Oklahoma Recap: Dawg Walk’d

by Chito Chibuye

Dawgs OTL Writer/ UGA Alumnus

In front of a sold out and striped out Sanford Stadium, Georgia dominated Oklahoma 41–13, jumping out to a 28–0 halftime lead and controlling the game from the start. The defense was the biggest story, forcing four turnovers and holding Oklahoma to just 65 rushing yards on 35 carries. Chris Cole had a monster game with eight tackles, a sack and two fumble recoveries, including an 85 yard fumble return touchdown. Gunner Stockton finished 14 of 25 for 171 yards, one touchdown and one interception, while Talyn Taylor broke out with four catches for 110 yards and a touchdown. Chauncey Bowens scored twice, and Dwight Phillips Jr. ripped off a 54 yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Peyton Woodring also broke the Georgia and SEC record for consecutive made extra points. Oklahoma had more possession and ran more plays, but Georgia's defense and ability to capitalize on turnovers created the separation. The Dawgs are now 4–0 and 2–0 in SEC play, having scored at least 40 points in every game this season.

Fans of both teams wouldn’t have hated a matchup that resembled the 2018 Rose Bowl, but there wasn’t anything rosy about this game on Saturday. The Sooners were dawg walked in this matchup 41-13. Their offense came in struggling and a lot of us assumed they would struggle against this stingy and talented defense, but this was an embarrassing performance for them.

John Mateer and the Oklahoma offense literally self-destructed in the 2nd quarter and essentially gifted UGA 14 points that would have made this game much much closer, but "them's the breaks kid”. I challenged this Georgia team with 3 ‘side missions’ that would help them take down OU, safe to say mission passed!

Respect +

Offense* Score 30+ points ✅

Georgia ended the day with 41 points, but in truth the defense was responsible for 14 of those, but we can’t punish the offense for taking advantage. Outside of some stagnant play call in the 3rd quarter the offense made plays when they needed to without both Nate Frazier and Isiah Canion. UGA only needed 306 total yards and 129 rushing yards to put this one away. Shoutout to Talyn Taylor, Chauncey, and Phillips Jr. for stepping up when their number was called.

Force 2+ Turnovers ✅

This Glenn Schumann defense (with the help of John Mateer) delivered on Saturday. I only asked for 2 turnovers and got 2 extra for funsies. The biggest being Chris Cole’s 1st fumble recovery which he returned 85 yards for a score. KJ Bolden picked off an underthrown ball due to pressure by the front, and then another Cole FR before the half set up another TD. Rasean Dinkins forced the final turnover with a punchout against OU tight end Rocky Beers. UGA has quietly become a top-10 turnover unit this szn, if that continues good things will happen.

Hold OU under 75 rush yards ✅

If you can’t run the ball you better have an all-world QB, because it’s going to be hard to beat UGA without one. I almost feel bad for Mateer because he was NOT that, and the Sooners O-line and backs could only manage 65 rushing yards on the day. I expected a low scoring line of scrimmage battle on Saturday, but Oklahoma didn’t hold up their end of the deal.

This UGA team is a championship contender but this isn’t the game to use as the stamp for that, given Oklahoma’s terrible play. We don’t apologize for wins though, we just keep moving. Our focus now shifts to Jared Curtis and the Commodores coming to Athens, while fans are looking at Alabama and Florida (in ATL) coming up on the schedule 👀. As always, Go Dawgs!