Category: UGA Football

Top-ranked Georgia (4-0, 1-0 SEC) begins a stretch of seven consecutive SEC games this Saturday when it faces Missouri (2-2, 0-1 SEC) in Columbia. The Tigers dropped a heartbreaker at Auburn 17-14 in overtime last Saturday.

After falling behind 3-0 in the first quarter, top-ranked Georgia responded with 40 unanswered points and ultimately posted a 43-6 win. Stetson Bennett (13-for-19, 255 yards, 2 TDs) started at quarterback and helped the Bulldogs build a 33-3 lead before JT Daniels returned under center for the first time in two weeks. He threw a touchdown pass to Ladd McConkey. Nine different Bulldogs caught passes with four covering more than 20 yards. The stout Bulldog defense limited the Tigers to a pair of field goals on the day and had a goal line stand that ended with three seconds left in the game as Missouri turned it over on downs. The Tigers came in averaging 34.8 points a game. Missouri’s Tyler Badie, the SEC’s leading rusher, was held to 41 yards, while starting quarterback Connor Bazelak did not see action due to an injury. Also, Georgia linebacker Nolan Smith’s blocked punt resulted in a safety.

The Bulldogs are second in the league in Total Offense (531.5 yards/game) and Yards Per Play (7.6). Thanks in part to the performance of senior QB Stetson Bennett so far, the Bulldogs are third the league in Passing Offense (350.5 yards/game). Bennett has five touchdowns and one interception plus four rushing touchdowns this year. He is completing 74 percent of his passes and has 1,224 yards going into the Missouri contest.

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Offensive Highlights: Top-ranked Georgia posted a 39-22 win over Kent State to improve to 4-0. Senior QB Stetson Bennett finished 27-for-36 for 272 yards and one INT plus a rushing TD. In the first half, he was 18-of-24 for 173 yards and the rushing TD.

Two Bulldogs had a team-high six catches apiece in RS-sophomore Ladd McConkey (65 yards), Kenny McIntosh (35 yards). Today, nine different Bulldogs caught a pass. Georgia had its longest TD-drive of the year (by time), chewing up 6:43 on a 12 play, 75-yard drive late in the 4th quarter for its final score.

Sophomore TE Brock Bowers led all rushers with 77 yards on two carries — both resulting in first half touchdowns. He struck paydirt from 75 yards out, marking the longest rushing TD by a Bulldog since 2020 when Zamir White went 75 yards against Florida on the first scrimmage play of the game. Bowers first TD today came on the second play. The previous longest rush for Bowers was 24 yards againt Tennessee last year. Bowers scored again on a two-yard rush in the second quarter. It marked the first time in his career he had two rushing TDs in a game. Georgia attempted its first fourth-down attempt of the year, and it was successful (4th and 1 from the 50). Georgia has now outscored its opponents in the first half 108-16 and 169-32 on the year.

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There is almost certainly something Georgia tight end Brock Bowers can’t do on a football field, but we haven’t seen it yet. He hasn’t attempted a pass yet or tried a field goal, but everything else the star sophomore has been asked to do, he’s done at an extraordinarily high level.

“You saw it last year and in practice every day. Brock is a freak athlete,” wide receiver Ladd McConkey said Monday. “It’s nothing new to us. You get used to seeing it at times when he makes plays like that. He’s the real deal, and he deserves everything he’s been given. I’m just happy he’s on our team.”

The “play like that” McConkey was referring to was Bowers’ 78-yard catch and run for a touchdown in Georgia’s 48-7 win at South Carolina last week. Not a lot of tight ends have many 50-plus-yard touchdowns in their careers. Then again, not a lot of tight ends are like Bowers, who is building off his stellar freshman season by becoming one of the best and most explosive and versatile players in the country.

Bowers showed again Saturday, in No. 1 Georgia’s often sloppy and sluggish 39-22 win over Kent State, just why every Georgia player, coach and fan is happy the 6-foot-4 and 230-pound sophomore is a Bulldog.
On the Bulldogs’ second play from scrimmage, a second-and-10 from the Georgia 25-yard line, Bowers took a handoff on a jet sweep, ran around the right side, and was gone. One week after he scored on a 78-yard pass play, Bowers scored on a 75-yard run.

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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.

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