ATHENS - Coming into the season the Georgia football defense was touted as one of the best in college football. And so far you could make the case they're still one of the elite groups in the game.

After dominating Arkansas, Oklahoma and Vanderbilt, the Dawgs stepped up big on the road against Alabama. They made critical stops down the stretch and continued to shine at all three levels.

Then came Auburn. A run-heavy team with a big 230-pound veteran quarterback in Byrum Brown who had no problem putting the Tiger offense on his shoulders. Brown and the Auburn offensive line brought their best after a much-needed off week and beat Smart’s defense in the trenches.

The Georgia defense also gave up two touchdowns through the air during their tough 27-24 loss to the Tigers. Overall, it wasn’t a great day for a defense that has been extremely strong through the first six games of the season.

“I think that the biggest thing on defense, frustration-wise, has been red-zone defense because the stats say that you’re not good," Smart told reporters this week. "Sometimes the stats can lie because we had two plays the other day that were kind of freaky plays with a halfback pass that’s double covered. It just boils down to making the play right. We covered it and did everything right. He made an unbelievable play, and then there was the fade catch. You make people run it on you, you don’t let them throw it in on you, and that’s usually what we’re really good at, which is stopping people on the run and doing those things.”

Against Auburn the Bulldogs gave up a 24-yard touchdown pass from wide receiver Chas Nimrod to wide receiver Keshaun Singleton. In reality, that's a play the Bulldog secondary has to make a play on. Soon after quarterback Byrum Brown completed a fade-route in the end-zone to Nimrod who hauled it in with one hand over cornerback Demello Jones. 

Against Alabama the Bulldogs gave up one passing touchdown from Keelon Russell and one touchdown run from EJ Crowell.

During Georgia’s 38-14 win against Vanderbilt the Bulldog defense gave up a 60-yard touchdown pass and a two-yard touchdown run. Against the Oklahoma Sooners the Dawgs gave up two touchdowns passes during their big 41-13 win. One came on a 17-yard touchdown pass to tight end Rocky Beers and another came late in the game. Against Arkansas the Bulldogs gave up two late touchdowns, one through the air and another on the ground.

“It’s not a schematic issue, it’s just playing better and making more timely plays in the red area," Smart added. "We have been more productive in sacks (22). One of the glaring things to us is we want to tackle better. We’re high in missed tackles than we have been in years past, and that’s a big target area for us. We think that missed tackles are up as a whole across college football, so we’re not immune to that. We’re part of that problem, but how do we do it better than they do? That’s really what we’re trying to do this week. How can we get better incrementally and gain inches when the margins are tighter? The inches are everywhere.”

There's a lot to improve on, but at the end of the day, this Georgia defense is still likely one of the best in college football. They're fast, physical, and have really improved as far as attacking the quarterback. They didn't have their best game against a rested, physical Auburn team, but the talent is undeniable. Look for them to bounce back in a big way against the Gators in two weeks.