5 takeaways from No. 1 UGA football's win at Georgia Tech
ATLANTA — In case there was any doubt that Georgia is heading back to the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2017 — and there wasn’t much really — the No. 1 Bulldogs completing a perfect 12-0 regular season at rival Georgia Tech Saturday made it a near certainty.
Georgia thumped the Yellow Jackets 45-0 in Bobby Dodd Stadium before a crowd with mostly Bulldog fans, winning its 11th straight game in the venue.
Stetson Bennett threw four touchdowns and the Bulldogs defense pitched its first shutout of the Yellow Jackets since 1964.
All that remains before Selection Sunday is an SEC championship game matchup with an Alabama team that the playoff committee ranked No. 3 this week. The Bulldogs seem highly unlikely to fall out of the top four as a one-loss team should it lose to the Crimson Tide given that at least three of the four spots could be filled by one-loss teams and Georgia has been dominant.
“We knew what this game meant for us and the history of this program and that if we slipped up anything could happen," Bennett said.
More: Georgia football aims to build off scintillating regular season vs. Alabama and into playoff
Here are five takeaways from the Bulldogs’ fourth straight win in the series:
An exclamation point on a a dominant regular season
Kirby Smart was a six-year old the last time Georgia completed an unbeaten regular season in 1982 with a 38-18 win against Georgia Tech.
The last Georgia team to go 12-0? That would be the 1980 national champions.
“It’s a big accomplishment but now the real fun starts," Bennett said.
Smart’s team did it in convincing fashion, outscoring opponents 488-83.
It won its last 11 games by 17 or more points. During that stretch, the Bulldogs were ahead at the half by 14 or more points in all but one game (14-7 lead against Kentucky) and ahead by 17 or more after three quarters in all but once (24-10 against Auburn). For the season, the Bulldogs entered the day winning by an average of 32.7 points.
"We hold each other accountable, they’re up for the task, they’ve answered the bell, and they’ve done the right things," said Smart, the sixth-year coach. "But we also haven’t played a team the caliber of Alabama. So, that’s the important thing. We’ve got to be able to execute for four quarters and do it at a high level."
Georgia Tech coach Geoff Collins has lost by a combined score of 97-7 including 52-7 in 2019 in his only other game against the Bulldogs.
CFP selection committee chair Gary Barta, the Iowa athletic director, said this week that for Georgia to be unbeaten “against the schedule that they play continues to get the committee's attention. The defense that they play, they have the best defense in the country, Jordan Davis and company, and their offense is still a top 10 type offense."
George Pickens is back
The heavily Georgia flavored crowd — maybe about 70 percent — gave a warm ovation for George Pickens after the first play of the second half.
The junior wide receiver, playing in his first game of the season, caught a short pass and took it 5 yards for his first catch of the season on his third snap in the game.
“I thought it meant a lot for him to hear that," Smart said.
More: He's back: Georgia football wide receiver George Pickens returns against Georgia Tech
A position wracked with injuries this year got a huge piece back Saturday when Pickens returned from a torn ACL suffered early in spring practices in March. Some thought his next snap may have been in the NFL.
"The people that thought he was just going to rehab and go to the league don’t know George at all," Bennett said. "It’s kind of funny to hear those people talk because they don’t know how much he loves football and loves his teammates and how hard he’s attacked every day, rehab-wise, to get back to play with us. Not to go to the NFL."
Pickens played sparingly in the first half-one snap in the first quarter and another in the second quarter—but having him back is another weapon for an offense that already is clicking.
His return came against the opponent he was ejected against in a game for throwing punches in the last meeting between the teams at Bobby Dodd Stadium in 2019.
Pickens and his parents in consultation with UGA director of sports medicine Ron Courson met regularly with renowned orthopedic surgeon James Andrews during his rehab and mapped out a plan for his return. Smart has said because there were not “multiple tears,” and Pickens attacked his recovery helped with his path to return.
“I’m just proud of the work that George has put in to get back," Smart said. "We’ve known guys on the team who have had ACLs, it’s a mental injury as much as it is a physical injury. It’s taxing; it’s draining to sit there and watch all your friends go out and play in the spring, play in the spring game, play in the fall and you’re sitting there doing rehab all the time. George loves football, he’s always wanted to get back and have the opportunity to get out there."
Pickens was cleared for contact late in the week. His first snap was on a run play. In the second quarter in the red zone, he lined up outside.
Bennett (14 of 20 for 255 yards and 4 TDs) seemed locked in on throwing the ball to him, but he was sacked.
"Yeah, I just wanted to get the ball in his hands on that play just to shake the rust off," Bennett said. "He’s a great player. We’ve got to get some of the chemistry back that comes with being out that long. But he was extremely happy to be back on the field and we’re all happy to have him."
Kearis Jackson, who battled a knee injury early in the season and entered the day tied for sixth on the team in catches, left the game in the first quarter with a ribcage injury. It came after he made a 16-yard catch.
“I thought he was going to be able to go back," Smart said. "It's a little bit of a rib injury. don’t know how different it is from the one he had from a while back. I asked him and he said it was pretty painful and didn’t think he could go so held him out at that point.”
Georgia lost Arian Smith to the season with a leg injury, but Dominick Blaylock (knee), Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint (ankle) and Jermaine Burton (groin) are all back.
Burton put Georgia up 10-0 on a 25-yard touchdown pass from Bennett with 4:38 to go in the first quarter, beating Myles Sims on the play. On the next drive, Bennett lofted a well-thrown ball to Rosemy-Jacksaint down the left side for 30 yards.
Brock Bowers fabulous freshman season continues
Days after Brock Bowers didn’t make the cut as one of three finalists for the Mackey Award, he certainly looked like a future winner for nation’s top tight end.
Bowers added two touchdown catches to bring his season total to 10, just one shy of the program’s single season record held by wide receiver Terrence Edwards in 2002.
The freshman from Napa, Calif., hauled in a pass over the middle at the Georgia 33 and outran five Georgia Tech defenders for a 77-yard touchdown. Bowers lined up to the left of tight end Darnell Washington on the play.
“He’s one heck of an athlete and I think that what his body can do is special," Bennett said.
The freshman from Napa, Calif. broke Orson Charles’ record for receiving yards by a Georgia tight end.
He had 3 catches for 100 yards on the day giving him 652 yards on 37 catches. Charles had 574 for 45 in 2011.
"The game just moves so slow for him," Bennett said. "As a freshman, that’s impressive to see. It’s easy to trust somebody like that where you know where he’s going to be and how he’s going to run his routes. And then obviously he’s a freak athlete, just took that ball and ran with it 77 yards. That was pretty cool to watch.”
Bowers was one of nine different Bulldog players to have a catch in Bennett’s first nine completions.
The 6-foot-4, 230-pound Bowers lined up outside and caught a 9-yard touchdown on a fade pass from Bennett, beating 6-2 cornerback Tobias Oliver, with 9:55 to go in the third.
Georgia defense on a roll heading into SEC championship game
Even before Georgia Tech was shutout by Georgia at home for the first time since 1957, the Yellow Jackets knew they were facing quite a steep challenge against the nation’s best defense.
“They are a historically good defense,” Georgia tech offensive coordinator Dave Patenaude said during the week. “People are comparing them with the best defenses in the last 30 years of college football.”
He joked that maybe “the Rams, the Steelers,” compared to Georgia’s defensive front. “They’re big, but they’re athletic inside.”
The Bulldogs entered the day leading the nation by giving up just 7.5 points per game and posted their third shutout of the season.
“I love seeing that goose egg on the other side," said inside linebacker Nakobe Dean, who had a team-high six tackles. "If they can’t score they can’t win. It’s always great for the defense to shutout a team as good as Georgia Tech.”
Georgia’s defense held Georgia Tech to a season-low 171 total yards. It set the tone for the day by forcing three-and-outs on three of Georgia Tech’s first four possessions.
"I’m really proud of those guys, especially the twos that were able to come in there late in the third quarter and the whole fourth quarter, and hold that standard," Smart said.
The Yellow Jackets mustered 22 yards at the time, had one first down and averaged 1.7 yards per completion.
Georgia Tech reached the Georgia 31 in the second quarter, but Devonte Wyatt and Jalen Carter had tackles for loss and after an incompletion, the Yellow Jackets punted with 3:09 to go in the half
Tight end Dylan Leonard’s 40-yard catch matched up with inside linebacker Quay Walker gave the Yellow Jackets the ball at the Georgia 29.
Running back Jordan Mason was stopped after a 2-yard gain by Dean. Carter dropped Mason for a 2-yard loss.
Then Georgia Tech got a false start penalty as Bulldog fans made a home game seem like a road game. UGA fans seemed thrilled chatting: UGA! UGA!
On a fourth-and-9, Channing Tindall pressured Jordan Yates on an incompletion.
"It wasn’t just us battling on the field," Dean said. "You felt the crowd going back and forth. It was definitely a rivalry type atmosphere.”
Broderick Jones a capable replacement
Staring offensive left tackle Jamaree Salyer missed his fourth straight game with a foot injury.
Redshirt freshman Broderick Jones has started each of those games. Salyer wore a boot on his left foot after seemingly making progress when he practiced early in the week.
“We thought Jamaree was back and he had a little setback," Smart said. "It wasn’t the same injury he had before, it was some scar tissue. But we’re hoping we’ll be able to get him back."
The 6-foot-4, 315-pound Jones was part of a line that gave up just one sack Saturday.
"He’s embraced his role,” Smart said this week. “He’s become more coachable. We used to tell him something, he got offended by it. Now he embraces it and says 'I’ll work on that. I’ll continue to grow and get better.' We want him to be more physical in the run game. We want him to work on getting stronger at the point of attack and getting movement. I want him to be more consistent in his assignments but that comes with experience. He’s getting that game by game.”
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: 5 takeaways from No. 1 UGA football's win at Georgia Tech
