ORLANDO, Fla. – There’s no denying Georgia’s tackling has been suspect during the second half of this season.

Since Georgia faced Vanderbilt, injuries have forced the Bulldogs’ defense to use mostly thud drills as opposed to tackling to the ground in practices.

“Obviously, that was a burden on us all year,” said cornerback Asher Allen, “not being able to tackle and not able to get reps that would have been really, really valuable for muscle memory and for overall confidence as a player – doing reps and things like that. But there’s no excuse. It did hurt obviously, but we’re still here and we’ve got to play.”

Injuries forced caution from the Georgia coaching staff to where tackling was mostly eliminated from practice. This led up to Georgia’s disappointing 45-42 loss to Georgia Tech where the Bulldogs missed many tackles and assignments.

But during Georgia’s bowl practices in Athens and Orlando, the Bulldogs have been able to tackle in practice the way it would have liked to in the second half of this season.

“That’s one thing that hurt us in the Tech game, missed tackles,” linebacker Rennie Curran said. “Not fully wrapping up, not fully running through. We feel if we can get that knocked out in practice and get better fundamentally, it will prepare us even more and help us be successful.”

Defensive tackle Corvey Irvin added tackling in practice is something Georgia has to be doing at this stage.

“We have to [tackle in practice],” Irvin said. “The last game we missed some crucial tackles that cost us the ball game.”

Of course, tackling in practice sounds like a simple concept all teams should employ. But Georgia suffered 18 season ending injuries, with 10 starters from Georgia’s preseason depth chart missing games. By the time the middle of the year rolled around, the coaching staff felt there weren’t enough bodies available to risk more injuries.

Defensive tackle Geno Atkins said practice determines game play, and with Georgia tackling in practice, it should help improve Georgia’s defensive presence against Michigan State in the Capital One Bowl on Jan. 1.

“It helps you prepare for the game,” Atkins said. “You practice as hard as you play, so if you’re tackling someone to the ground in practice and use the right technique you’re going to do it in the game.”

Against Michigan State, Georgia can’t afford to miss any tackles against running back Javon Ringer. Ringer has run for 1,590 yards and 21 touchdowns – accounting for 96 percent of the Spartans’ rushing yardage this year.

Allen said the goal will be to make Michigan State one dimensional. But in order to do that Georgia must tackle Ringer to the ground and not let him break free.

“Obviously we’re going against Javon Ringer and that kind of offense, and tackling and making plays are something that’s really, really big,” Allen said. “We’ve been practicing that.”

Atkins is optimistic at how Georgia’s defense will respond against Michigan State, now that the Bulldogs have been able to be more physical in recent practices.

“It’s been coming along, getting all the pieces right,” he said. “I think we’ll be ready.”