With the season nearing the start of its November games, new defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt has transformed a Georgia Bulldogs defense for the better.

Of course, it wasn’t always easy. When he was hired away from Florida State in the offseason, Pruitt had his work cut out for him.

Thanks to dismissals of Josh Harvey-Clemons and Tray Matthews — two starters from last year, the Bulldogs’ defense was put behind the 8-ball early on in 2014. Pruitt sought a change from last year’s Georgia defense — a unit that limped through the season and contributed to a disappointing 8-5 record.

In order to achieve change, Pruitt was going to need the best out of a relatively young group, especially in the secondary.

At first, UGA fans saw more of the same from the defense as the Bulldogs allowed 56 points in the first two games, but it’s been a much different story over recent weeks.

Allowing just 49 points over the four games following Georgia’s loss to South Carolina, the Bulldogs have improved in virtually every defensive category compared to last season.

UGA Defensive Statistics

                                 2013               2014

Scoring Defense —  29.0 ppg          20.0 ppg

Passing Defense —  227. 4 ypg       215.4 ypg

Rushing Defense —  148.15 ypg     105.14 ypg

Turnovers Forced — 15                    17

With a team centered around running the football on offense and a shutdown defense, this year’s Georgia squad resembles more of a smash mouth type of team that UGA fans are accustomed to. Pruitt’s energy and coaching style injected life, and most importantly, confidence into a young group of budding defensive stars, especially in the secondary.

“It’s way more fun because I can trust [the secondary],” linebacker Leonard Floyd said. “Last year, we’d get to third down, I’d be focused on ‘I hope the secondary can cover everybody.’ But now I’ve got total confidence in them.”

While it took a few games for the defensive backs to find their grove, there’s no denying the sheer improvement throughout the group. In the last three games, the secondary has allowed an average of 194 passing yards and intercepted seven passes. Georgia only had seven interceptions during all of 2013.

Pruitt’s experience as a defensive backs coach has also paid dividends in guiding along a group of unproven players. He was the defensive backs coach at Alabama when the Crimson Tide won the 2012 national championship and was the defensive coordinator for FSU’s title run last season. Both teams under Pruitt ranked in the top-10 in pass defense, including a No. 1 overall ranking for the Seminoles in 2013.

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Senior linebacker Amarlo Herrera explained how focusing on creating turnovers has made a huge difference overall this season.

“There’s been a lot of progress,” Herrera said. “We’re getting a lot of turnovers, and that’s one thing we didn’t have last year. That’s something we’ve focused on all year and something we focus on every day in practice. It’s good that it’s paying off now.”

With the Bulldogs ranked in the top-10, they are in a great position to not only compete for the SEC Championship but for a national title as well. A big reason for that is the resurgence of Georgia’s defense.

Pruitt put a lot of the responsibility on himself to bring back a physical, tough-minded group to a program that’s celebrates a rich tradition of dominating defenses.

And he’s succeeded.