Field Street Forum

ATLANTA — Making things look really easy a lot of the time, Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett and the offense put on quite a show in the No. 3-ranked Bulldogs’ 49-3 walloping of No. 11 Oregon on Saturday. The fifth-year senior threw for a career-high 368 yards, he threw two touchdown passes, and he ran the ball in for another score.

If Bennett tried to do it Saturday inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium, with most of the 71,490 folks in the 2022 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic crowd reveling in everything he did, it worked. And really, the same could be said for just about everything the Bulldogs (1-0) did as a team.

“I think Stetson did a good job of being able to move the ball on the perimeter, and he is elusive,” said Oregon first-year head coach Dan Lanning, who was Georgia’s defensive coordinator the past two seasons. “So even when you do pressure at times, you’re not able to always get home.”

Bennett couldn’t have looked more at home Saturday in his first opportunity to start a Georgia season opener. And the same goes for the rest of the Bulldogs.

“I love playing in this game, I love playing in this venue — our kids embrace it; I thought our fans embraced it,” said Kirby Smart, who won his first game as Georgia’s head coach in the 2016 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic.

Smart said that he wanted his guys to come out and compete and play aggressively. They did that, capturing the momentum from the outset with a defensive stop and then a quick touchdown. Smart and his players have said over and over, since winning the 2021 national championship, that they haven’t stopped being the hunters just because they’ve earned a big trophy and some fancy rings.

“I was really proud of the way our kids played,” Smart said. “We tried to talk about coming out and playing as if we were hunting, and we wanted to play connected football. That was all we talked about all week: we’re going to play connected, we’re going to play aggressive, we’re going to be a hunter.”

Bennett finished 25 of 31 passing, and 10 of his completions went for at least 17 yards, including eight of 21 or more yards. Georgia finished the game an extraordinary 9 of 10 on third-down conversions, and the Bulldogs were 8-for-8 while Bennett was in the game.

“That’s what I’m most proud of, the third downs,” Bennett, the offensive MVP of both College Football Playoff games last season, said after one of the best performances of his career. “That’s what we were harping on, third down and red zone, all offseason. And we executed.”

There was execution happening everywhere.

Defensively, Georgia held the Ducks, with a familiar quarterback in Auburn transfer Bo Nix, to only a second-quarter field goal. A year ago, Georgia’s dominating defense, loaded with talent that’s now in the NFL, held Clemson to only a field goal in a matchup of top-5 teams. On Saturday, against the Ducks, Georgia gave up some small plays, and Oregon was able to nickel-and-dime its way to a few first downs on drives, but the Bulldog defense always delivered.

Twice in the first half, the defense picked off passes. And both times the offense immediately made the Ducks pay.

After freshman safety Malaki Starks picked off the first pass of his career, on a deep ball up the left side, Georgia’s ensuing drive included a 25-yard pass play to 6-foot-7 tight end Darnell Washington, that included a bunny-hop over a defender going for his legs. Two plays later, Bennett found All-American tight end Brock Bowers open for a 29-yard gain to the left. And on the next play, Bennett hit wideout Ladd McConkey on a short ball to the right side that McConkey took down to the 1-yard line, a 25-yard gain.

On the next play, Kendall Milton scored to make it 14-0. Milton finished with a team-high 50 yards rushing on eight carries, to go along with an 18-yard touchdown catch, while Kenny McIntosh caught a team-high nine passes for 117 yards — 109 of those yards after the catch — and rushed for a touchdown.

“It’s real fun because I love catching the ball,” McIntosh said of making so many plays. “Not only running the ball, I love catching the ball out of the backfield. I don’t think I ever had a game like that.”

Late in the first half, Bennett made perhaps the most memorable offensive play of the game. It’s one he knows he shouldn’t have made.

Leading 21-3 following Oregon’s 35-yard field goal with 3:57 to play until halftime, Bennett and Georgia went right back to work. First down was Bennett to McIntosh for 6 yards, followed by an incompletion. Then, Bennett hit McConkey for 11 yards up the middle, to the Georgia 42.

Later, on first down at the Oregon 42, Bennett lofted a touch pass over the defense on the left side, right into the hands of McIntosh, who turned it into a 38-yard gain down to the 4. On the next play, with a full arsenal of weapons at his disposal and all the confidence in the world, Bennett flashed so much of what makes him special.

First, Bennett looked to his right, where he had a couple of targets, including Bowers, at least somewhat covered. Then, feeling a some pass rushing coming up on him, he eluded a couple of defenders before looking left, setting up quickly and firing a touchdown pass to McConkey. The play wasn’t drawn up that way, but then Bennett is an excellent and confident improvisor.

“I mean, it wasn’t smart. I need to not do that, first and goal from the 1. … I started scrambling and I was trying to find (McConkey) because I knew he was over there somewhere, and then found him and threw it,” Bennett said.

“But it probably wasn’t smart. I needed to either ground it at him or run it or throw it to Brock or something front side. Especially first down and 1, don’t do that. But it did work out.”

It did, as did pretty much everything Georgia tried. It wasn’t a perfect start, Smart and his staff will be able to dissect plenty from even the greatest performance, but it was dominating and it was fun.

And for Bennett, who has accomplished so much, starting his first season opener for the Bulldogs “was pretty cool. But on to the next now, I guess.”

ATLANTA, Ga. — The third-ranked Georgia Bulldogs opened the 2022 season with a 49-3 victory over the 11th-ranked Oregon Ducks in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff game in front of a record 76,490 fans at Mercedes-Benz Stadium and an ABC nationally televised audience on Saturday evening.

With the win, Georgia improves to 99-27-3 in season openers, including 7-0 under head coach Kirby Smart. The Bulldogs move to 2-0 all time versus the Ducks.

“I was really proud of the way our kids played,” said Georgia head coach Kirby Smart. “We tried to talk about coming out and playing as if we were hunting, and we wanted to play connected football. That was all we talked about all week; we’re going to play connected, we’re going to play aggressive, we’re going to be a hunter.”

Senior quarterback Stetson Bennett began his second season under center for the Bulldogs (1-0) with a 25-of-31 passing performance for 368 yards and two touchdowns. As a team, the Bulldogs ran for 132 yards on 25 attempts.

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Impressive Season Opener/Series History: With today’s 49-3 victory over No. 11 Oregon, third-ranked Georgia improves to 99-27-3 in season openers including winning its last nine dating back to a 45-21 win over Clemson in Athens in 2014. In the Kirby Smart era, Georgia is now 7-0 in season openers. Under Smart, Georgia came in averaging 31 points a game in openers (186 points/6g) while it surrendered just 8.8 (53 points/6g).

Today’s 49 points was the most in a season opener under Smart, and the most since 2015 (51-14 over La.-Monroe in Athens). Also, today marked the second straight opener when the Bulldogs held their ranked opponent to only three points (No. 3 Clemson in Charlotte, N.C.). This was the third neutral site opener under Smart, and he’s now 3-0 (2-0 in Atlanta/Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic and 1-0 in Charlotte, N.C.). In the series history with Oregon, the Bulldogs are now 2-0 including winning a 1977 contest in Athens (27-16). With today’s win, Georgia is now 26-12 in top 25 matchups (11-7 at neutral sites) under Smart.

Strong Defensive Showing: Georgia limited the No. 11 Ducks to three points on the day including a goal-line stand with less than two minutes left in the contest. For the day, Oregon ran 68 plays and had 313 yards of total offense. In the first half, the Bulldogs built a 28-3 advantage as the Ducks ran 36 plays for 183 yards of total offense (41-rushing, 142-passing). Freshman Malaki Starks notched his first career interception (snagging it while falling backwards at the UGA8) and finished with a team-best eight tackles. It led to a 92-yard touchdown drive and a 14-0 advantage. Senior Christopher Smith snagged his fourth career INT, and he returned this one for 24 yards to the UGA 44. It led to a TD and a 21-0 lead. Georgia registered 16 INTs last year.

Offensive Leaders: Senior QB Stetson Bennett (25-for-31, career-high 368 yards, 2 TDs plus 1 Rushing TD) in three-plus quarters while improving to 15-3 as a starter as the Bulldogs racked up 571 yards of total offense on 62 plays. He concluded his seventh and final scoring drive with 5:20 left in the third quarter to put the Bulldogs in front 42-3. For the game, the Bulldogs were 8-for-8 on 3rd down with him at the helm. Georgia was 6-for-6 in the Red Zone, scoring six TDs. Bennett now has five career rushing TDs. RS-sophomore QB Carson Beck took over for Bennett, and he led an 89-yard driver on nine plays in 4:36 including a 3rd-down conversion to make it 9-for-9 for the team on the day. Georgia’s first punt came with 10:19 left in the contest.

The second half started with Bennett directing a six play, 64-yard TD drive in 2:36 for a 35-3 advantage. It was aided by a 36-yard kickoff return by Kearis Jackson. Sophomore wideout Ladd McConkey
(5 rec., 73 yards 1 TD plus 2 rushes, 16 yards, 1 TD)notched his second career rushing TD with a 9-yard scamper to cap a 12-play 85-yard drive in 4:57 for a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. Georgia’s second score came on a 7-play, 92-yard drive in 3:37 for a 14-0 edge early in the second quarter. Bennett’s one-yard rush finished the drive. Today was the first time since Vanderbilt last year that he had a rushing and receiving TD in the same game. McConkey’s rushing TD versus the Commodores last year covered 24 yards.

RB & TE Production: Senior Kenny McIntosh (5 rushes, 18 yards, 1 TD and Career-high 9 rec., 117 yards) notched his sixth career rushing TD, a one-yarder to put the Bulldogs up 21-0 midway through the second quarter. It capped a six play, 56-yard drive in 3:46. His previous best receiving was 3-for-37 yards. The leading rusher today was junior Kendall Milton with 50 yards on eight carries and one TD that covered 12 yards and an 18-yard receiving TD (first of his career). Sophomore TE Brock Bowers had two receptions for 38 yards while junior TE Darnell Washington tallied two for 33.

Points Off Turnovers: In the first half, Georgia converted two interceptions into 14 points. The INTs came from freshman Malaki Starks and senior Christopher Smith. Last season, Georgia was +4 in Turnover Margin and scored 94 points off 21 turnovers.

For Starters & Game Captains: Georgia had six first-time starters today, all on defense. Javon Bullard (DB), Juman Dumas-Johnson (ILB), Kamari Lassiter (DB), Smael Mondon (ILB), Nazir Stackhouse (DL) and Mykel Williams (DE). Williams became the first true freshman starter on defense in a season opener since Tyson Campbell (DB) in 2018 against Austin Peay. Williams became just the ninth true freshmen starter to make his debut in a season opener in the Kirby Smart era. In the fourth quarter, true freshman Brett Thorson had his first career punt, becoming the first true freshman punter in a season opener since Jake Camarda (2018). Thorson’s punt covered 53 yards and was fair caught at the 11 yard line.

Georgia won the toss and elected to defer the ball until the second half. Senior Kenny McIntosh (RB), redshirt sophomore Sedrick Van Pran (C), senior Nolan Smith (OLB) and senior Christopher Smith (DB) were the captains.

Up Next: No. 3 Georgia (1-0) returns to action Saturday in Athens when it plays host to Samford (1-0) at 4 pm (SEC Network).

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