Bulldogs Blow Out Blue Raiders
Georgia Jumps Out Early , Coasts to 49-7 Home Win
Georgia’s 3rd-ranked Dogs scored early and often to overwhelm the Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee State in front of a happy home crowd on Saturday. Early in this case meant just after 12 noon, the kickoff this day having been moved up to help add available support in efforts to deal with Hurricaine Florence. The storm that has so ravaged the Carolinas was minimal ly impactful in Georgia. With this dominant win, the Bulldogs advanced to 3-0 on the young season.
The visitors from Murfreesboro ( Conference USA) knew they were facing a tall order coming into Sanford Stadium. Their senior QB Brent Stockstill had said "We will have to be perfect" They were not.
The home team, however, came pretty close. Georgia blended a balanced offensive attack with a suffocating defense and superb special teams play to make short work of their guests. About the only negative was an early spate of " silly, stupid penalties" as Coach Smart termed them.
The Dogs gained 484 total yards, including 261 on the ground, 100 of which belonged to Elijah Holyfield in his first career 100 yard game. Jake Fromm and Justin Fields combined for 17 of 21 passing for 223 yards, 4 TD’s and no interceptions.
Georgia’s opening possession produced a quick score on a 5-yard toss to Mecole Hardman from Fromm. The play was set up by a 66 yard burst down the right sideline by Holyfield. Hardman’s score came less than 4 minutes into the game and set the tone for Georgia’s offense for the day– a reliably productive ground game coupled with an efficient air attack.
That approach brought the Dogs right back for another TD a few minures later when Fromm connected again, this time with Jerome Holloman on a 11- yard toss.
Sandwiched between those 2 possessions was the only moment of true drama. Fromm dropped back into his own end zone looking to pass. He was hit and very nearly taken down for a safety but spun forward toward the playing field only to lose the ball. Guard Ben Cleveland pounced on it on the Bulldog 2 yard line, maintaining possession for the Dogs who punted on the next play.
The Blue Raiders were unable to generate points from the resulting favorable field position, with Stockstill’s passing producing only short gains. Kirby Smart noted post-game that the Dogs held MTSU to a mere 4 yards per pass even though the Dogs’ defense had no sacks on the day. Smart noted that yards yielded and points surrendered meant more to him than QB sacks.
Georgia lit up the scoreboard in earnest in the 2nd quarter, scoring 4 times to put the game away. Tyler Simmons broke free on a 56 yard touchdown run. Soon after, Hardman found the end zone again, this time on a 70 yard punt return. Also scoring for the Dogs were Riley Ridley and Justin Field.
Middle Tennessee produced their lone TD on a 41 yard pass from Stockstill to Patrick Smith with 4:21 to go in the 1st half. Thus the shutout was averted for the visitors. That was about all the Blue Raiders could do against the stout Bulldog D. Stockstill did complete 20 of 30 passes, but for only 140 yards total. Middle Tennessee’s running game was not a factor.
The 2nd half was less exciting, yielding only a single additional score when Jayson Stanley hauled in a short pass from Justin Field to arrive at the final score of 49-7.
Among the more subtle highlights of this game was the play of Georgia kicker Rodrigo Blankenship. He hit all 7 of his PAT’ s and consistently hammered his kickoffs into touchback territory.
Coach Kirby Smart gave his entire team credit for meeting his challenge of "owning the standard" with their quick start. He also praised Dogs’ fans who showed up loud even with the early kickoff. .
When asked what his team showed him in a game like this, he cited their ability " to focus on the task at hand". Smart and his staff have emphasized to their squad the need to play to a consistently high standard, regardless of the score or the opponent. From the looks of things early in 2018, his team is getting the message.
Georgia next travels to Columbia ,Missouri to take on the Tigers in the first of 7 straight SEC contests. The Bulldogs will likely be favored in each of those games but Smart knows that this fact alone means nothing. His goal is to have these Dogs play ever closer to their considerable potential. If they do so, 2018 will be a memorably enjoyable year for the Bulldog Nation.
Captions:
1) Elijah Holyfield breaks out on a 66 yard jaunt on Georgia’s first possession.
2) The Dogs dodged a bullet when guard Ben Cleveland(#74) recovered a Jake Fromm fumble on the Bulldogs 2.
3) Rodrigo Blankenship follows through on his first of 7 PAT’S early in the 1st quarter.
4) Even mascot UGA began to look a bit bored late in the 2nd half of Georgia’s blowout win over MTSU. (Photo courtesy of Red & Black)
Patrick Conarro
