Georgia football Gimme 5: Gauging the seismic long-term recruiting impact of the Tennessee weekend

Gimme 5 is DawgNation's weekly Q&A, discussing the latest around the Georgia football program.
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Welcome to Gimme 5, a weekly Q&A where one member of the DawgNation team answers your questions about the Georgia football program. To ask questions, simply check out the DawgNation forum or ask us a question on the weekly “Before the Hedges” program and your questions could be featured in a future edition of Gimme 5.

Jeff Sentell answers this week’s questions, ranging from the overall impact of the UT recruiting weekend to potential flips to Heisman talk for Stetson Bennett plus a thought of the top freshmen of this year’s team.

*Questions are shared in their entirety or edited into the form of a question for clarity below.

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QUESTION NO. 1

This week’s video response question points to the impact the Tennessee game will ultimately have on the Georgia football program.

Check out this week's featured video question for Gimme 5.
Jeff Sentell, Dawgnation

Answer(In ✨video✨)

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QUESTION NO. 2

@Filo_Betto from the DawgNation Forum asks: Are there any concerns about the ‘23 commits who weren’t at the UT game? We typically lose 1-2 per year on ESD, who do you see as the biggest risk to flip away from us?”

Answer: Well, one of the under-the-radar stories on the recruiting beat from this week was noticing that 247Sports dropped 3-star DT Seven Cloud from the commitment list for the 2023 class. That was overdue. Cloud was an early commitment to this class that has pretty much dropped off the radar.

He didn’t visit UGA for a game last fall. He didn’t take an official visit over the summer and has yet to visit during the 2022 season up to this point. Cloud also didn’t start out the 2021 season as an active member of his high school team. I’m not exactly sure if he is even playing anywhere actively at this point. I haven’t considered him a member of the 2023 class for almost a year now. At least.

For a minute, I thought the national services would just leave him there until he made a formal de-commitment. I understand why they handled his situation that way. There’s no need to embarrass a young person. No matter the reasons here.

There might be a slight concern about 4-star OT Bo Hughley as well. There were spring and summer rumors about him flipping to Auburn. I didn’t place a lot of stock in those, but there’s no denying he hasn’t been to a game this season. Especially this past week with all the “biggest home game ever” hype circling around it.

I’d regard this as something to monitor with the nation’s No. 11 OT and the No. 102 overall recruit. He could just be laser-focused on his high school season. Langston Hughes lost a heart wrencher in the state title game to Buford last December. Hughes and his Panthers are 10-0 and the team to beat in Class 6A in Georgia this year.

QUESTION NO. 3

@PGJackson from the DawgNation forum asks: Do you see Stet as a legit Heisman finalist? He doesn’t have the raw yardage and TDs most Heisman QBs have, but is anyone better as a Field General than him?”

Answer: @PGJackson on the ‘DawgNation forum had several good topics this week. From what will the staff do about the fumbles of late to then another good query with concerns over next year’s schedule with Oklahoma dropping off the 2023 slate.

For starters, I think the schedule next year could see a revision. Just a hunch. A lot of moving parts and pieces at work. I’m not specifically thinking about the SEC expansion ramping up early there either.

The Steston question I’m most interested in here. There is a point where inertia might take over. Bennett is 23-1 as a starter over the last two years. He’s led (and I do mean the word led) Georgia to a national championship and has the reins of the unquestioned top team in college football.

If his name was Fleming Doe and one just looked at his stat line, that’s the stuff of Heisman consideration this year alone. Check it.

  • Approximately 300 screened prank calls from fans of the nation’s No. 1 team: 1st in the NCAA
  • 2,606 passing yards: T-14th nationally; 2nd in the SEC
  • 8.93 yards per pass attempt: 3rd in the SEC
  • 13.6 yards per completion: 30th nationally
  • 6 rushing touchdowns: T-12 in the SEC
  • 3 INTS: 3rd-fewest in the SEC
  • 153.1 QB rating: 30th nationally; Fourth in the SEC
  • 68 percent completion percentage: 5th in the SEC
  • 11 Passing TDs: T-73rd in the NCAA; 7th in the SEC

That first item might have been for laughs but there’s so much in the “yeah, but” for a lot of folks to look over or look past. Does any other QB in the country get so much scrutiny with every pass he throws?

Bennett has a very strong blend of run-pass threats to his game. Those rushing touchdowns stand out and make the Georgia offense much harder to defend. There are only 13 QBs this fall with more pass attempts than Bennett and yet he has only thrown three INTs. He’s been sacked just seven times. The lack of negative plays there cannot be discounted.

He’s also a winner with more big trophy wins on his wall than any other quarterback in college football. That stat line is solid for a Heisman contender at this point on the nation’s No.1 team. To win the award? Probably not. To make it to the Downtown Athletic Club and be in the room? He’s getting there.

Guys have made it to New York for less. Am I clamoring for him to win it all? Nope. But I think each strong performance gets him closer to the table there. There’s a good shot the rest of the country might feel that way in a few more weeks. A lot of Heisman campaigns will find a ditch this month. The feeling here is Bennett’s will continue to add steam. (Notice we didn’t bring up a single thing about his walk-on story here. The Bennett story among the nation’s Heisman candidates stands alone in that regard.)

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