Living up to their recent history is a stiff challenge for the banged-up 2023 Dawgs.
Yes, they’re ranked No. 1 in the country and are undefeated a third of the way through the season. They’ve continued Georgia’s remarkable streak of success, which has seen the program win 21 straight games, 22 consecutive home games and 31 straight regular season games.
And Saturday night’s fourth straight game played this season at home Between the Hedges saw Georgia once again win convincingly over another overmatched opponent, this time by 28 points.
But, as has been the case in every game so far this season, they didn’t always look as smooth doing it as fans and commentators would like to see. We’ve all been spoiled by a pair of back-to-back national championships won the past two years by teams with generational talent, and that naturally colors how we view this year’s less than perfect Dawgs.
The 49-21 victory over the University of Alabama at Birmingham Blazers never was in doubt. However, once again, Kirby Smart’s latest Bulldogs team was plagued by intermittent bouts of sloppy play and a lack of focus.
There’s been much talk by Smart and others about this young team’s continuing search for its “identity” — a process that apparently is going to continue into the upcoming gantlet of seven straight conference games beginning next week at Auburn.
It hasn’t helped, of course, that the Dawgs are as injury-plagued as they’ve ever been in Smart’s tenure, with six starters among at least 15 scholarship players who missed the UAB game.
That’s just a part of football, though, and as the level of opponent increases, Georgia is going to have to kick it up a notch and play with a lot more consistency than we’ve seen so far if it is going to continue its remarkable run and make the College Football Playoff again.
Saturday night, the Dawgs turned the ball over three times, and that’s something Smart and his staff are going to have to clean up before the team hits the meat of its schedule.
On the plus side, the frequently maligned offense generally looked better against the Blazers, though it sputtered some in the first half after an initially impressive and aggressive opening series. They recovered, however, and a strong third quarter put the game out of reach.
Smart said in pregame interviews that he hoped his team would get off to a faster start in this game, and they did. Now, they need to work on maintaining that momentum without taking a couple of series off.
Another problem evident Saturday: The Dawgs allowed a moderately talented non-Power 5 team to put up 21 points.
Defensive play in the “red area,” as Smart sometimes calls it, suffered from some breakdowns, and special teams play was inconsistent, with the return game contributing two fumbles. (A second-half interception thrown by Georgia’s third quarterback of the night didn’t affect the score.)
Thankfully, no field goals were missed — but, then again, none was attempted, as the offense scored touchdowns on all six of its ventures into the red zone.
Back to that fast start that Smart had made an emphasis of the week leading up to the game: The Dawgs scored a touchdown on their first possession of a game for the first time this season, moving 75 yards on 6 plays in a drive that culminated in a 12-yard scoring pass from Carson Beck to Arian Smith, who got a big block from Brock Bowers, Georgia’s Mr. Everything.
The Blazers tied the game at 7-7 after a Mekhi Mews fumble on a punt return, then the Dawgs scored again on a drive that saw Beck make a gutsy 7-yard run for a first down on 3rd-and 6, complete a couple of key passes, and Daijun Edwards power it up the middle for the TD.
Although Georgia’s running game eventually got some traction, it was Beck’s passing and tight end Bowers’ yards after the catch that powered the Dawgs’ offense early in the game. Georgia went up 21-7 after Bowers took a pass from Beck, broke a couple of tackles and scampered 41 yards for the score.
Then, the Dawgs’ Tykee Smith picked off a pass tipped by Smael Mondon, setting up a drive that resulted in Edwards’ second TD of the night and put Georgia ahead 28-7.
That lead that was narrowed late in the first half when the defense seemed to check out a little early and allowed the Blazers to tack on another touchdown, for the 28-14 halftime score.
As usual this season, the Dawgs dominated the third quarter, stretching their lead to 42-14. Beck was done for the night by the end of the third quarter, ceding the QB spot to Brock Vandagriff and then Gunner Stockton. (Vandagriff led a scoring drive while Stockton threw an interception.)
Overall, Beck completed 22 of 32 passes for a career-high 337 yards and 3 touchdowns. (He also ran for another TD.)
And that was despite overthrowing a wide-open receiver on one play that would have been a sure score and having a long pass dropped by another open receiver.
UAB head coach Trent Dilfer, a former NFL star who has worked with Beck at the Elite 11 quarterback camp, noted after the game that “the thing could have got ugly if those two deep balls were completed.”
Still, Georgia racked up a season-high 581 yards of offense to the Blazers’ 336, gaining 393 yards through the air and 188 on the ground.
Bowers led Georgia’s receivers, with 9 catches for 121 yards and 2 touchdowns (in addition to his usual great blocking). Saturday night marked his eighth career game of at least 100 yards receiving and seventh time with 2 TDs in a game.
Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint snagged 3 passes for 94 yards and 12 different Dawgs caught passes during the game.
The running game, which wasn’t quite as impressive as the previous week against South Carolina, was led by Edwards’ 66 yards on 12 carries and 2 scores. (Like Beck, he also retired early from the game.) Senior Sevaughn Clark got his first career rushing TD in the fourth quarter.
Smart wasn’t as pleased with Georgia’s defensive showing, despite the Dawgs holding UAB to 4.4 yards per play. Georgia was missing defensive starters Javon Bullard and Mykel Williams, but 11 different Bulldogs had at least three tackles.
“We played good in spurts,” Georgia’s head coach said of the defense after the game. “The yards after catch was my frustration. I felt like they caught the ball and ran with it more than we’ve let other teams. … At the end of the day, if we stop them in the red zone, we’d probably feel better about tonight, but we didn’t get those red zone stops we needed.”
The Dawgs’ leading tacklers were Dan Jackson with 6 (including a forced fumble) and Xavian Sorey with a career-high 6. Warren Brinson registered his first sack of the year.
Still, senior lineman Nazir Stackhouse said the defense didn’t play up to its standard and he’d give the effort a C+ grade. But, he promised, “we’re going to work on it.”
In addition to padding Georgia’s remarkable winning streak, the win over the Blazers marked Smart’s 100th game as UGA’s head coach. His record of 85 wins against 15 losses gives him the best winning percentage over the first 100 games at one school of any coach in SEC history.
Smart, who said it seemed his 100th game came “really fast,” showed class by paying tribute to the support system that the University of Georgia has given him. “It’s easy to be successful when you have the setup that we have,” he said.
