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
PAUL7
November 29th, 2011
12:57 pm
kerryb that was then…….this is now! LSU will CREAM you, so would BAMA……they are the BEST! you will find out soon…….you people been sniffing the glue too long now…….put the crack pipe down too. fantasizing is ok, yet eventually 1 has to come back tp reality…….the reality being you will lose BIGTIME, then BAMA will BEAT LSU like they should have on 11/5
HEY GTBOB
November 29th, 2011
12:58 pm
GT has already embarrassed you with ONLY 3 MAJOR BOWLS since 1956. One Sugar Bowl in 55 or 56 and two Urange Bowls invitations and TWO LOSSES. THAT IS IT as far as MAJOR BOWL BIDS for GT. Citrus in 90? No, then it was lower than the old Peach Bowl and had just morphed into the Citrus from the Tangerine. See? MINOR it was in 1990.
3 majors for GT in 56 years.
Nom Nom Nom Chuck Taylor, or Norris if he is avaliable
November 29th, 2011
12:59 pm
Dumb statement, no need for BB material; I specifically remember the Smurfs throwing right past you JJ.
More tackling fellas, less tweeting.
The bottom line is
November 29th, 2011
12:59 pm
Jmac, every team we played this you and every other idiot said the same thing and it let you down. I didnt say Georgia would win idiot. I said we had a good chance.
JDawg1785
November 29th, 2011
12:59 pm
Loving the confidence. GATA, Jarvis!
TampaDawg
November 29th, 2011
12:59 pm
Paul7 is still realing over the GT game apparently. Probably posted the same crap last week but just had GT instead of LSU in the post along with GT’s great wins.
Torry
November 29th, 2011
1:00 pm
Give me a break Georgia defense better than LSU??..Lets go ask Boise and South Carolina about Georgia’s defense…havent played any real teams since and I gurantee Dem Dawgs…will be exposed LSU by 21..BOOK IT!!!
The bottom line is
November 29th, 2011
1:02 pm
Yeah Torry why dont you ask South Carolina about our defense!!! They wouldnt place us again. BOOK IT!!!
chief pitchanono
November 29th, 2011
1:02 pm
Love it! I believe we can hang with LSU too. I don’t think that this is gonna be an easy w for them like most people think. If we play smart football and Murray and company can put up a few points I think LSU is gonna be surprised by our defense and it should be a real close game. Georgia has nothing to lose here as long as they don’t get blown out,they will have proved they can hang with the #1 team in the land and this season will be considered a great success. If they pull off the upset it will go down as one of the greatest GA victories ever and put them in great position for next year.
WDE
November 29th, 2011
1:02 pm
You know I woke up this morning and right off remembered so far this year we have beaten UT,Auburn,Bug U and the gators, we have won 10 games straight and are the SEC East champs, and Saturday we get to play the No.1 ranked LSU Tigers for the SEC Championship….what is not to love when you have all that going for you?? Hat’s off to Les Miles his coaches and team 12-0 in the regular schedule , looking forward to playing such a impressive team. GATA!
TampaDawg
November 29th, 2011
1:03 pm
PAUL7 says “the reality being you will lose BIGTIME, then BAMA will BEAT LSU like they should have on 11/5″ …
That was IN Tuscaloosa no less. I think I will just leave this statement where it is and let everyone see it again. Shoulda woulda coulda Bama fan. Outside of Trent Richardson, no offense. Have fun with that.
Alphare
November 29th, 2011
1:03 pm
Of course everybody has chance.
Upset is an upset, and upset are rare, especially against a No 1 ranked team.
Does anybody have any stat about a #14 team upsetting a #1 team? If I’d guess, it’s about 1/20.
Yes, of course UGA can be 1 out of 20, but most likely you are among the 19, because it’s a whole lot easier to fall amont the 19 than to the only 1.
honey badger
November 29th, 2011
1:03 pm
your stats may be close to LSU’s but who have you played that even comes close to the 7 TOP 25 TEAMS THAT LSU HAS PLAYED???
Gimme a break
November 29th, 2011
1:04 pm
If Les Miles walks on water, then Mark Richt swims on land!!
MS. Bully
November 29th, 2011
1:04 pm
Which stat led him to believe that bull. It looked like LSU was ahead of UGA in every stat. LSU will come to Georgia and change his mind.
Jarvis Jones thinks Dogs’ defense just as good as LSU’s, ‘if not better’ – Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) | Best Today Dogs
November 29th, 2011
1:04 pm
[...] webmaster@technorati.com wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt [...]
WDE
November 29th, 2011
1:06 pm
@honey badger I think Auburn was one of those 7 when they played LSU and we compare quite nicely thanks for asking.
PAUL7
November 29th, 2011
1:06 pm
living in the past…….Jethro Tull song…….people wake up! LSU will KNOCK the LIVING socks off’n you!It’s evident 1 poster hasn’t watched much SEC WEST football. Bama has the MOST potential NFL players according to the sports writers. ga will be exposed as nothing more than a good team that will be BLOWN away
Kerryb
November 29th, 2011
1:07 pm
The idiots that keep going back to the first two games apparently don’t keep up with Georgia football and realize that this is a totally different team than the one that played the first 2 games. One of those games would have been a 42-17 stomping of USC if the ball wasn’t given to them 3 times.
GTBob
November 29th, 2011
1:07 pm
that’s apparently one third of your schedule. So where you not sad then playing against UVA, Miami, VTech and UGA?
Of course I was. I never like to lose. Which is why i’m glad my team isn’t going to play the best team in college football this weekend. GT would have just as much chance against LSU as UGA does. None.
WDE
November 29th, 2011
1:09 pm
@PAUL7 I’d rather play Bama than LSU only they didn’t’ win the West because LSU beat them at home…I think we have a much better chance vs Bama than the clearly superior LSU team we will be playing.
PAUL7
November 29th, 2011
1:09 pm
tampa did you watch the game? did you see the terrible call by the official who ruled LSU intercepted the ball w/in truth the TE was down before reid ripped the ball out of his hands…….it was why the TE replaxed his hold on the ball + theint we ran back to the 3 beimg called back on a dubious block in the back + saban shouldve punted instead of going for so many FG poor coaching
Kerryb
November 29th, 2011
1:09 pm
Come on back on here Paul7 on Saturday when the Dawgs shock the world. My guess is your panty waste self won’t be. Take your shots now but won’t have a set to return. I guess your just upset because your team was crap this year.
When a M-A-N loses he usually shakes hands and acknowledges it
November 29th, 2011
1:10 pm
GT is sooooooooooooooooo green with envy. Their sissy, girly men fans are at it just pulling for LSU WHO STOMPED GT three years ago and they are so upset that UGA has this FROSH LADEN squad with so much BIG BOY talent and depth with MORE ON THE WAY.
THEY DESPISE THE SEC where they would do anything to rejoin, like they tried to back in 77. GT then was TURNED AWAY. Even CPJ would LOVE TO coach in the SEC. Afterall, alumnus Bill Curry DUMPED GT for Alabama and the SEC.
GT …………….we simply took the day off vs GT last weekend. Had we tried to run the score up, it would have been worse than the thrashing we gave Auburn. Go back to your sissy apartments in mid town ( near Piedmont Park) and study, so that one day, you can interview for Coke ar Georgia Power or AT&T or SCANA or COLONIAL PIPELINE and make a living, although 85% of you go home to Lebanon or Egypt or to Nigeria. To you football is SOCCER.
ACC is a joke. See Clemson and the WHUPPIN a nothing SC squad gave them. SC could not even win the SEC East.
WDE
November 29th, 2011
1:10 pm
@GTBob that’s why your a Bug fan you’d rather stay home and whine than take a chance to win a championship…sad really.
Kerryb
November 29th, 2011
1:11 pm
So Paul is a Bama fan. Couldn’t get the job done could you?
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
November 29th, 2011
1:12 pm
I wished our offensive coordinator and O-line had the same fire as Jones, Rambo, and Grantham.
Kerryb
November 29th, 2011
1:12 pm
I would love to line up against Bama and show them that they are not the 2nd best team in the country. Got to have more than a one dimensional offense to compete.
OUch!
November 29th, 2011
1:13 pm
Jarvis, Jarvis, your defensive stats are good in comparison to LSU, but now take a look at who you both played against…..Oregon, Alabama, Arkansas, West Virginia against the likes of Boise State, SC, Charleston Southern, New Mexico State…..now for an IQ test.
Mike Gundy
November 29th, 2011
1:14 pm
Alabama deserves to play in the BCSCG. I just want to make that clear. I am embarrassed by our fan-base for trying to promote this false rumor: http://blog.newsok.com/jennicarlson/2011/11/29/saban-quote-making-the-rounds-its-a-fake/
We took ourselves out of contention when we lost to Iowa State. I’m a grown man. I’m forty-something. I understand this.
Kerryb
November 29th, 2011
1:14 pm
Lay off of Bobo now. OC’s are not known for being firey guys. He’s called some good games this year. He was kind of handcuffed against UK with us going down to the 4th and 5th string RB’s.
Alphare
November 29th, 2011
1:15 pm
Kerryb,
you don’t have call people idiots to have your points crossed.
But those 2 teams are the only 2 teams that are still ranked. All other teams you beat are not ranked any more at the end of the season. So you can say UGA is totally a different team, but you can also argue UGA hasn’t played a decent team since those 2 teams.
“One of those games would have been a 42-17 stomping of USC if the ball wasn’t given to them 3 times.”
Why cannot you give credit to the other team’s defense, rather than blame your own team?
Jarvis Jones thinks Dogs’ defense just as good as LSU’s, ‘if not better’ – Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) | Dog Shop Blog
November 29th, 2011
1:16 pm
[...] webmaster@technorati.com wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt [...]
CHDawg
November 29th, 2011
1:16 pm
A heartbroken wife’s journal, “Doc, I have a problem: I have found evidence that my husband assumes many different names and spends hours and hours saying things about Georgia’s football team. It is worse than a drug or gambling addiction, and I am afraid he is going to lose his job. Doc: It is OK, men just love their football teams. It will get better in January. Wife: no, you don’t understand. It is 24/7/12, on vacation, and during holidays. Doc: It’s OK, I’m sure he just loves his Dawgs. Wife: no you don’t understand, he is a _____ fan. He hates Georgia. He doesn’t spend that much time talking about his team, but only hating on Georgia. Doc: I understand, we’ll send the men in the white suits out immediately!”
Dawg48
November 29th, 2011
1:16 pm
Flat
You can’t say the O – line does not have fire “Ben jones ” come on man.
GTBob
November 29th, 2011
1:17 pm
@GTBob that’s why your a Bug fan you’d rather stay home and whine than take a chance to win a championship…sad really.
Instead of being LSU’s warm up game for the MNC? Sure. UGA is the UCLA of the SEC. Congrats for making it. Enjoy the pummeling.
Kerryb
November 29th, 2011
1:17 pm
OUCH, the same old who have you played argument. Like I haven’t heard that a hundred times already. Look at the same teams LSU and UGA did play on this schedule Auburn and Miss State. You’ll see that UGA beat them exactly the same as LSU.
What its worth
November 29th, 2011
1:17 pm
If you will overlook my tongue in cheek, I really wonder why we dont just mail the trophy to LSU and not bother to play the game. ESPN has said over and over and over and over that the only two teams that exist are Alabama and LSU. Lord knows that ESPN is never wrong since they have hijacked the Heisman voting and only their opinion matters among all of those who follow college football. Tricky Nicky and Loose Screw Les are hereby annointed as the be all and end all of college coaches even if they do not have the best winning percentage of coaches in the SEC.
Blue
November 29th, 2011
1:18 pm
nice for him to have that kind of confidence, but when you look at strength of schedule…don’t know how he can really compare.
BamaBornDukie
November 29th, 2011
1:18 pm
Alabama fans on BamaOnline (BOL) started a couple of threads saying how UGA fans were talking gibberish…….but I was like “NAH….They know better”………But now I see these blog comments.
LMAO at the “delusional” UGA fans in this thread. It’s a WHOLE different world playing in the SEC West versus the SEC East. See what happened to South Carolina when the played against Arkansas…..the 3rd best team in the SEC West. See what happened to Florida and Tennessee when they played LSU and Bama. See what happened to Vandy when they played Bama…….Kentucky when they played LSU.
You guys “swelling” up after beating up on Auburn and Georgia Tech…..SMH…..The Big BOYS will be in town on Saturday…..and they don’t play nice.
FALSE Confidence UGA…..SLOW YOUR ROLL, HOMIES…..Y’all about to get “BOAT-RACED”. I HOPE Crowell makes it to the 3rd quarter……I doubt it though as he’ll get hurt or start pouting about no blocking. Then UGA will go to the passing attack and Murray will be “sacrificed” for the team.
LSU 34 UGA 13
Jarvis Jones thinks Dogs’ defense just as good as LSU’s, ‘if not better’ – Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) | Todays Dog Blog
November 29th, 2011
1:19 pm
[...] webmaster@technorati.com wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt [...]
Tideman
November 29th, 2011
1:19 pm
Who does have the best record if not them?
DP
November 29th, 2011
1:20 pm
KerryB dreams:
“Bama is a one dimensional offense. It is 90% Trent Richardson. Stop him you stop Alabama.”
Georgia would like to have a dimension like Trent Richardson instead of the guy who takes himself out of the game every time he gets winded or nicked up, Isaah Crowell. And to back up Richardson Alabama can bring in Eddie Lacey and Jalston Fowler instead of a 150 pound Carlton Thomas (when Thomas isn’t serving one of his suspensions).
Georgia passed for 243.1 yards a game, a whopping 30 YPG more than Alabama’s 213.6. But Alabama rushed for 219.8 yards a game versus Georgia’s 180.6. Alabama had more total yardage than Georgia. And Alabama would have put up more passing yards had they not blown out most opponents and spent the 4th quarter of most games running the ball between the tackles with backup running backs.
Next feeble attempt to pretend Georgia is as good as LSU or Alabama on either side of the ball?
PAUL7
November 29th, 2011
1:21 pm
i like GT…….the youngest son attends it im though a BAMA fan who KNOWS LSU doesn’t want us again! ga certainly doesn’t! oh btw murray will be knocked around like a rag doll…….he will be ineffective too because he hasn’t faced the pass rush LSU will send! crowell will PLEAD w/the coach to take him out after 1 qtr if he survives that long you will be 1 dimensional by then richardson isnt 90% of the offense i’d say 57% thank you dreamers its nice to dream
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
November 29th, 2011
1:23 pm
Dawg48
I’ll spot you Ben Jones but thats absolutely it. And you know Im right on that
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sg3_iccMYHw&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evyJ4ppwIj4
One of those cost us a chance to be playing for a spot in the NC game if we won this Weekend
Tideman
November 29th, 2011
1:23 pm
Saban has the highest career winning percentage of all the coaches in the SEC!!
OUch!
November 29th, 2011
1:24 pm
KerryB, if you don’t think schedule comes into play, then why do you think your ranked as low as you are. If you think this years schedule was a joke, take a look at your schedule next year…. Camden County and Lowndes play tougher schedules.
Alphare
November 29th, 2011
1:24 pm
What its worth,
“I really wonder why we dont just mail the trophy to LSU and not bother to play the game”.
That’s because you still have a 1/20 chance, man. You cannot just lay up and give up that one chance (however small it is).
But will you bet your house on that 1/20 chance? Believe me, you may be OK if you bet once. Everybody would call you the I word if you do it twice, because if you do it twice, the chance becomes 1/400.
GT Dude
November 29th, 2011
1:25 pm
Big words that statistics just don’t back up.
They defensive numbers look close, but when you add one more statistic, strength of schedule the numbers look a lot different
LSU numbers were against a #9 SOS while UGA were against a #25 SOS
So it is not so close after all!
UGA still has a chance, not a good one, but at least they are in the game!
TampaDawg
November 29th, 2011
1:25 pm
@Alphare “Why cannot you give credit to the other team’s defense, rather than blame your own team?”
I agree with this argument but on a case by case basis. In the SC case, Murray’s pic, even me being a Murray fan, was RIGHT TO the LB in the middle of the field. And the fumble, though CMR tried to take some pressure off of Isaiah, was RIGHT IN his little bread basket and NO ONE touched him to cause the fumble.