ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia senior offensive guard Ben Cleveland has been named the Southeastern Conference Offensive Lineman of the Week, according to a league announcement.

This marks the second career SEC weekly honor for Cleveland.  He was also awarded the accolade following the shutout victory versus Missouri in 2019.  This is also the Bulldogs’ second weekly honor this season (Sept. 28, P Jake Camarda – Special Teams).

Cleveland, a native of Toccoa, Ga., had five knockdown blocks and graded out at 83 percent during the Bulldogs’ 27-6 win over No. 7 Auburn.  Part of a newly aligned unit after three 2019 Bulldog linemen were drafted, Cleveland helped allow Georgia’s backs to go for 202 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 45 carries (4.5 average).  Cleveland helped first-year starting quarterback Stetson Bennett get sacked only a single time against the Tigers.

The No. 3 Bulldogs (2-0 SEC) play host to No. 14 Tennessee (2-0 SEC) on Saturday.  CBS will televise the matchup at 3:30 p.m.

6

Auburn 1-1 , 1-1

27

 Georgia 2-0 , 2-0

ATHENS, Ga. – The fourth-ranked Georgia Bulldogs defeated the seventh-ranked Auburn Tigers, 27-6, under the lights of Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium Saturday night in front of 20,524 spectators and an ESPN primetime audience.

“It sure felt like more than [20,524], but it felt like a lot of fans out there. I thought the crowd noise was helpful,” said Georgia head coach Kirby Smart. “I thought we showed improvement. We left a lot of plays out there. I thought we played really hard defensively but sloppy on third down. I thought offensively, when we play clean, meaning we don’t have a busted assignment, a penalty, or somebody doesn’t know what they’re doing, we do well; but we can go backwards as quickly as we can forwards offensively, and we probably left more out there.”

Redshirt-junior quarterback Stetson Bennett completed 17 passes on 28 attempts, totaling 240 yards with a touchdown in his first career start directing the Georgia offense. Redshirt-freshman Kearis Jackson recorded career highs with nine catches and 147 yards including a 49-yard catch, a career-long.

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Another Stout Defensive Effort In The Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry:
Fourth-ranked Georgia held seventh-ranked Auburn to just a pair of field goals in a 27-6 victory. The Tigers were limited to 216 yards of total offense on 63 plays. It marked the fifth time in the last six meetings in the Kirby Smart era that Auburn was held to 14 points or less. It was Auburn’s lowest point tally since Georgia blanked the Tigers 38-0 in 2012 in Auburn and its lowest in Athens since 1967 when Georgia won 17-0. Georgia is now 9-4 against top 10 teams in the Smart era.

Senior Monty Rice led the Bulldogs with 7 tackles while junior Adam Anderson had two of the team’s three sacks and junior Azeez Ojulari had five stops with 3 TFL. At the end the third quarter, Georgia forced Bo Nix to his first interception of the year, ending a streak of 251 passes that was an Auburn record and ranked second nationally behind Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence. Bulldog senior Mark Webb notched his first career pick on the play. Senior Richard LeCounte was called for targeting with 3:49 left in the first half and missed the remainder of the contest.

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By John Frierson
Staff Writer

Georgia linebacker Azeez Ojulari provided the perfect coda on the fourth-ranked Bulldogs’ stellar first half against Auburn on Saturday night at Sanford Stadium. It was about as good a half as a Georgia team has played in a long time, and wasn’t it nice to see the Bulldogs lined up between the hedges again?

With the Bulldogs leading 24-3 and having punted the ball to the Tiger 15-yard line, and only 18 seconds left in the half, trick-play loving Auburn lined up in the classic take-a-knee formation. So, naturally, the seventh-ranked Tigers tried to catch the Georgia defense off guard, having wideout Anthony Schwartz run around the left side. Or try to, anyway.

Ojulari wasn’t having any of it, stuffing Schwartz for a 4-yard loss — one of his three TFLs in the game. The Tigers called it a half after that. And what a half it was for Georgia.

Georgia led by 21 at the break, but sometimes scores can be misleading. Not this time. The Bulldogs outgained Auburn 288 yards to 81. The Bulldogs earned 15 first downs to the Tigers’ five. Georgia averaged 6.3 yards per play to Auburn’s 3.1. Get the picture?

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Georgia vs Auburn Gameday Guide

The Georgia Bulldogs vs. The Auburn Tigers

Game & Broadcast Info

Due to the delayed start of the 2020 season because of the pandemic along with Georgia starting its season on the road, Saturday will mark the Bulldogs’ home opener. The Oct. 3 home opener will be the latest in Georgia history since the 1966 SEC champions made their Sanford Stadium season debut on Oct. 8. It was the fourth game of the year and the Bulldogs beat Ole Miss 9-3.

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The Georgia Bulldogs vs. The Auburn Tigers

Game & Broadcast Info

Due to the delayed start of the 2020 season because of the pandemic along with Georgia starting its season on the road, Saturday will mark the Bulldogs’ home opener. The Oct. 3 home opener will be the latest in Georgia history since the 1966 SEC champions made their Sanford Stadium season debut on Oct. 8. It was the fourth game of the year and the Bulldogs beat Ole Miss 9-3.

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The Georgia Bulldogs practiced two-hours Wednesday, Sept. 30, in preparation for the first home game of the season versus Auburn University.

The Bulldogs will kick off against the Tigers in Sanford Stadium at 7:30 p.m., ET, on ESPN. Before practice, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart participated in the SEC Football Weekly Media Teleconference and provided an update on the Bulldogs. Following practice, Kearis Jackson and Justin Shaffer offered these comments on the contest with Auburn.

Selected comments from Smart and the student-athletes follow:

Coach Kirby Smart
Opening Statement
“This is a big game at home. We are excited about College Gameday being here and a top-10 matchup- which is what the SEC is all about. You have an opportunity to play a great program at Auburn. Gus [Malzahn] and them have done a tremendous job—always have. Their kids play with tremendous toughness, very physical team. Every time we play them, although it’s usually later in the year, it’s extremely physical.”

On keeping D’Wan Mathis’ mentally focused this season and an update on JT Daniels…
“Well, with the D’Wan [Mathis] question, he is working. He’s continuing to work. He’s getting better. He’s growing as a player. He has learned from some of his mistakes, and [we’re] trying to get the players around him to play better too so that allows him to have success. Really the same thing with JT [Daniels], he’s continuing to work. He’s doing a great job—glad he’s cleared because he is able to play now. We’re excited to see him and see what he does.”

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