So far so good for the Georgia Bulldogs through the first three games this season. They’ve dominated two nonconference foes, as expected, and have a huge conference road win at South Carolina.

The offense is clicking on all cylinders, and the defense overall has been great, allowing only 24 total points in three games. It’s all going so well that the Dawgs have even moved up a notch in the AP poll this well, passing Clemson to move up to No. 2 in the rankings, right behind Alabama.

So if you had to find one thing to complain about, you really do have to look long and hard. There’s been nothing so egregious that’s affected any of the first three games, but there is one thing that might be an issue down the road when the schedule gets tougher.

“I know since we’ve arrived, we’ve been pretty good on defense here. But if you say one thing, you’d say we’ve been insufficient in pass rush.”
-- Kirby Smart

Georgia still doesn’t have a very good pass rush. And the numbers don’t lie. Just ask Georgia coach Kirby Smart.

“I know since we’ve arrived, we’ve been pretty good on defense here,” Smart said. “But if you say one thing, you’d say we’ve been insufficient in pass rush.”

During Saturday’s 49-7 win over Middle Tennessee, the Blue Raiders attempted 30 passes and Georgia didn’t have a single sack. MTSU quarterback Brent Stockstill is a veteran, and he knows how to avoid pressure, but still that’s no excuse.

Zero sacks in a game like this is unacceptable. And it’s also a trend.

There were no sacks either in the opener, a 45-0 win against Austin Peay. And there was only one sack against South Carolina, despite Jake Bentley throwing 47 passes — and completing 30, by the way. D’Andre Walker has the only sack so far.

It’s nitpicking, yes, but it’s there, and it’s obvious: Georgia is tied for last in the country with 1.0 sack.

“We’ve got to be able to be two-way players,” Georgia defensive lineman Julian Rochester said. “We have to be able to turn it on when we have to against teams that like to pass the ball, and we have to hold the point and stop the run. It’s a challenge from (Smart) to us to be able to go ahead and make that change.”

Teams have been game-planning against Georgia by making sure they get the ball out quickly. That’s had something to do with it, because they know in the long run  they can’t hold up against all of Georgia’s athletes.

“(Quarterbacks) know that it’s kind of hard to block some of our guys down in and down out, so they get rid of the ball quick,” Smart said. “So you have to be careful about how many times you overdo the rush.”

When you’re outscoring people 135-24, it’s hard to get too upset. In fact, some of the Georgia defenders don’t really see it as a problem so far. They are playing well as a group, and senior cornerback Deandre Baker, an All-American candidate already, hasn’t been the least bit worried. They are playing great as a group, he said, and pressure from the defensive line has been there, just not on the stat sheet.

“We came out, D-line got good pressure, I made a play on the ball,” Baker said of his interception of a Stockstill pass, his second pick in two weeks. “We made a big statement (with the interception), got everybody pepped up.”

Still, it’s one area where we are going to need to see improvement, and it starts this week with another road SEC game against a veteran quarterback. Missouri is 3-0 too, and veteran quarterback Drew Lock has been sharp so far, with 11 TD passes and just one pic. He threw an SEC-record 44 touchdown passes a year ago — including 4 against the Dawgs — and he’s won nine consecutive regular-season games, with the last loss coming to Georgia last October.

“I see our defense really making a stand, doing everything we’ve practiced and setting the tone early. Guys are doing their assignments and getting the job done early,” Georgia safety Richard LeCounte said. “It’s a great picture of what our defense is about.”