Morning, y’all! Happy Monday.
If one quote could sum up the Georgia-Arkansas game Saturday, here’s a comment from Razorbacks coach Ryan Silverfield on Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton’s performance: “Absolutely crushed us.”
Once again, the Bulldogs dominated their opponent, this time 45-17, with the Razorbacks getting 14 points back in the fourth quarter against Georgia’s backups.
Georgia is 3-0 and stays at No. 2 in the AP Poll, and 11-0 in first SEC road games of the season under Smart.
The level of competition will continue to increase for Georgia, with Oklahoma coming to town Saturday.
Before we talk Sooners, though, let’s break down the Arkansas win, beginning with some stellar play from safety KJ Bolden:
Bolden was running hot for Georgia on Saturday, delivering tone-setting hits from the opening of the game.
“When they see you go out there and attack the field, it shows them right there this defense is ready to go, we’re ready to attack,” Bolden said of how the defense took control early.
“We have all hats to the ball, play with physicality, that’s how we think about it — we’re going to set that tone real quick. You’re going to know that we’re here for sure.”
The Bulldogs scored on three of their first four first-half possessions in jumping out to a 21-3 halftime lead, as the defense took the Razorbacks’ run game away early and made them one-dimensional.
Bolden shared the mentality he takes when zeroing in on ball carriers, as he did when taking down Arkansas receiver Jelani Watkins on a jet sweep five plays into the game, before coming off a block to upend tailback Sutton Smith three plays later.
“Just go knock them out, hit them as hard as you can without getting targeting,” said Bolden, who had four tackles and a pass breakup. “Don’t put your head down or put your helmet on their helmet, make good position tackles and use all your force and run through them.”
Georgia held Arkansas to just 17 yards rushing on its 20 attempts, including three sacks that cost the Razorbacks 25 yards.
Still, Bolden shared that the Bulldogs will be doing extra running Monday, because their defense yielded a rushing touchdown that closed out the scoring with 40 seconds left.
“I know our defense is going to run for that on Monday; every time a team runs the ball in on us, it doesn’t matter if it’s the first, second or third unit, we’re gonna go back and run gassers for it,” Bolden said. “You have to practice good habits, red zone is important — those are important points.”
Opponents are 7-for-7 scoring on Georgia in the red zone, with five of those seven scores coming without the entirety of the UGA starting unit on the field.
Read Mike Griffith’s full story here.
Here are some of our best photos from Georgia-Arkansas:
Georgia football winners and losers after first win in SEC play
Winner: Craig Dandridge
Stockton hadn’t done much when it came to throwing the football Saturday. He mostly leaned on his legs to toy with the Arkansas defense.
But in the fourth quarter, he found Dandridge for a 61-yard touchdown. It was a good throw from Stockton but a better route and run from the freshman wide receiver.
“Craig, that route he ran at the end, he did a great job,” Stockton said. “Heading up to safety and making him look a little silly. But he’s a really good route runner, and he works every day. And he does a good job with that. And he’s fun to be around.”
Dandridge was one of Georgia’s top recruits in the previous recruiting cycle, and it’s easy to see why. His acceleration makes him a threat to speed away from opposing defenders. His 61-yard reception came a week after he hauled in a 43-yard pass in Georgia’s win over Western Kentucky.
Loser: Georgia’s pass blocking
Film review will not be fun for right tackle Juan Gaston when he looks back at the Arkansas game.
Gaston was partially to blame for two of the three sacks the Bulldogs gave up on Saturday. The third appeared to be on Stockton for not properly identifying an Arkansas blitz.
Smart was asked about Georgia’s pass protection after the game. The Arkansas performance came a week after there were some sloppy moments in the win over Western Kentucky.
“Gotta get better. We gotta run the ball better, we gotta pass the ball better, and we gotta rush the passer better,” Smart said. “That was what got me. We didn’t affect the quarterback enough defensively, in my opinion. He got to hold of it. So again, we can all do better.”
No offensive lineman is going to have a perfect game. Earnest Greene recalled after the win that there were plays in the run game where he got beat on Saturday.
He knows Gaston and the rest of the group can bounce back from Saturday’s showing. It will need to, as Oklahoma could well be the best defensive front Georgia sees during the regular season.
Winner: Quintavius Johnson
Georgia had three sacks in the win over Arkansas. But the most impressive takedown did not go down as a sack.
On the edge of field goal range in the second quarter, Arkansas tried to run a double quarterback pass. KJ Jackson tossed the ball backward to AJ Hill, who waited a beat before throwing it back to Jackson.
The Arkansas starter had blockers on the play. It didn’t matter, though, because Johnson stayed home and erased the would-be trick play.
Justin Williams got home on a sack on the next play, pushing Arkansas out of field goal range.
Georgia is very thin at outside linebacker at the moment, with Chase Linton and Amaris Williams both out. The Bulldogs brought only three outside linebackers to Arkansas. For two — Khamari Brooks and PJ Dean — it was their first road game.
That puts more on the massive shoulders of Johnson. So far, he looks plenty capable of holding his position group together.
Loser: SEC fans
Because of the way the SEC elected to do the Week 4 schedules, fans knew in advance the start times of several marquee games this coming week.
The Texas-Tennessee game, a matchup of unbeaten, is set for noon. The Florida-Ole Miss game, another battle of unbeaten teams, is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.. That game will air on ABC, while ESPN gets the Georgia-Oklahoma game. Those two teams were College Football Playoff participants last season.
The big primetime SEC game is LSU-Texas A&M, a matchup of two teams that lost Saturday. Lane Kiffin lost in his return to Ole Miss, while the Aggies were outclassed at home by Kentucky.
The SEC did not have to assign those kickoffs as early as it did. It could’ve opted to use the six-day option. Yet it did not, and now the best games the league has to offer next week will air in earlier windows. In the 3:30 window, the league will have two massive games competing against each other.
Georgia may not get a home night game this season, with Missouri and Georgia Tech being the only options still available. Arch Manning’s lone trip to Tennessee — where his uncle Peyton once starred — had all the makings of a primetime game.
Yet SEC fans will get another dose of Kiffin and a Texas A&M team that now has one of the worst league losses of the season. Good job, good effort.
Read Connor Riley’s full list of winners and losers here.
Trivia time
Which player led Georgia in rushing against Arkansas this past Saturday?
Georgia opens as SEC’s biggest favorite among 7 league games
Sanford Stadium boasts one of the largest scoreboards in the country, but Smart says he doesn’t often pay attention to it.
“I don’t look at the scoreboard, I look at how we play, you never look at the scoreboard,” he said after Georgia’s win vs. Arkansas. “So when you look at the scoreboard, it affects things that are out of your control a lot of times.
“So obviously, situationally, we look at the scoreboard, but I’m not measuring our team based on the scores. I’m measuring our team based on execution.”
It’s a sure bet that’s where Smart’s focus has been from the time the team arrived back on Saturday to review film and turn the focus to Oklahoma (2-1), whom the Bulldogs face next.
The Bulldogs (3-0) have opened as a 13.5-point favorite over the Sooners, who struggled through a 14-6 home win over New Mexico (2-1) on Saturday after falling at Michigan (17-10) the previous Saturday.
Amazingly, it’s the biggest spread among the seven games involving two SEC teams on Saturday.
We’ve got another fun event to announce!
If you haven’t heard of AJC Varsity, we’ve launched a dedicated section and team to cover Georgia high schools. The DawgNation team often overlaps with the Varsity team, covering high schools and recruiting.
Join AJC Varsity on Tuesday, Oct. 13, at StillFire Brewery in Smyrna for coaching, toasting and celebrating the official kickoff of the inaugural year of AJC Varsity Crown. Hear from industry experts (including DawgNation’s Brandon Adams, Jeff Sentell and Kaylee Mansell) during an engaging and timely discussion on college recruiting and the evolving path to the next level.
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Trivia answer
Stockton, with 97 rushing yards
