Rapid Reaction: Georgia overcomes sleepy start to drop Arkansas
For at least one half of football, Arkansas fans were dreaming of a Week 1 upset, while Georgia fans feared an awful start to the 2020 season.
But after trailing 7-5 at the break after a slow offensive performance, the Bulldogs stormed out of the locker room, using a 22-point 3rd quarter to beat the Razorbacks 37-10 in Fayetteville.
The big question for Georgia was who would start behind center, with redshirt freshman D’Wan Mathis receiving the call as JT Daniels was dressed but apparently not yet cleared to play.
But it found itself behind the 8-ball on Arkansas’ 2nd drive. Florida transfer Feleipe Franks put the Razorbacks on the board first, dropping one into the hands of Treylon Burks from 49 yards out to make it 7-0 just over 6 minutes into the contest.
Meanwhile, Georgia got on the board 30 seconds into the 2nd quarter via a safety, as its defense pounced on an Arkansas trick play from the Razorbacks’ own 14 that went out of the back of the end zone to make it 7-2.
Both offenses struggled to get momentum throughout the 1st half as they combined for 337 yards—just 78 of those coming on the ground—and a 3-for-20 mark on 3rd down. Stetson Bennett IV replaced Mathis 5 minutes into the 2nd quarter, but that didn’t do much to ignite Georgia until the final drive of the half, where he engineered a last-gasp drive that ended with a 38-yard Jack Podlesny field goal to cut it to 7-5.
Naturally, Podlesny’s make came after he hit the upright with his 1st attempt, but a Sam Pittman timeout gave the redshirt sophomore another chance that he capitalized on in his first collegiate appearance.
Georgia looked as if it would sustain a nice drive coming out of the locker room, but James Cook coughed the ball up at midfield after appearing to convert a 3rd and 4 to give the Razorbacks possession. The Dawgs’ defense, though, held up just enough to keep Arkansas out of the end zone, and A.J. Reed’s 25-yard field goal sailed through to up the lead to 10-5 with 6-and-a-half minutes played in the 3rd.
On Georgia’s ensuing drive, it finally found the end zone. With 6 minutes left in the quarter, Bennett notched his first career touchdown pass, a 19-yard grab by George Pickens to make it 13-10 after a successful 2-point conversion.
After that, the breaks appeared to begin to go the Dawgs’ way.
Zamir White, held in check out of the backfield for most of the 1st half, came up with a big punt block to give Georgia the ball at the Arkansas 24. Four plays later, Bennett found John FitzPatrick for a 7-yard touchdown to stretch the score to 20-10.
Then the Dawgs’ defense opened up the margin even more on a pick-6 by Eric Stokes, Franks’ 2nd interception of the game, to make it 27-10 with 3 minutes left in the 3rd.
The rout was on from that point, as White punched it in from 6 yards out on the Dawgs’ next drive to make it 34-10 early in the 4th. Podlesny’s 38-yarder with under 90 seconds remaining set the final margin.
Bennett was solid, going 20-of-29 for 211 yards and 2 touchdowns while running 5 times for 20 yards. White shook off a tough 1st half and finished with 13 carries, 71 yards and a touchdown.
At the end of the day, Georgia will come away knowing that it was far from its best despite the win. The biggest question for next week’s Top 10 matchup against No. 8 Auburn will remain the decision at quarterback, especially if Daniels is deemed finally ready to play.
Nice finish…Gonna be a tough sledding season.
I think that will be the best defense we’ll face this year including Bama. Our offense couldn’t get anything going and our defense just got gassed.
The Pitt boss will have you guys rolling soon enough. great game!
You mean, we have a coach called Kirby dumb dog!
What are you, 8..? Go to bed.
Thank you Arkansas for the wake up call.
At least we pointed out who should QB your team.
We did find a QB for sure.
From the book of Dawgs…
For lo and behold, a lowly walk-on shall save you.
Nothing is going to save you from sniffing some Tide rest end. Get in position and inhale. It is your destiny british dog! Lol
It’s looking like Mathis isn’t the guy.
I feel bad for him; was hoping he’d bounce back after the slow start. But it’s great to see the Mailman come through in the clutch. He’s been waiting so long for his chance.
They both have good reasons to pull for them. We may see a lot of both yet this year. Stetson was cool as a cucumber and I actually stopped worrying about him throwing to the wrong color jersey after a couple of series ;-)
Upping the ante next week with Auburn.
Does Stetson start? Does Mathis start? Or does JT Daniels magically get healed?
ATtthis point I think Stetson gets the start even if JT is cleared. He looked good.
Yes, Stetson has earned the start, by all means!
Doesn’t matter who starts, you suck.
I like how you started with more elaborate trash talk and then devolved into just saying it directly.
Thanks for the win dawgs
Glad I didn’t bet on the over tho lol
Horrendously ugly first half. Opposing fans wasted absolutely no time overreacting. Hopefully a QB emerges as a long term solution or this is going to be a very long season.
BAD GAME FOR D’WAN MATHIS BUT NOT HIS LAST! He will be a superstar eventually! But for NOW, TODAY. THIS IS WHY I HARP ON A JT DANIELS. BECAUSE LIKE STEDSON BENNETT, HE IS A PASSING QB!!! The ball comes out and accurately!!! Nobody will convince me that D’wan Mathis is the QB OF TODAY!
Maybe before the year is out he learns the offense better and becomes another Justin Fields. Go back to when Justin Fields was playing his first snaps. I remember the interceptions and bad throws and even bad runs! Others seem to have forgotten! PLUS JUSTIN FIELDS PLAYS FOOTBALL IN A LEAGUE THAT HAS FORGOTTEN WHAT DEFENSE LOOKS LIKE!!!! Much much easier to play QB in the big 10 for Ohio State than playing in the SEC! D’wan will shine and did shine in practice. BUT JT DANIELS IS THE MAN TO REALLY MAKE US GO!!! HE WOULD HAVE DONE THE SAME OR BETTER THAN STEDSON BENNETT. He is bigger and a hair faster to! People don’t know that because he throws so much. But I’ve seen him I know. He is at least as fast as The mailman!!!
LETS NOT MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE THAT LSU DID FOR YEARS FALLING IN LOVE WITH RUNNING QBS! THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT GOT LES MILES FIRED AND COST LSU MANY SEASONS! PASSING QBS ARE THE REAL SUPERSTARS! EVERY NOW AND THEN A QB WHO IS TRULY TALENTED AS A RUNNER AND PASSER COMES ALONG. I BELIEVE D’WAN IS STILL THAT GUY!!! BUT HAD WE NOT HAD A PASSING QB READY BEHIND HIM TODAY IT COULD HAVE BEEN SC ALL OVER AGAIN!
True passing QBs are what opens up your run game! True passing QBs with just enough speed to be a threat to run. That is who THE MAILMAN IS! AND THAT IS WHO JT DANIELS IS!!! JT DANIELS IS JUST BIGGER AND YES BETTER!!!! GET OVER THE RUNNING QB MENTALITY! If the same thing had happened at Alabama. We wouldn’t even stand a chance in Hades!!!!!! But it didn’t and there is still time to get it right. But I was hoping that we wouldn’t still be experimenting going into auburn and Tennessee!!!
THE MAILMAN IS GOOD BUT NOT THE BEST AT UGA!!! HE WAS BATTLING FOR 3RD PLACE. BUT WE DIDN’T GET TO SEE CARSON BECK. I DON’T THINK HE NEEDS TO LOSE HIS TURN AT BAT EITHER!!!! BUT ONE THING NEEDS TO BE CLEARLY UNDERSTOOD.
ITS TIME TO GET JT DANIELS MEDICALLY CLEARED!!! HE IS THE BEST WE HAVE PERIOD!!! AND HE WON THE COMPETITION IN PRACTICE. HE IS THE REAL REASON JAIME NEWMAN OPTED OUT. NOBODY SAW THE REAL D’WAN MATHIS TODAY. BUT HE DID NOT WIN THE STARTING JOB. KIRBY LET IT SLIP AND NOBODY LISTENED!!!
KIRBY SAID JT DANIELS IS THE MOST READY TO PLAY NOW!!! DID KIRBY SAY THAT BECAUSE HE LOST THE QB COMPETITION? VERY VERY DOUBTFUL!!!! UGA GET JT DANIELS CLEARED AND DO IT NOW!!!!! DON’T WAIT!!!
Who was the genius who said today’s game would be closer than anyone expected? Umm that was ME!!!! What genius even said, that UGA might even be losing at halftime, only to pull away in the second half? Umm, ME AGAIN!!! I TOLD YOU ALL THAT I’M THE TOP EXPERT ON COLLEGE FOOTBALL IN THE WORLD!!! ITS NOT BRAGGING. ITS JUST THE TRUTH! I very seldom miss on a prediction ever!!!!
PS. So it would do you well to listen to the things I say. And I’m saying it. JT DANIELS is the best QB we have along with Carson Beck! Carson is young and JT Might be a bit rusty. And just don’t assume D’wan Mathis is not talented based on today. HE WAS JUST TRYING TOO HARD!!!!
King Negan
Sniff the rear end of SEC. It is your destiny!! Lol
Good lord man. Take a Xanax.
Take a lot of them.
Hahaha…all is right in the world King has showed up…the top college football expert in the world…
Translation:
I’m dumb and my team is perennially overrated. Georgia hasn’t won a national championship since 1980 and probably won’t win another in the next 100 years
Going into your second game and you still don’t know who your QB is. Not good
Giving up 600 yards to Ole Miss? Not good.
657 yards.
Practically 700.
Going into the second game of the season and not knowing if you can tackle? Not good.
And you still don’t know who your momma is. I don’t think you have one. You were born under a rock like all lizards. Who is that clown you have for a DC that allowed 600+ yards on offense to Ole Miss?
It’s JT Daniels if he’s cleared, Dwan if he isn’t. Luckily whoever it is, the only need to score 20.
Stetson is our QB.
I think we know who our QB is. Don’t worry about it until November.
See what I mean, not even you guys can agree with each other about who the QB is. Not good
Way to go, Mailman! So glad to see you come through when you got your chance!
Coupl’a things: first, UGA has more passing plays than running plays: 47 to 42. Can’t remember the last time that happened in a win. Second, a lot of D’Wan’s first half ineffectiveness was a result of penalties. No doubt, Stetson looked better overall, but D’Wan was not as bad as his 1st half stats looked.
He was constantly in 3rd and long. Run game was ineffective. Anytime the got anything, penalties took it away. I thought he had some great deep balls but He looked like a freshman in his first start. Bennett looked poised and decisive.
Whew!! Mathis looked nervous every snap. Defense is for real though. Stetson looked good, made some nice throws. Gutty performance.
Mathis held the ball too long, Stetson got it out quick. That was the difference
Yeah Mathis looked unsure and definitely held the ball too long.
And I think Felipe Franks is very happy not to ever face another Dawg’s D. Three INTs with a pick-six.
The puppies are in trouble. That offense won’t do anything against elite defenses. Their terrible. The defense is legit….but they won’t be able to win games on their own.
Maybe you noticed that once they quit shooting themselves in the foot with penalties, the yards started to pile up? First game/start for a lot of guys on offense – they looked pretty good in the second half once they settled in and quit making dumb mistakes.
This is against Arkansas……Arkansas….not Alabama. Again. They’re in trouble. Make not mistake….smart is sweating. They’re terrible….they find good QB play to compliment that defense.
Geez spell check and a few beers never go good together!
387 yards of offense and another 140 in returns, the vast majority in the second half – not sure “terrible” is the right term. Take away the first half and they looked pretty strong.
I have concerns about experience, but “in trouble”? Nope.
The beers impacted your reasoning too.
Haha….maybe. But I’m not drunk enough to see this: as an completely objective observer….I’m not a fan of either team….i think you guys are in complete denial if you don’t think your dawgs aren’t in trouble. Come on….against Alabama? Nope. That offense will get smoked. Unless you guys get a QB to compliment that defense you guys ARE IN TROUBLE. You were supposed to be title contenders! Nope. Open your eyes.
@coeus, I guess you are right, gonna have to find us a JaMarcus Russell, Matt Flynn, Greg mcElroy, AJ McCarron, Cardele Jones, Jake Coker or Chris Leak type of “great” quarterback, so we don’t have to rely on our defense to win games. or else we are in trouble.
You all suck. What are you talking about? You shoot yourself because you duck!!!
You mention suck a lot, something you must be very familiar with.
That was not Bennett’s first career TD pass
Not an unexpected start. Too many new pieces. The finish was pretty predictable as UGA just out athleted them. Not sure you have determined who your qb is yet. Next weeks game will tell a lot. Good game though.
I think that was the worse UGA game I have ever seen for penalties, and UGA has had some doozies in that department.
The impact of the penalties cannot be overstated, 11 penalties for 98 yards. Penalties that killed UGA drives, penalties that keep Ark drives alive, including their TD drive.
Coach Smart and staff failed in having their team ready to play. Kudos to Coach Pittman and his staff for having the worse roster in the SEC ready to play.
Mathis looked good at times but he can’t move the ball, bottom line. Seems to lack presence of mind, prime example being stepping out bounds 1 yard shy of a 1st down.
Bennett moved the ball, he was efficient and more time than not targeted the correct receiver. Bennett’s decision making was good. The offense responded well to Bennett.
Bennett is the QB until Daniels gets cleared and then beats Bennett for the starting job. At some point, especially if Daniels doesn’t produce, UGA will have to play Beck and see how he does.
Thank you Ark for the wake up call.
The impact of the penalties cannot be overstated, 11 penalties for 98 yards IN THE 1ST HALF.
The first half was atrocious! All those penalties sure didn’t help.
Mathis just wasn’t ready. He is clearly still learning the offense.
Georgia came back strong with a very good performance by Stetson Bennett. He clearly knows the offense better ( he should ) he is a Junior who has a year of starting experience.
The defense looked pretty good, as well as Cochran’s special teams. As I said they would.
Georgia just got their wake up call, and that’s bad news for Auburn, who has to come to Sanford stadium for a Prime Time match up.
I’ll take Bennett against Nix, and the rest of the Ga team is better.
Dawg’s win by 10…
The team did not look ready to play. Some definite issues. After this offseason and the new changes, I suppose that was to be expected to some extent. Early losses are probably unavoidable, but if the offense gels this could be a pretty good team.
All the happy and all the smoke, and boy did Mathis look poor.
He didn’t see the field, at all. He got happy feet (it causes the missed snap) looking at the rush instead of looking downfield.
Bennett came in, calmed down the offense, and then what Monken wanted to do suddenly happened.
WRs were open in space, including over the middle. Zeus found running room.
The moment was way too big for Mathis. Time for him to sit. Time for Bennett or Daniels to play.
In watching the matchups, I gotta feeling Georgia will look much better against Auburn. I expect the Dawgs to run on that inexperienced front of Auburn’s.
A side note: How did Mathis win the starting job?
Apparently he performed much better in non-contact practices and scrimmages. Gotta remember he hasn’t taken a real lick in two years and is recovering from brain surgery. When he got hammered on the sideline early in the game, it definitely affected his play. Mathis has crazy skills, but he needs live-fire experience to restore his confidence.
Bama 45 UGA 17
Maybe but we have a few other games to worry about first.
Bama is NOT scoring 45 points on our defense. Please say no to drugs.
SC wasn’t going to beat you at home either…
I repeat, Bama is NOT scoring 45 points on our defense. Please say no to drugs.
And if they do?