State of the Affairs: Set to Dominate
by Keegan Shinall
Dawgs OTL Writer/ Bleeds Red and Black
Where We Stand Heading into the 2nd Game
There’s a difference between winning your opener and walking out of Week 1 making the rest of college football pay attention. It’s harder to do when your opponent is TSU. As easy as it is to blame an inferior opponent for a superior performance- I’ve been paying attention to the Dawgs long enough to know the little things matter when you’re consistent. We’ve had great performances in sloppy seasons and sloppy outings amidst championship runs . It’s all about response and consistency overtime. Not who has the best one performance when the cameras are on but who can push the edge when it’s Week 1 TSU or Week 2 Western Kentucky. Georgia did the latter. The Dawgs put Tennessee State away 63-3, and by the time the afternoon was over, the scoreboard almost looked fake.
660 yards - 109 allowed -31 first downs -& an 11 yard average Georgia snapped the football.
That’s pure domination. That’s taking control of a game from the opening whistle and never giving it back. And the thing that stood out most? The level of performances throughout the depth chart. We may have had more Sports Center level plays in this game that I’ve seen in a hot minute.
Gunner Stockton looked completely comfortable. He went 15-of-16 for 202 yards and three touchdowns before his day was finished.
Nate Frazier needed only four carries. Four. He turned them into 72 yards and three touchdowns, including a 48-yard house call on his first touch. Then Ryan Puglisi came in and threw a touchdown. Ryan Montgomery got his opportunity and immediately connected with Jeremy Bell for a 54-yard touchdown. The team rallied around Bell after the passing of his brother. Georgia kept throwing different guys onto the field and the production didn’t stop. That’s what jumps out when you look at this team. There’s depth everywhere. And defensively? 109 yards.
That’s it. Tennessee State averaged 1.9 yards per play. Georgia never turned the ball over. The Tigers never found any rhythm.
Obviously, nobody in Athens is going to confuse Tennessee State with an SEC opponent. This game wasn’t going to tell us whether Georgia can beat Alabama in December or survive a playoff game in January.But that’s not really the point.
You’re supposed to dominate games like this if you’re Georgia. And Georgia dominated it. The one thing Kirby Smart probably won’t love?
Eight penalties for 85 yards. That has to get cleaned up! Also the botched field goal is a matter of getting the reps and communication sharped with the specialist guys. It’s the kind of thing that has cost good teams from being great.
But when that’s about the biggest complaint you can make after a 60-point victory, you know how the afternoon went! And while Georgia was doing that in Athens, the rest of college football was giving us plenty to talk about.
Around CFB
-LSU absolutely crushed Clemson 51-10 after a near 2 hour delay
-That was one of the biggest statements of the weekend and immediately put LSU into the national conversation.
-Oregon had to fight Boise State off 34-27.
-Ole Miss survived Louisville 41-38 in an absolute shootout.
-Notre Dame handled Wisconsin 41-13.
SMU walked into Tallahassee and knocked off Florida State 27-24 despite a power outage
And Michigan?
Michigan needed 2 last second Hail Marys to escape Western Michigan 13-12. That is if you believe a football game is 60:00.1 long
Mainly SEC
One weekend and the national picture already looks different. Georgia moved up to No. 2 in the AP Poll. Ohio State is still sitting at No. 1. I encourage everyone to check out the poll I make every week. To me Georgia is the best team in the country. It wouldn’t be a good movie though if the competition wasn’t fierce. LSU is coming. Texas looked like a machine. Alabama looked like Alabama actually running the ball. Texas A&M handled business. Tennessee rolled and the young QB had some polished moments.
The SEC is already starting to look like the meat grinder everybody expected it to be. And that’s probably the biggest takeaway from Week 1. Georgia isn’t going to have the luxury of having many weekends where it can just cruise. There are too many good teams. Too many elite quarterbacks.
Hungry DAWGS Wanna EAT
Too many rosters loaded with NFL talent. But that’s also what makes Saturday in Athens so interesting. Georgia’s identity on offense seems more clear. It’s basically what fans like us wanted to see. Fast. Physical. Deep. Explosive. And nasty when it gets rolling. Stockton looked ready. Frazier looked dangerous.The receivers made plays. The defense suffocated an opponent. And Kirby got a whole bunch of young guys meaningful snaps.
And after one week, everybody else is going to have to start figuring out how they plan on dealing with them. Go DAWGS.
