For all of the talk about Georgia football 's slow starts and inability to finish on the pass rush this season, the Bulldogs ' lack of takeaways was also holding the defense back.
Inside linebacker CJ Allen changed that in a big way in the third quarter of Saturday's 35-14 win over Kentucky on Saturday Oct. 4 .
Allen punched out the ball on SEC second leading rusher Seth McGowan while Daylen Everette and Kris Jones were trying to bring him down.
Allen recovered the fumble on the 1-yard loss with 13:18 to go in the third quarter, but the officials ruled it was Wildcats' ball at first.
Coach Kirby Smart challenged the call and it was successfully overturned.
It was Georgia 's first fumble recovery of the season.
"That's something we've kind of been preaching this whole week, the whole season for real," said Allen, who tied Justin Williams for the team lead in tackles with 6 and also had two tackles for loss and a sack. "Get punchouts, get takeaways, but this week we actually honed in on that aspect."
The Bulldogs entered the game with just three takeaways — all on interceptions — which ranked tied for 111thin the nation.
Georgia did "circuits," in practice to emphasize getting turnovers, Allen said.
"Not paying lip service," said Allen, the 6-foot-1, 235-pound junior. "Actually trying to get them out in practice during our periods."
Allen said players on the sidelines were shouting out to "Take a shot at the ball! Get a punch out! Get a punch out!."
Allen ended up with his first career fumble recovery and forced fumble.
Smart called recovering the fumble "huge," and said defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann and other defensive coaches worked hard on it this week.
"We sacrificed like 30 or 40 practice minutes which are like golden nuggets to me," Smart said. "To y'all 30 or 40 minutes is nothing but 30 or 40 minutes out of a week to nothing but attempts and strip outs and targeting balls and punching balls is really big."
Georgia got the ball at the Kentucky 38 with a 21-7 lead and the Bulldogs increased their lead to three touchdowns after needing just five plays to score.
Gunner Stockton hit Oscar Delp for a 36-yard completion and wide receiver Dillon Bell scored his second rushing touchdown, this time on a 3-yard reverse.
"It took me back last year when I had a forced fumble and he was the first one to celebrate with me," said inside linebacker Raylen Wilson referring to last year's one-point win at Kentucky. "When he get his this year, I was the first one to celebrate because I knew he got it as soon as they started replaying it."
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: How extra practice time paid off for Georgia's CJ Allen's forced fumble
