A week after Georgia beat a ranked rival, Dawgs fans got what they expected Saturday.
Tennessee Tech’s visit Between the Hedges provided Bulldog Nation with a relaxed home opener in which the Dawgs’ offense scored a lot of points against an opponent that Kirby Smart conceded was “overmatched,” while the defense nearly had a shutout.
UGA’s starters also got about two and a half quarters of work before giving way to third- and fourth-stringers, who received valuable game experience.
And, not surprisingly, the nation’s No. 1 team managed to win by a big score (even if it didn’t cover the ridiculous 53.5 point spread) while looking a little sloppy at times.
Georgia came out of what Bulldogs broadcaster Eric Zeier said “felt like a glorified scrimmage” Saturday with an easy 48-3 win — over an FCS team from the Ohio Valley Conference, and a list of stuff to work on before the conference schedule begins next Saturday night against Kentucky in Lexington.
On the plus side, the Bulldogs got off to a quick start — the score was 7-0 in UGA’s favor after the Dawgs’ first play from scrimmage, a pass from Carson Beck to Dillon Bell in the end zone — and Georgia’s quarterback ended up tying a school record held by a bunch of others as he threw 5 TDs in the game, completing 18 of 25 passes for 242 yards. (Backup Gunner Stockton, who played much of the third quarter and all of the fourth quarter, completed 10 of 12 throws for 90 yards).
And, with the starters still in the game, the Georgia offense came out strong again in the second half, scoring twice in less than a minute thanks to a fumble recovery by Dan Jackson.
Other game highlights for the Dawgs included Anthony Evans’ 42-yard punt return to set up Georgia’s first score (even if it is scary sometimes the way he’ll snag a ball with a defender in his face before he takes off).
And there were 3 sacks by Dawg defenders, including freshman KJ Bolden.
Also, tailback Trevor Etienne (a transfer from Florida) lived up to his billing in his first game at UGA (after sitting out with a suspension last week). He showed speed and moves (sometimes changing pace to find blockers) while gaining 78 yards on just 5 carries, including a 45-yard run. (He also caught 2 passes for 14 yards.)
And running back Branson Robinson broke some tackles on his 13-yard TD run in the 3rd quarter.
In the air attack, 15 Bulldogs caught passes from Beck or Stockton Saturday, led by Arian Smith, who snagged 4 for 73 yards and a touchdown. Dillon had 4 catches for 46 yards and a TD, Dominic Lovett had 3 catches for 33 yards and a score, Lawson Luckie caught 2 pases for 43 yards and a TD and Colbie Young caught 1 pass, a 6-yarder for a score.
Said Smart in his post-game press conference: “You have to do that nowadays in college football. You have to keep those tight ends happy and those wideouts happy. You have to throw the ball. We want to spread the wealth and, in a game like this, you can certainly do that.”
Overall, Georgia’s offense had a total of 498 yards, averaging 8.2 yards per play.
On the other hand, as Smart told Georgia football network’s D.J. Shockley after the game, the Bulldogs got a bit sloppy at times, drawing 9 penalties for 85 yards, including flags for offensive holding. Georgia ended up having to kick a couple of field goals when drives stalled.
And while Beck generally had a good day, he missed several open receivers on deep balls. (Beck told ESPN+’s Ashley Stroehlein that he needed to work on his “consistency” while Smart said at halftime, “we’ve got to be a little more accurate down the field.” Stockton also overthrew an open receiver in the end zone.)
The Dawgs’ offense needs some improvement, too, when it is deep in the red zone, near the goal line.
And when Smart used the clock to give the Dawgs 53 seconds at the end of the first half, in the real-game equivalent of a 2-minute- drill, they got nothing out of it.
Another concern was defensive: Considering that the Golden Eagles are a run-first team that only attempted 8 passes (completing 5 of them for a mere 18 yards), the Georgia defense’s tackling against the run was a bit suspect at times, and the D seemed caught off-guard by a delayed run on a 3rd-and-long conversion. The visitors got 6 of their 9 first downs on the ground.
After the game, Smart said he thought the defense played well for three and a half quarters but “got sloppy toward the end.”
On special teams, besides Evans’ long return, Peyton Woodring made 6 PATs and his 2 field goal attempts, and Brett Thorson’s first and only punt finally came with 7:44 left in the game; it covered 55 yards and ended with a fair catch.
As for the officiating, it was inconsistent. Georgia got called several times for offensive holding, but a blatant hold on a Tennessee Tech conversion of 3rd-and-long went uncalled, and when Beck took a long throw on a free play created by a defensive offsides flag, his receiver Bell clearly was interfered with, but there was no flag for that. Also, a play where Stockton carried the ball into a pile-up in the middle of the line and then spun free with room to run was whistled dead prematurely.
With this latest win, Georgia is 48-2 in the past 50 games, with a school-record streak of 41 consecutive regular season victories. And the Dawgs are riding a school-record 26-game home winning streak, which leads the FBS.
So, yes, Georgia won comfortably Saturday. Really, it tells you all you need to know about the game that the two teams’ coaches agreed to shorten the 4th quarter to 10 minutes.
But, let’s face it, anything less than an overwhelming Georgia win would have been great cause for concern in Bulldog Nation. The Golden Eagles were in town just for a paycheck ($550,000), playing the role of sacrificial lamb to fill a nonconference spot on the schedule.
However, news this past week will make future visits from FCS “cupcakes” a bit harder for some Georgia fans to swallow. The UGA Athletic Association announced that not only are ticket prices (and required donations for season tickets) going up next year, there also no longer will be a lower price for nonconference opponents such as Tennessee Tech.
So, next year all home games, including Austin Peay and Charlotte, will be $80. Campus parking costs are going up as well.
You’ve got to wonder at what price point will folks decide they don’t really need to see all of Georgia’s home games in person, especially the ones who come to town with “overmatched” rosters and little chance of making a competitive game of it.
UGA said that, even with the higher prices, it will remain in the bottom third of total ticket cost (ticket plus per-seat contribution requirement) compared with other SEC and Big 10 programs.
And it’s true that, in the age of name, image and likeness deals and a pending NCAA settlement that would require payouts to former players, football programs like Georgia’s are under pressure to increase their various revenue streams.
Still, in response to the news of the price increase, I’ve seen fans posting on social media that their big-screen TVs and cheaper beer at home make a trip to Sanford Stadium — particularly for a FCS opponent — seem less than essential.
On top of that, the strength of a program’s schedule is expected to be a factor in determining who gets in and who gets left out of the expanded College Football Playoff.
Will a guaranteed win over a cupcake opponent be worth the hit that your strength-of-schedule rating will take?
As someone who never has been a fan of Georgia playing lesser nonconference opponents, I hope that the folks at Butts-Mehre will decide that, no, it’s not.
In the meantime, if you missed Saturday’s cupcake serving, UMass is on the menu in November.
ONE OF THE BEST
Recently retired sports information director Claude Felton and his family were recognized at Saturday’s game for his 45 years of service to the University of Georgia, and he also was honored with the naming of the Claude Felton Press Level in the new press box that has been built in Sanford Stadium.
Claude rightfully was considered the dean of sports information directors in college football for decades. He put together a great staff, and he was a great help to me through the years.
I emailed him congratulations this week and he responded with his usual grace: “Thank you, Bill. Caught me by surprise. Obviously it is very humbling and I am honored. Must give a lot of credit to a bunch of staff members who have been with me for many many years and are often responsible for making me look good! Thanks for the message. CF.”
Thank you, Claude, for all you’ve done for Bulldog Nation.
