ATHENS — Even after back-to-back national championships, time does not heal all wounds for Georgia fans it seems.
Plenty were less than satisfied with how the Goergia offense played in the first half. The Bulldogs led only 17-0 at halftime.
That Georgia fans were letting boo-birds fly likely had to do with the fact that Mike Bobo was once again calling plays. Bobo took over for Todd Monken as the team’s offensive coordinator. Despite fielding plenty of successful offenses in his previous stint as the team’s offensive coordinator, Bobo still has plenty of detractors.
Most importantly though, Kirby Smart is not among them. The head coach shared his thoughts on the performance of Bobo, who teamed with first-time starting quarterback Carson Beck. The Bulldogs pulled away in the second half for a 48-7 win.
“Played really well. I thought we struggled a couple of times early,” Smart said. “One of the most critical plays, two plays of the first half were, we had a third down that we executed probably a thousand times in camp. Dom and Carson weren’t on the same page. Carson thought he was going to sit down, Dom thought he was breaking in. He threw a little behind him. We convert that, we feel like we go on and score. That hurt us. Settling for a field goal before the half was really frustrating.”
The final numbers show Georgia rolled up 559 yards of total offense and that the Bulldogs tallied 48 points. Georgia knows it will have to be better moving forward.
Beck threw for 294 yards in his debut. He led four touchdown drives for Georgia and personally ran for a touchdown while throwing for another. Brock Vandagriff threw for a touchdown as well, finding Oscar Delp in the fourth quarter.
Smart wants to see Vandagriff and Stockton continue to battle for the backup job behind Beck.
“Both of those guys look guys, they continue to get better,” Smart said. “I am so pleased with their progress and what they’re doing. We’re at such a good position there. You only saw 6 or 7 plays of them. I’ve probably seen 20 or 30 of them. I feel really good about each day they get better.”
Defensively, it’s hard to ask for a better performance from Georgia. The defense forced eight punts and five three-and-outs. The lone touchdown came late in the fourth quarter, with the starters long gone by that point.
Safeties Malaki Starks, Javon Bullard and Tykee Smith shined for the Bulldogs. Even freshman Kyron Jones got in on the action, as he forced the game’s only turnover with an interception. He returned it for a touchdown in what proved to be the final points of the evening for Georgia.
It was Georgia’s first pick-six since Kelee Ringo’s in the 2022 National Championship Game.
“Kyron is a good player. Kyron’s going to be a really physical, good player,” Smart said. “The difference is Kyron’s run 10.4 in the 100 meters, and that’s really fast. But just like Pop — his first play he ever got in, he got a pick-six. With Kyron, that was his second or third play he was. But sometimes it pays to be lucky.”
Georgia will certainly face better offenses moving forward. The Bulldogs do see a step up in competition next week, with Georgia facing Ball State. It fell 44-14 to Kentucky in Week 1. Georgia’s first SEC foe also lost on Saturday, as South Carolina lost to North Carolina.
The Bulldogs take on Ball State at 12 p.m. ET.
