Tyson Helton’s Western Kentucky Hilltoppers were always going to need to play flawless football if they were going to keep things close this afternoon against the Georgia Bulldogs. The problem is that they played pretty much the opposite of that, and as a result what was always likely to be a Bulldog win turned into an absolute beatdown. Georgia tied a program record with 49 first half points to cruise to a 76 beating in front of a white clad and soaking wet crowd in Sanford Stadium.
Once again Gunner
Stockton played an efficient little bit of football and called it a day early. Stockton was 13 of 16 passing for 234 yards and a career high 5 touchdowns. Gunner hit five different Bulldogs for those scores, and while he did have a couple of balls underthrown or tipped, it was an all-around good performance. Nate Frazier picked up where he left off as well, looking crisp on 6 carries for 55 yards and a touchdown. Interestingly Chauncey Bowens and Dwight Phillips each only had one carry, each for 4 yards. That’s not too concerning, as at this point coaches are pretty confident with what their veteran tailbacks can do.
Second string quarterback Ryan Puglisi was actually the Dawgs’ leading rusher with 72 yards on 2 carries. However 70 of them came on a single touchdown run. But his other run resulted in a fumble that helped the Hilltoppers log their first scoring drive of the day. It was a troubling trend, as the Bulldogs turned the ball over twice and had a handful of other fumbles that they managed to recover. And while the first string defense played lights out, and the Bulldogs ultimately surrendered only 225 yards of total offense, it felt as if the reserves weren’t as dialed in as one would prefer.
As Kirby Smart said on the field after the game “we’ve got a lot of guys who want to play but aren’t ready to play.” Indeed, the gap between the dominance of Georgia’s first stringers and the lapses once those players called it a day is a little concerning if injuries and tougher competition require some of those reserves to be thrust into meaningful action.
Still, it feels a little odd to say that a 70-20 game wasn’t as close as the score indicates. The Bulldogs scored touchdowns on offense, defense, and in the kicking game. And those reserves were in for over a half of football precisely because the first stringers could have scored a hundred if Kirby had wanted them to. They’ll get better with more reps, and the staff got a ton of coaching tape today. That’s not a bad thing, and a lot of those youngsters will be better football players by the end of the season for it.
Now the Dawgs prepare to start the real season, going on the road next week to open SEC play against Ryan Silverfield’s Arkansas Razorbacks. I for one am looking forward to seeing what a full game from this Georgia team looks like. Until later…
Go ‘‘Dawgs!!!
