Once again, Georgia has advanced to the Sugar Bowl to close out the season. Once again, Georgia is facing questions regarding who will actually suit up in the Sugar Bowl.

That’s the reality facing Kirby Smart’s program as several key players are either sitting out, injured or academically ineligible to compete against Baylor on New Year’s Day.

Georgia is already down both starting offensive tackles as Andrew Thomas and Isaiah Wilson have declared early for the 2020 NFL Draft and will skip the Sugar Bowl, while running back Brian Herrien, offensive lineman Ben Cleveland, defensive lineman Tyler Clark and defensive backs Tyrique McGhee and Divaad Wilson didn’t even make the trip to New Orleans for the game.

Now you can add the unexpected absence of senior safety JR Reed, who announced he will miss the game due to injury.

In a rare media appearance, Georgia defensive coordinator Dan Lanning had a press conference on Monday leading up to the Sugar Bowl. As you would expect, one of the first questions for Lanning was about the depth on his defense with so many players missing from the lineup.

How does Georgia plan to compensate for the loss of Reed?

“The reality is that’s an opportunity. I love JR, he’s done a lot for our program, extremely excited for him and his future but we’re excited for the guys that are here and what they are going to do,” Lanning said on Monday. “The reality is someone is going to step up. It’s pretty common in this day and age that you are going to have guys with an opportunity in games like this.

“We had a lot of young guys that had opportunities in this game last year and I think that was critical to their development and also provide you some insight as a coach at what you got. We’ve got some really good players on our team, excited to go see those guys go perform.”

When asked a follow-up regarding the players Lanning is expecting to see step up on the field in the Sugar Bowl, the defensive coordinator pointed to Bulldogs that have shown what they can do in the team’s defense.

“You’ll see more Lewis Cine, you’ll see more Chris Smith, more Otis Reese,” Lanning replied. “You’ll see more guys but you aren’t going to necessarily see more new guys because all those guys at this point in the season have contributed to our success.”

On the topic of missing players, Lanning was also asked about Tyrique McGhee’s status and why he didn’t make the trip to New Orleans. The defensive coordinator would not say but at least admitted McGhee did not make the trip in a roundabout way.

“All I’m speaking about are the players that are here,” Lanning noted. “Got great respect for every guy that’s helped us throughout this season, done great things for us this season, but the guys that are here, those are the guys we are going to compete with.”

We all know what happened to Georgia in last year’s Sugar Bowl when the Bulldogs faced a hungry Texas team eager to show what they can do on the field. Baylor is likely to bring that same intensity to the Sugar Bowl this year following a Big 12 runner-up finish to its regular season.

Which Georgia defense shows up on New Year’s Day? The one that’s been arguably the best defense in the SEC this season or will the losses of so many key players be too much to overcome yet again for the Bulldogs in a Sugar Bowl?