UGA Football: Everything You Need to Know About Georgia vs Kent State

Top-ranked Georgia has won 13 straight at home and Saturday faces Kent State (1-2). The Golden Flashes began the season with an extended roadtrip falling at Washington and then flying to Tulsa and eventually to Norman where they lost to No. 7 Oklahoma. Last week, Kent State topped LIU 63-10 at home in Kent, Ohio.

In the first meeting between the two schools, Georgia opened the 1998 season with a 56-3 victory over Kent State in Athens. On the third play of the game, freshman Quincy Carter connected with junior Champ Bailey on a 40-yard touchdown strike. Bailey, a future NFL Hall of Famer, started on offense, defense and special teams that day against the Golden Flashes. Meanwhile Carter became the first Georgia freshman to start the season at quarterback since Johnny Rauch in 1945. Carter completed 12 of 16 passes for 235 yards and three scores. Kent State was held to 36 yards rushing on 32 attempts. Also of note, Bulldog defensive back and current head coach Kirby Smart tallied a pair of tackles and one pass breakup while offensive tackle and current SEC Network commentator Matt Stinchcomb helped pave the way for 289 rushing yards and 566 yards of total offense.

While the Bulldogs are second in the league in Total Offense (532.3 yards/game), Georgia is averaging an SEC best 7.9 yards/play. Thanks in part to the performance of senior QB Stetson Bennett over the first three games, the Bulldogs are leading the league in Passing Offense (376.7 yards/game). Bennett has five touchdowns and no interceptions during wins over No. 11 Oregon, Samford and at South Carolina. He is completing 74 percent of his passes and has 952 yards going into the Kent State contest despite only playing in the first three quarters of the games.

Georgia transitioned from No. 3 in the preseason poll to No. 2 after week one and then to No. 1 in the AP poll prior to the South Carolina game. After whipping the Gamecocks 48-7, the Bulldogs assumed the top spot in the Coaches poll as well headed into their matchup with Kent State. Georgia has been ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in 17 of the past 19 Associated Press (AP) polls, with the other two weeks at No. 3.

Despite a record 15 players getting selected in the NFL draft, including five defenders in the first round, Georgia’s defense, at least through the first two games, looks to be as strong as ever. Once again, the Bulldogs find themselves leading the nation in Scoring Defense at 3.3 points allowed per game. Georgia is one of only three FBS teams to surrender only one a touchdown this year. The Bulldogs whipped No. 11 Oregon 49-3 in the season opener in Atlanta, blanked Samford 33-0 in Athens and then routed South Carolina 48-7 in Columbia, S.C.

Senior OLB Nolan Smith, redshirt sophomore DB Kelee Ringo and senior S Chris Smith are the Dogs’ three returning defensive starters from last season’s team. For the third time in school history, Georgia led the nation in Scoring Defense. The 2021 unit allowed just 10.2 points/game and only 153 total points in 15 games.

A 2021 College Football Playoff national championship, a 2018 CFP title game appearance, 2017 Southeastern Conference Championship, four SEC Eastern Division titles, 67 wins and six bowl victories are more than respectable rewards as Kirby Smart rolls into his seventh season. That’s what Georgia got when it hired Smart, the former Georgia player and Alabama defensive coordinator, to head the program in December of 2015.

His impact, along with a stellar coaching staff, players, and a passionate fan base has put Georgia on the national stage six years running. His 2021 team became UGA’s first national champion since 1980, the first since 1982 to go undefeated in the SEC regular season, a No. 1 national ranking by all the major polls and the first ever to win 14 games. It marked the fifth straight team to finish the regular season ranked in the top ten of the College Football Playoff rankings. The team set 21 school records, highlighted by the nation’s top-ranked defense. The third-ranked Bulldogs defeated #2 Michigan, 34-11, in the Capital One Orange Bowl in Miami and then No. 1 Alabama, 33-18, in the championship game in Indianapolis. The senior class also set the mark for most career wins by going 45-8. After the regular season, Smart was named SEC Coach of the Year for the second time in five years.

Georgia’s championship season enjoyed a fitting exclamation mark at the 2022 NFL Draft. The Bulldogs set a Draft record with 15 players taken, including five defenders in the first round, led by the first overall selection, junior Travon Walker.

*2-4 (includes 2017-19, ’21 SECCGs, 2018 & 2022 CFPNC)

%Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic; ^Liberty Bowl; $Rose Bowl Game; ~Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl; !CFP National Championship

Rushing Yards: 222, Nick Chubb vs. #22 UNC (9/3/16)
Rushing TDs: 3, Sony Michel UK (11/18/17); vs. #2 Oklahoma (1/1/18)
Longest Rush: 83-TD, D’Andre Swift @ #9 UK (11/3/18)
Passing Yards: 401, JT Daniels MSU (11/21/20)
Passing TDs: 5, Stetson Bennett UAB (9/11/21)
Receiving Yards: 197 (8 rec.), Jermaine Burton MSU (11/21/20)
Receiving TDs: 2, by 7 different Bulldogs multiple times
Longest Pass/TD Pass: 89-TD, S. Bennett to Brock Bowers UAB (9/11/21)
Tackles: 15, Nakobe Dean vs. #8 UF (11/7/20)
Sacks: 3, Trenton Thompson vs. TCU (12/30/16); Azeez Ojulari vs. #8 UC (1/1/21); Channing Tindall @ UT (11/13/21)
TFL: 3, Azeez Ojulari #7 AU (10/3/20); Thompson vs. Nicholls (9/10/16); 3, Azeez Ojulari vs. #8 UC (1/1/21); Channing Tindall @ UT(11/13/21)

Under Kirby Smart, Georgia has registered 25 scores on defense and special teams. The Dogs are 22-1 (loss came versus #8 UF in 2020) when they register a non-offensive score under Smart.

In 2021, Georgia had six of these scores: Christopher Smith’s 74-yd INT return (#3 CU); Jamon Dumas-Johnson’s 20-yd INT return (UAB); Safety (SC); Zamir White 0-yd return of blocked punt (#8 ARK); Nakobe Dean’s 50-yd INT return (UF); Safety (UM); Kelee Ringo’s 79-yd INT return (UA-2).

Kirby Smart is one of 11 Power 5 head coaches who are leading their alma maters.

Offensive Coordinator – Quarterbacks Coach – Todd Monken

Fain & Billy Slaughter Co-Defensive Coordinator – Inside Linebackers – Glenn Schumann
Co-Defensive Coordinator – Will Muschamp
Passing Game Coordinator – Wide Receivers – Bryan McClendon
Run Game Coordinator – Running Backs – Dell McGee
Defensive Backs Coach – Fran Brown
Assistant Coach – Tight Ends – Todd Hartley
Offensive Line Coach – Stacy Searels
Assistant Coach – Defensive Line – Tray Scott
Assistant Coach – Outside Linebackers – Chidera Uzo-Diribe

The Bulldogs will feature four new on the field coaches. Bryan McClendon, who won an SEC title with Georgia as a receiver in 2005, returns as passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach. He most recently held the same spot for Oregon from 2020-21. McClendon was a graduate assistant at UGA in 2007-08 and was the running backs coach from 2009-15. Stacy Searels will be Georgia’s new offensive line coach after serving in the same role for the Bulldogs from 2007-10. He has most recently been North Carolina’s OL coach for the last three years. Another pair of coaches will join UGA for the first time in their careers. Fran Brown was named the defensive backs coach after serving as the secondary coach at Rutgers. Chidera Uzo-Diribe is the Bulldogs’ new outside linebackers coach following a stint in the same position at Texas Christian University.

Georgia’s offensive line returns three of five starters after Jamaree Salyer and Justin Shaffer had a combined 50 starts between them and have since moved on to the NFL. C Sedrick Van Pran (18 consecutive starts), RT Warren Mc- Clendon (team high 27 consecutive starts) and RG Tate Ratledge all got the nod in the first three games along with LT Broderick Jones and LG Xavier Truss. Jones started the final four regular season games last year when Salyer went down with an injury. Ratledge also started the 2021 opener but was lost for the year with an injury sustained in the fourth series of that contest. Warren Ericson relieved Ratledge for the final 14 games of 2021 and returns this year. Amarius Mims is also back and is lining up at either tackle while Devin Willock

has earned a spot in the regular rotation as well at OG. They have helped Georgia pile up 43.3 points/game and 532.3 yards/game thus far.

Senior PK Jack Podlesny is back in 2022 for his third season as UGA’s top kicker. Podlesny has made 40 of 49 field goal attempts in his career (81.6 percent) and drilled 125 of 126 PATs. This season, he is 5-of-6 on field goals and a perfect 16- for-16 on PATs. During the 33-0 win over Samford, he scored a career-high 15 points, which was the most for a Bulldog since All-American Rodrigo Blankenship scored 17 against Missouri in 2017. Podlesny was 4-of-5 on field goals versus Samford and hit all three of his PATs. Early enrollee Brett Thorson, a native of Australia, has a season-long punt of 56 yards at South Carolina. He has punted only six times in 202 (only once in the first half) and averaged 45.0. The Bulldogs are without four-year starter Jake Camarda (4th Rd. pick, Tampa Bay), whose career mark of 45.8 yards set the UGA record. The Bulldog snappers return in senior Payne Walker and junior William Mote. Walker handles the snapping duties on field goals and PATs while Mote is called on for punts.

Senior

Stetson Bennett, a native of Blackshear, Ga., began his career with the Bulldogs as a walk-on in 2017 when he was redshirted. Bennett transferred to Jones College (Miss.) where he started in 2018 and then returned to the Bulldogs on scholarship in 2019. He saw action that season in five games including throwing passes in four of them. In 2020, he started five games and then got the nod in the final 11 contests of the 2021 national championship season.

In his Bulldog career, Bennett is 17-3 and has completed 63.9 percent of his passes (356-for-557, 5,253 yards, 44 TDs, 14 INTs).

On the road against South Carolina, Bennett connected on 16 of 23 passes for 284 yards and two touchdowns to go along with a rushing touchdown and 36 yards on the ground.

Bennett is the first quarterback to open a season with three straight games of 250 or more yards passing plus a rushing touchdown in each game. He joins Tim Tebow (four) and Johnny Manziel (three) as the only three SEC players since 2004 to have at least three consecutive games with 250 passing yards and one rushing score.

Bennett earned Walter Camp National FBS Offensive Player of the Week and Manning Award National QB of the Week honors while leading No. 3 Georgia to a 49-3 rout of No. 11 Oregon in this season’s opener. He directed the Bulldogs to seven touchdowns on their first seven drives and finished 25 of 31 for a career-high 368 yards and two touchdowns. Bennett also had a 1-yard rushing score against the Ducks. Bennett’s 368 passing yards in the win was the most in a season opener by a Bulldog since 1994 when Eric Zeier tallied 485 yards in a road win over South Carolina.

He ranked fourth nationally in Passing Efficiency (176.7) last year, which broke the school record in that category previously belonging to Aaron Murray (174.8, 2012).

Bennett helped Georgia complete a historic 8-0 SEC regular season and its first undefeated regular season since 1982.

During the CFP National Championship Game versus No. 1 Alabama, Bennett finished 17-for-26 passing with 224 yards, two touchdowns and no picks. Trailing 18-13 with 10:14 left in the game, Bennett directed a four-play, 75-yard scoring drive that gave the Bulldogs a one-point lead at the 8:09 mark (a two-point conversion failed). Georgia never relinquished its lead to collect its first national championship in 41 years. Bennett was named the game’s Offensive MVP as was the case in the CFP Semifinal Orange Bowl victory over Michigan.

*Ties school record

Georgia’s tight end room is loaded. Along with 6-4, 230-pound sophomore Brock Bowers, the top targets here include 6-7, 270-pound junior Darnell Washington, 6-5, 255-pound redshirt sophomore Arik Gilbert and 6-5, 225-pound freshman Oscar Delp.

Bowers leads the group this year with 10 catches for 216 yards while Washington has five for 81 yards. For the second time in his career, Bowers had two receiving touchdowns and a rushing score in the same game. He did it during the road win at South Carolina and also at Vanderbilt last year. He finished with five catches for 121 yards, including a 78-yard touchdown against the Gamecocks.

Delp’s first career catch was also the first touchdown of his career on a 28-yard strike from Carson Beck against South Carolina. The last Bulldog to score on his first career catch was Arian Smith at South Carolina in 2020.

Bowers burst on to the scene last year and had one of the finest seasons ever by a Bulldog pass catcher in earning All-America honors, and he was just a freshman. A native of Napa, Calif, he was named the FWAA Freshman of the Year, the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year and the SEC Freshman of the Year. He tallied 56 receptions for 882 yards and 14 touchdowns (13 receiving, 1 rushing), all team-bests and school records for a tight end. The 13 TD catches was the most ever by a Bulldog.

Bowers has had five 100-yard receiving games in his career; three of his career TD catches have covered 75+ yards; his first career TD catch covered 89 yards against UAB.

With Zamir White and James Cook off to the NFL, Georgia’s veterans in the backfield are senior Kenny McIntosh, as well as juniors Kendall Milton and Daijun Edwards.

McIntosh had nine catches for 117 yards (both career highs) to go along with five carries for 18 yards and a touchdown during the rout of No. 11 Oregon in the 2022 opener.

Milton scored both a rushing and a receiving touchdown against No. 11 Oregon for the first time in his career.

In the season-opening win over No. 11 Oregon, Kenny McIntosh led the Bulldogs with 117 receiving yards on nine catches. It was the most yards by a Bulldog running back since 1995 when fullback Larry Bowie tallied 156 yards on 10 catches against Virginia in the Peach Bowl.

McIntosh’s nine catches were the most since 2013 when Todd Gurley had 10 (for 77 yards) against #7 Auburn.

For the year, McIntosh is the leading receiver with 15 for 192 yards (12.8 avg.). 100+ Yards Receiving By A Bulldog RB In The Modern Era 156, Larry Bowie on 10 catches, 1995 Peach Bowl vs. Virginia in Atlanta 117, Kenny McIntosh on 9 catches, 2021 vs No. 11 Oregon in Atlanta 112, James Cook on 4 catches, 2021 Capital One Orange Bowl vs. No. 2 Michigan in Miami, Fla. 101, James Cook on 4 catches, 2020 at No. 2 Alabama

This marks the third year that Todd Monken is directing the Georgia offense. Currently the Bulldogs are averaging 43.3 points/game, which ranks 17th nationally.

The Bulldogs have outscored their opponents 130-10 this season, including 82-3 in the opening half.

Georgia’s offense generated 49 points against No. 11 Oregon in the 2022 season opener. The Bulldogs tallied 571 yards of offense on only 62 plays and scored touchdowns on their first seven possessions of the game.

Ten different Bulldogs caught a pass in the win over Oregon as Georgia amassed 439 yards through the air, which is the most ever in the Kirby Smart era.

Georgia’s leading receiver against the Ducks was Kenny McIntosh (9-117-0). Also of note, WR Ladd McConkey scored receiving and rushing touchdowns in the same game for the second time in his career (@ Vanderbilt, 2021) versus Oregon as WR AD Mitchell also snagged a touchdown catch.

McConkey is ranked third on the team with 10 catches for 162 yards (16.2 avg.) and a score. He is also the primary punt returner with four for 44 yards.

The Bulldogs are 19 of 20 in the Red Zone this year with 14 touchdowns and five field goals, which ranks 20th nationally.

In 2021, Georgia featured the nation’s top Scoring Defense allowing just 10.2 points/ game. In six games last year, Georgia did not allow an offensive TD and that led the FBS.

This season, the Bulldogs lead the nation again in Scoring Defense, giving up just 3.3 points per contest. Georgia is one of only three teams in the FBS to allow only one touchdown this season. The defense has posted 10 scoreless quarters in 2022. The 10 points is the least allowed through the first three games of a season for UGA since 1937.

Georgia is tied for second in the country with opponents advancing to the Red Zone only four times and coming away with a field goal and a touchdown.

The 2022 Bulldog defense kept No. 3 Oregon to only a field goal in the season opener. This marked the first time Oregon had failed to score a touchdown in a game since 2017. Late in the fourth quarter, Georgia had an impressive goal line stand late that ended at the two yard line following a 19-play, 87-yard drive that lasted 8:47.

Georgia’s first touchdown allowed this year came at South Carolina in game three this year with 53 seconds remaining in the game.

The Bulldogs forced three interceptions during the victory at South Carolina. Freshman Malaki Starks had his team-leading second pick, one that he returned 42 yards, while S Dan Jackson and ILB Trezmen Marshall each had their first INT. ILB Jamon Dumas-Johnson led the team with six stops.

Georgia’s leading tacklers in the win over No. 11 Oregon were senior Chris Smith (six) and Starks (eight). Both Bulldogs also registered interceptions that eventually turned into 14 points. The picks came on the Ducks’ second and third possessions and helped Georgia build a 21-0 lead.

This marked Smith’s fourth career pick and his second in a row in a season-opening game after returning his interception for a score against No. 3 Clemson in 2021 for the game’s only touchdown. Smith shared SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Week honors following his performance against Oregon.

Stetson Bennett: Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week, Manning Award Star of the Week, Davey O’Brien Award Quarterback of the Week (vs. #11 UO)

Chris Smith: SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Week (vs. #11 UO)

1. Alabama, 40-4
T2. GEORGIA, 37-5
T2. Clemson, 37-6
4. Louisiana, 36-6
5. Cincinnati, 35-6

2016: 12 points in two games (KOR, PR)
2017: none
2018: 12 points in two games (PR, Blocked Punt Ret.)
2019: none
2020: none
2021: 6 points in one game (Blocked Punt Ret.)
2022: none

Longest PR For a TD: 82 yards by Isaiah McKenzie vs. Louisiana, 2016
Longest Blocked PR For a TD: 8 yards by Eric Stokes @ Missouri, 2018
Longest KOR For a TD: 43 yards by Terry Godwin @ South Carolina, 2016

Currently, there are three Bulldogs who have blocked a kick/punt in their Georgia career. Jalen Carter’s blocked field goal against Alabama in the CFP National Championship Game changed the momentum in the third quarter and ignited the Bulldog offense. The Bulldogs would outscore Alabama 20-9 in the final quarter.

Overall, Georgia blocked five kicks last year including punts against No. 8 Arkansas (Dan Jackson) and Missouri (Nolan Smith), a field goal by Kentucky (Devonte Wyatt, 1st round pick Green Bay) and a PAT (Carter versus Kentucky).

The Bulldogs had six first-time starters on defnese in their opener versus No. 11 Oregon: ILB Jamon Dumas-Johnson, DE Mykel Williams, ILB Smael Mondon, DB Javon Bullard, DB Kamari Lassiter, N Nazir Stackhouse. Williams became just the ninth true freshman starter to make his debut in a season opener in the Smart era. In game two, true freshman Malaki Starks earned his first start for the Bulldogs. Freshman WR Dillon Bell, junior DL Zion Logue and senior DL Tramel Walthour both started for the first time at South Carolina.

Georgia had seven first-time starters in the 2021 season opener against No. 3 Clemson in Charlotte. The Bulldogs had 19 first-time starters in 2020, including seven in the opener.

Georgia featured 12 true freshmen in its 2022 opener against No. 11 Oregon after having an NCAA record 15 players selected in the 2022 NFL Draft. A total of 21 true freshmen have played during the 2022 campaign.

During the 2021 season opener, six true freshmen saw action against No. 3 Clemson in Charlotte at Bank of America Stadium. In 2021, a total of 24 true freshmen played for the Bulldogs.

#11 Oregon:Nolan Smith, Kenny McIntosh, Christopher Smith, Sedrick Van Pran
Samford:Zion Logue, Warren Ericson, Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint
S. Carolina:Jamon Dumas-Johnson, Kearis Jackson, Warren McClendon
Kent State:
Missouri:
Auburn:
Vanderbilt:
Florida:
Tennessee:
Miss. State:
Kentucky:
Georgia Tech:

GAME ONE:
#3 UGA: 7 (Longest: 38-yd pass, Bennett to McIntosh)
#11 ORE: 0

GAME TWO:
#2 UGA: 4 (Longest: 37-yd pass, Bennett to McConkey)
SAM: 1 (36-yd pass, Crittendon to King)

GAME THREE:
#1 UGA: 4 (Longest: 78-yd TD pass, Bennett to Bowers)
USC: 3 (Longest: 46-yd pass, Rattler to Bell)

GAME FOUR:
UGA:
KENT ST.:

GAME FIVE:
UGA:
MIZ:

GAME SIX:
UGA:
AUB:

GAME SEVEN:
UGA:
VAN:

GAME EIGHT:
UGA:
UF:

GAME NINE:
UGA:
TENN:

GAME 10:
UGA:
MSU:

GAME 11:
UGA:
UK:

GAME 12:
UGA:
GT:

Georgia is +6 in turnover margin, which is fourth nationally. The Bulldogs have 31 points off six turnovers. Opponents have not created any turnovers. Georgia is one of four FBS teams nationwide to have zero turnovers so far.

#11 Oregon: UGA got 14 pts. off 2 TOs; UGA did not have any TOs.
Samford: UGA got 3 pts. off 1 TO; UGA did not have any TOs.
S. Carolina: UGA got 14 pts. off 3 TOs; UGA did not have any TOs.
Kent State:
Missouri:
Auburn:
Vanderbilt:
Florida:
Tennessee:
Miss. State:
Kentucky:
Georgia Tech: