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Georgia football winners and losers following Kent State performance

Winner: The Georgia tight ends

By this point, Brock Bowers could make just a weekly home in this spot. He finished with 127 total yards of offense and two more touchdowns. He’s pretty clearly one of the best players in the country.

But Darnell Washington also deserves special mention here. He didn’t have the same level of statistical production as Bowers, catching two passes for 39 yards on the afternoon.

To hear Kirby Smart tell it though, a lot of Bowers’ magic wouldn’t have been possible were it not for the play of the other big-time tight end.

“The first play of the game, he’s wide open, the play was to go to him,” Smart said. “Stetson, he took a shot, being aggressive and Darnell was there the next play, Brock gets a touchdown and Darnell is down there celebrating. He’s the first one in the end zone celebrating. It was his block that sprung him. Again, Darnell’s blocking combined with what Brock does on the perimeter … the package of those two – compliments each other so well.”

Related: Brock Bowers continues to prove he can do it all and then some for Georgia football

Georgia is without Adonai Mitchell and Arian Smith at the moment. Kenny McIntosh picked up a thigh injury, casting some doubt on his immediate future. Ladd McConkey didn’t have the best game either, fumbling twice.

The Bulldogs very clearly need their tight ends to continue to move the ball. It helps that Georgia might have the most talented tight end room in the country.

And thanks to Bowers and Washington, those two are playing up to that standard.

Loser: Turnovers

A reporter remarked after the South Carolina game that Georgia had not turned the ball over after the first three games of the season. Smart quickly responded that Georgia had just been jinxed when it comes to that.

And it didn’t take long for the turnovers to come on Saturday against Kent State.

McConkey muffed a punt. He’d later fumbled again, but the special teams turnover was far more disappointing for both Smart and McConkey.

“I was frustrated there with Ladd probably a mistake to field the punt or not fair catch the punt. He knows that,” Smart said. “Nobody is more disappointed than Ladd is. We got started (maybe he said that). You’re going to have a fumble every now and then, it’s just part of football. Make good decisions when the ball is in transfer in kicking situations and we didn’t make a very smart one there.”

Related: Ladd McConkey struggles, second-half bounce back sums up ‘ugly’ win for Georgia football

The Georgia wide receiver wasn’t the only one though to have a few mistakes on Saturday. Stetson Bennett threw his first interception of the season, with some miscommunication with Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint leading to the errant pass.

Georgia played mistake-free football in the second half, but if you want to know why Georgia had to really strain to put away Kent State on Saturday, you really only need to look at those three turnovers. Add in that the Bulldogs didn’t create their own turnover until the fourth quarter and you can see why this game was closer than many expected.

Winner: Bear Alexander

Jalen Carter was very limited on Saturday, playing just 1 total snap against Kent State, and that came as a fullback. He was not on the field as a defender against Kent State.

That makes the Bulldogs even more fortunate that freshman Bear Alexander delivered his best week of practice for Georgia. That led him to getting an extended run on Saturday with the Georgia defense.

The highlight came when he deflected a Kent State pass by getting his hands up in a passing window. He also made a cameo appearance on Georgia’s final touchdown drive, subbing in as a goal-line fullback for Cater.

“He had his best week of practice, so we felt like he would play more snaps. If they drove the ball and we thought they would play more tempo that we’d have to play more people,” Smart said. “Tray (Scott) did a good job rotating those guys through and Bill Norton did a good job and played a few more snaps. That’s good. We’re increasing our depth.”

Alexander hasn’t been heard from so far for a couple of reasons. Georgia rotates so heavily on the defensive line, its hard for a defensive lineman to really stand out, especially if you’re a freshman.

The defensive tackle was also recovering from labrum surgery and did not participate in spring drills.

Georgia has already had one freshman start on the defensive line this year in Mykel Williams. Alexander isn’t quite there yet in terms of his development and it will be worth monitoring how Carter’s health impacts Alexander’s playing time.

But Saturday showed the future is very bright for the young defensive lineman.

“He has a lot of potential, and he’s going to be a great player,” Nazir Stackhouse said of Alexander. “One thing about Bear, all I can say about him is to focus on development. Obviously when you’re a freshman there’s nothing but development in front of you. So I’d tell him to just learn from the older guys, trust in the process, listen to the coaches.”

Loser: Fake punts

Two straight weeks, two straight conversions against Georgia.

The most concerning part was Georgia was in the proper defense to try and stop Kent State’s fake punt in the second half.

It just failed to do so.

“We’re actually in our prevent — the fake call because it was fourth-and-1 or inches, you know,” Smart said. “They did a good job. We had somebody lose eye control — somebody had in man and missed him. We’ve got to do a better job. It’s unfortunate because the defense deserved a stop there, but we didn’t stop them.”

After the conversion, Smart spent time chatting with Dan Jackson on the Georgia sideline.

Given the Bulldogs hold such a massive talent edge— they’re a 28.5-point favorite against Missouri this week — Smart knows opposing teams are going to try and create extra possessions in games.

Related: Georgia a heavy-duty road favorite to beat struggling Missouri

Sometimes that means being more aggressive in fourth and short situations. For others, it means getting a bit tricky and rolling out some fake punts.

When it comes to the Bulldogs on the latter, we turn to Michael Scott. Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, strike three you’re out.

Winner: Jalon Walker

It wasn’t all bad for Georgia on special teams on Saturday. Jack Podlesny made all three of his field goals on the afternoon.

The Bulldogs also got some positive points thanks to an excellent play from freshman Jalon Walker.

He hasn’t been able to crack the inside linebacker rotation just yet for the Bulldogs, but he found a way to make a big impact for Georgia on Saturday as his blocked punt led to a safety.

“I was really proud of him,” Smart said. “He got taken off of punt team two weeks ago for not taking his guy. He didn’t pout. He didn’t complain. He didn’t go in the transfer portal. He kept on fighting, and Darris (Smith) got a little banged up. Darris was going to start on it and we stuck Jalon back in there and low and behold he makes a big play and blocks the punt.”

The transfer portal comments were said in jest by Smart. As has been the case for Jamon Dumas-Johnson and Smael Mondon, playing special teams proved to be the pathway to becoming starters.

We bet that sooner rather than later, Walker is going to follow in those same footsteps.

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