ATHENS — Georgia knows it will have its hands full on Saturday when it takes on the Alabama pass rush.

The most potent of those defenders would be edge rusher Dallas Turner. He is tied for the team lead in sacks with 8.0 and seems poised to be the next first-round defender taken from Alabama.

“I think he’s a great pass rusher. I want to say he was a freshman the last time we played him,” center Sedrick Van Pran said. “He was really good then. He was really, really explosive. Very, very twitchy guy. I would just say going into the game, just a mindset type of thing, it’s just accepting a challenge.

“He’s another great edge that they have, much like Will Anderson, which they had. It’s just understanding they have guys like him that are game-changers and can absolutely wreck games if you allow them to. It’s just accepting the challenge and understanding that God has given you some ability as well, so just trust yourself.”

It helps build trust when you have someone like Amarius Mims to neutralize a defender like Turner. Mims, like Turner, is seen as a future first-round pick and is looking like himself again after missing six games due to an ankle injury.

Mims has started the previous two games at right tackle for Georgia.

“I tried to stay level-headed during that time because during six weeks you can easily get off track,” Mims said last week. “You can easily be like okay, I’m done with this, I’m not going to come back the same and all that good stuff. But really from the help of my teammates just staying on course and all that good stuff. Now I’m back so that’s good.”

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