it and play very well.LSU is a great team but upsets bigger than this happen all the time.
yo
November 29th, 2011
3:42 pm
Everybody Listen Up maybe because Shepherd practices against the LSU D every day. Something Jones should have considered before running his mouth. I don’t have a dog or a dawg or a tiger to pick in this fight but it is apparent to me his response wasn’t nearly the mouthing off of Jones.
kevin
November 29th, 2011
3:42 pm
It’s simple. If the UGA that played Auburn and GT shows up, UGA will make this a game and could very well pull off the upset. If the UGA team that played the rest of the season shows up, expect a blowout.
Though slightly less impressive on paper, UGA’s defense is very comparable to LSU’s. And, UGA’s offense is more dynamic, if not simply more impressive.
Should be a good game.
TexasDawg
November 29th, 2011
3:42 pm
@ TampaGator – “I think you guys will go out and play hard, representing the East well.”
We better, and Thanks!
eagle1
November 29th, 2011
3:42 pm
What is he supposed to say-”Oh we are not as good as they are”. I do not think so.
» Blog Archive » Jarvis Jones thinks Dogs’ defense just as good as LSU’s, ‘if not better’ – Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog)
November 29th, 2011
3:43 pm
[...] Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) [...]
bamaguy
November 29th, 2011
3:43 pm
No need to get too heated up about how good Georgia is or how good Oklahoma State is, we are going to find out on Saturday.
As far as the young man’s comments, they were articulate, respectful and appropriate. But some sports media types decided to ‘tweet out’ only the last line. This is just another example of why a certain SEC coach dislikes sportswriters so much.
gdawginkalamazoo
November 29th, 2011
3:44 pm
ARdawg, Barry Sanders used to do it all the time in Detroit. A little opening and nobody sees him until he is halfway to the endzone.
Dawg48
November 29th, 2011
3:44 pm
Dan mullan from miss st is top pick for Penn st!
Any comments?
Originuldawg
November 29th, 2011
3:47 pm
Chip, “An intriguing matchup just got more intriguing, don’t you think?” Did you write that while you were on the phone? C’mon man, put a little heart into it.
2 cents
November 29th, 2011
3:47 pm
@ Yo…Jones’s comment was what he believes, not what the media has told him. That’s confidence and faith in the players around you; not mouthing off.
Tell me this…if Sheppard’s comment wasn’t out of arrogance, then don’t you think he would have resisted the urge to tweet a childish response? If they are the best then he should keep his mouth shut and prove it to Jones on the field, not on an instant messenger for people who obviously want attention.
BILLY JACK
November 29th, 2011
3:51 pm
This reminds me a couple of years ago LSU came to Athens ranked 3 Georgia ranked 18.LSU was a huge favorite in the game.This was the game where AJ Green got a penalty for celebration that never happened and we barely lost in the last seconds.This will be a great football game on saturday.
Evansdawg
November 29th, 2011
3:51 pm
Keep talking people. “Georgia hasn’t got a chance.” Keep talking. Please….keep talking. Say it again and again….”Georgia doesn’t stand a chance.” Say it from the rooftops, say it on the blogs, say it to your neighbor, call your congressman, and just KEEP SAYING IT. Every time you say it, its helping the big Dawg get hungry. KEEP SAYING IT! PUUUULLLLLEEEEEEAAAAASSSSSSE!!!! Keep saying it.
gdub
November 29th, 2011
3:51 pm
i can’t wait for JJ to lay shepard out.. they can do all the laughing they want right now but they will be crying when UGA wins the game. UGA’s defense comes to play, Aaron Murray plays well enough to win, and our kicking game surprisingly shows up. Too bad UGA couldn’t have beaten South Carolina and be playing for a trip to the national championship.
ARdawg
November 29th, 2011
3:52 pm
bamaguy
Good post. Some of the clowns posting here want to pretend this is a much bigger issue. It isn’t. Jarvis Jones has proved himself on the field and he is well aware of what he can state with certainty and back it up. If he can’t, it’ll be on national tv for all to see.
Good Luck with that
November 29th, 2011
3:57 pm
Georgia won the East and is on a 10 game winning streak and should feel good about their chances on Saturday. However to fell that their defense is as good as LSU is really not realistic. LSU played one of the harder schedules in the country this year. Georgia played two ranked teams and lost both. LSU has more speed at all positions than anyone Ga will have faced this year. If LSU can run, and you can run against Ga. (see SC) then they win it is that simple.
SEC Championship 2011, LSU Vs. Georgia: Bulldogs Feel Disrespected at hoops227.us
November 29th, 2011
3:59 pm
[...] defense, but I know we’ve got a pretty good defense,” Jones, the SEC sack leader, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We’re aggressive. We play just as well as them. A lot of people don’t give us credit [...]
L.A. BULLDAWG
November 29th, 2011
3:59 pm
ALEC OGLETREE AND JARVIS JONES WILL BE THE BEST PURE ATHLETES ON THE FIELD! IN FACT, I DON’T BLAME JONES FOR HIS COMMENTS! HE IS RIGHT! JONES IS THE BEST OUTSIDE LB IN THE COUNTRY! WE HAVE 2 GIANT NOSE TACKLES THAT GO 350LBS, PLUS! NO OTHER TEAM IN THE COUNTRY CAN BOAST THAT! I DARE LSU TO PLAY SMASHMOUTH WITH THEIR RB’S! PLEASE DO!!!!
gdawginkalamazoo
November 29th, 2011
4:02 pm
Dawg48, Really? Dan Mullen was suppose to be the next HC at UGA. You know after we dump Richt at the end of this season. At least that’s what the haters were saying.
BILLY JACK
November 29th, 2011
4:02 pm
ARdawg you are exactly right-no real football player has ever gone into a game thinking he is gonna lose.This def is special and they have a coordinator who loves them and believes in them.I have many LSU friends who think Georgia will play them tough and the team is looking forward to the challenge.
bigcalidawg
November 29th, 2011
4:03 pm
Step yo game up!
RiffRaff
November 29th, 2011
4:04 pm
Dawg48 – Why in the world would anyone want to coach at Pedo State?
BILLY JACK
November 29th, 2011
4:06 pm
Paul 7 sounds like that alabama hillbilly that poisoned those trees at AU.
TexasDawg
November 29th, 2011
4:06 pm
@ No, we get to play in The SEC Championship Game because we didn’t play Arkansas like you had to. – Alabama and LSU are not pedophiles
I wasn’t implying that they were, I was referring to ESPN sitting on a taped conversation for 10 years that outlined pedophilia by Syracuse assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine.
Dawg48
November 29th, 2011
4:07 pm
Kalamazoo
Lol
Yea that’s what espn is saying , looks like a counter punch to Ohio st.
Dawg48
November 29th, 2011
4:08 pm
Riffraff
Have no clue but I beet he will take the job.
ARdawg
November 29th, 2011
4:12 pm
Billy Jack
I have several LSU fans as friends in my own environment too. They feel good about where they are but, they don’t strike me as over confident. They believe they can and might lose. They respect the Dawgs even if these GT yahoos here don’t.
Jarvis is confident. Thats a wonderful characteristic and I hope all of the Dawgs have it and feed off of it. They have the ownership of the victory, they only allow LSU to take it or keep it for themselves. They own it.
Dawg48
November 29th, 2011
4:15 pm
Matt
You can only have one qb on the field at a time bro.
BILLY JACK
November 29th, 2011
4:16 pm
This also reminds me of the sugar bowl a few years ago with bama and utah all the bama hillbillies said they would win the game by 4 or 5 touchdowns and utah beat them to death.I figure same deal here UGA hasnt got a chance bla bla bla.just keep talking.
RIP VAN WINKLE
November 29th, 2011
4:22 pm
WAKE ME WHEN TECH BEATS GEORGIA ……ON SECOND THOUGHT I MIGHT BE SLEEPING FOREVER.
WDE
November 29th, 2011
4:22 pm
@What is so special about Georgia tek or Auburn games ? Revise history much troll? Both Auburn and Tech were at one time ranked this season one of the reason they no longer are they played and lost to UGA…..so at the time we played them they were ranked.
Cdpridg
November 29th, 2011
4:22 pm
I read most of these comments from this DP character on here and allow me to break it down for you pal….what we have is 2 top ten defenses coached by 2 very good d coordinators..give grantham the edge for his NFL experience that recruit the same caliber and class of recruit, many recruited by both even considering the distance between schools. To make a long story short…bub…the talent is comparable for 2 schools that recruit top ten talent year in and year out and that is why u sir are stuck eith the label of DA
SBC
November 29th, 2011
4:23 pm
Wow…the delusion here is awesome. LSU has failed to score 35 only twice this season and has scored more than 40 eight times this year. While at the same time, they have only given up 20 twice. Read that again and again. This was against one of the toughest schedules in the country not against the watered down sh*t that UGA played. Man…you bulldog folks are funny.
JMac
November 29th, 2011
4:27 pm
Georgia’s signature game this season??? Looks like it was 31-17 over Ga.Tech this past week, the ONLY team they beat all season that has at least 8 wins. LSU has signature wins over Oregon, Alabama, Arkansas, all having at least 10 wins and all were and still are in the top 10. As far as some of those pretty, but meaningless stats go, LSU hung 41 on Florida, and what some 52 on Ole Miss that could have been much worse. They also allowed something like 67 points in SEC play this season, whereas the pups allowed over 100. EVERY important D stat leans toward LSU. They have a 4th and 5th string running back that could start in Athens over the prima dona Crowell. Their QB’s do not have splashy all SEC stats, but I am sure CMR would love to have either one leading his team. They are winners. Pretty stats do not make you a winning QB. Winning games does that. LSU has won 2 NC without having a QB with pretty stats. It appears that CMR just wants the pretty stat QB’s (Greene, Murray, and the great Matthew Stafford).
Evansdawg
November 29th, 2011
4:27 pm
Thats it BILLY JACK!!!!! “JUST KEEP TALKING!!!!!!” Blah, blah, blah, blah….Georgia has no chance…blah, blah, blah, blah. Keep saying it! It feeds the big dawg!
TigerBAIT
November 29th, 2011
4:29 pm
Lol. I have not been entertained so much in quite some time. Synthetic marijauna? How about we test you puppy fans for crack? Are you smoking it? “AS DEEP AS LSU”???? AHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAHAHA. Don’t worry little puppies, this won’t be your last time in the SEC championship with the way the East is looking. In fact, come back and see us for the SEC championship next year when we will be EVEN DEEPER. At least you won’t have a long drive back from the enormous ass-whooping you are going to recieve. Less time to contemplate moving to Louisiana? TIGERBAIT BIOTCHES!!!
BILLY JACK
November 29th, 2011
4:30 pm
ARDawg that was what I was saying-you have a lunatic fringe fan who thinks we will get blown out but the intelligent LSU folks I know are happy where they are but know Georgia will show up and not be intimidated and it should be a great game.I have a soft spot in my heart for LSU and Les Miles for that monumental beatdown of Georgia Tech in the bowl game a few years back.ARDawg hope you have a good week and enjoy the game.
LSU fo life
November 29th, 2011
4:30 pm
I will give you georgia fans one thing…yall have alot of pride in your team and i think thats great. Going to be fun watching a great offense go against a great defense but it all comes down to depth and the 4th quarter. Can yall match the depth we have? We’ll see
Evansdawg
November 29th, 2011
4:30 pm
Richt can get any QB he wants and when they sexually assault someone, LSU is there to pick them up.
daddo
November 29th, 2011
4:31 pm
Out of his mind. There is not a starter on Georgia’s defense that would start at Alabama. Just a joke of a comment.
Dawg48
November 29th, 2011
4:33 pm
Matt
You can’t have that many roosters in the hen house……..
If you have 3 top qb on a roster yes they will transfer cause they want PLAYING TIME!
You can only have one QB at a time on the field and it’s not smart to play one qb one possession
And swap him the next.
The old saying if you have two QBs you have none…..
And what’s with the insult? grow up man.
noot rocknee
November 29th, 2011
4:35 pm
LOL LOL LOL LOL have you looked at who UGA played????? Coastal carolina, New Mexico State, Kentucky, the Mississippi’s and your trying to compare stats???????? LOL LOL LOL LOL
BILLY JACK
November 29th, 2011
4:36 pm
Hey daddo if you dont think any Georgia player could start for Alabama you sir are a moron but one thing I know you will be watching the SEC championship game from your trailer and not as a participate-enjoy the game.
BAMA WAITING
November 29th, 2011
4:37 pm
Wow feels good to read all these opinions and not have to play again until the “National Championship Game. Good luck bulldogs, but we prefer a undefeated tiger team.”ROLL TIDE”!