UGA Football: Frierson – Bennett Answers The Call With Stellar Performance

May we all one day, in whatever it is we devote ourselves to with great passion and determination, have a day like Stetson Bennett IV had Saturday afternoon at Sanford Stadium.

Great isn’t strong enough. Magical feels pretty close. Beautiful also covers it quite well, especially if you’re a Georgia football fan and an admirer of Bennett and what he’s done in his Bulldog career.

After starting the first five games for Georgia last season, Bennett, now a senior backup to junior JT Daniels, had to replace Daniels in the starting lineup in the second-ranked Bulldogs’ home opener against UAB. Coach Kirby Smart said earlier this week that redshirt freshman Carson Beck was the Bulldogs’ No. 2 quarterback, but when Georgia needed a fill-in starter, Georgia’s coaches went with the veteran, someone that’s one of the few remaining on the roster from the Bulldogs’ run to the Rose Bowl and the National Championship Game in 2017.

“We just have a lot of young players who are trying to grow up and we thought it would give a calming effect to have him in with his experience and his ability to play in games,” Smart said of the decision to start Bennett.

“Honestly, I just prepared like we were playing Clemson, like we did last week and like I did every game that I started and every game that I’ve been here,” Bennett said.

Bennett has had some great moments on the field before, both at Dooley Field and away from home, but the fifth-year player from Blackshear, Ga., the son of two Georgia graduates, had something close to a perfect game in the Bulldogs’ 56-7 win Saturday.

He finished the game 10-for-12 passing for 288 yards and five touchdowns, which tied the school record for TD passes in a game. How’s that for a glorious day in the sun?

Bennett said he was nervous before the game, wanting badly to make the most of this opportunity and to lead Georgia to a win.

“I couldn’t eat my pregame meal,” he said.

He sure didn’t look nervous once he got out there.

After running back Zamir White ran for 2 yards on the first play of the game, Bennett calmly and confidently dropped back on second down and lofted a perfect pass down the left sideline for sophomore wide receiver Jermaine Burton, who had gotten behind the defense and had nothing but wide open grass in front of him. One pass, his first of the season, one 73-yard touchdown for Bennett.

That touchdown put Georgia in front 7-0 after just 38 seconds. Georgia’s defense then stuffed UAB’s opening drive and the Bulldogs got the ball back on their 45-yard line. On first down, Bennett faked a handoff, rolled to his left, and flicked a pass to freshman wideout Adonai Mitchell for 12 yards. Two plays and a couple of UAB penalties later, Georgia had a first down at the 18. A few plays later, Bennett threw a short pass to junior running back Kenny McIntosh on the right side and McIntosh ran the ball in for a 12-yard touchdown and a 14-0 lead, with 10:17 to play in the first quarter.

Later in the first, on first down at the Georgia 12, freshman tight end Brock Bowers got behind his man on the right side and Bennett hit him in stride for an 89-yard touchdown, the ninth-longest touchdown reception in school history. Georgia led 21-0 after the first quarter, with Bennett a stellar 4-for-4 passing for 184 yards and three touchdowns.

That stat line was amazing but it became even better less than a minute into the second quarter. On his fifth pass of the day, Bennett hit redshirt freshman wideout Arian Smith wide open behind the UAB defense for a 61-yard TD down the right side. On 5-for-5 passing, Bennett had thrown for 245 yards and four scores, and Georgia led 28-0 with 14:09 left in the first half.

“It always helps when you’ve got great players on the field,” Bennett said, “when you’ve got as much protection and speed all over the field like we did today.”

The Blazers, who have won 35 games since the program was brought back in 2017 and have been at or near the top of the Conference USA standings since their return, had no answers for Bennett and Georgia’s passing game. The score was 35-0 at the half, all five scores coming on Bennett TD passes — the last of them a 9-yard throw to Bowers in the end zone.

Bowers, who led Georgia with six catches against Clemson, had three for 107 yards and the two scores in the second game of his career.

Bennett was still going strong early in the second half, even running for a 20-yard gain that helped set up senior running back James Cook’s 14-yard touchdown run with 8:42 left in the third. After that, Bennett got to stand on the sideline with a smile on his face for the rest of the game.

It was a feel-good game for a player that’s been a feel-good story since he was a freshman on the scout team during the 2017 season, earning raves out in Pasadena, Calif., for the job he did simulating how Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield ran the Sooners’ offense.

After playing well in the early part of last season, Bennett lost the starting job to Daniels. When Daniels couldn’t go Saturday, the veteran came in and delivered a performance he can remember and savor for the rest of his life.
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men’s Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He’s also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.