It was a business-like Saturday for Georgia, as it claimed a workman-like 45-17 win at Arkansas. Here are 10 thoughts from a win that brought the usual duality of Bulldog enthusiasm but Kirby Smart seeking a higher bar.
1. If you want a microcosm of where the standards have risen to at Georgia, look no further than Saturday. The Bulldogs came away with an as-expected handling of an SEC road opponent, putting the game away for the most part by halftime. In year’s past, that’d have many fans highly
enthused, but the sentiment for this fan base seems to be…‘yeah, but what else?“ That’s a testament to what is expected coming out of Athens. Roster turnover does not matter. It’s not enough for handle an opponent, it’s more key, however, to have the looks of contending for a national title.
2. Some very good Georgia teams have had some pretty good struggles on the road in the SEC, especially with midday kickoffs. Reynolds Stadium and its dimmed enthusiasm from the fan base hurt prospects of this being a rabid atmosphere on Saturday, so there would have to a degree been understanding if the Dawgs started slow against the Razorbacks. That ended up not being the case, and it was a refreshing change of pace given that some very good teams from Athens have been lackadaisical against lesser teams the past few seasons.
3. Yes, this was an SEC win. But don’t frame this as a robust victory to frame on a trophy shelf. This was against an Arkansas team that is rebuilding massively, and the fact that the Razorbacks tried to change things up on offense with a first-half QB change says a lot about the place they are (not a good one)…as does Tray Scott running his defensive line through “Indy Drills” during a timeout.
4. With this team’s first game of substance coming next weekend against Oklahoma, injury attrition may be something more on the radar. By all accounts, Drew Bobo and Nate Frazier should be good to go against the Sooners, but it’s something worth eyeballing in the coming days along with Isiah Canion’s status.
5. Impeccable timing, Max Gilbert. Dawg fans thank you for making a field goal this year and not last year in Knoxville…
6. Another week, another late-game defensive lull. 14 points by backups may not matter much in the big picture of 45-17 win, but it’ll be an easy layup this week for this coaching staff when it comes to focusing on how the little things can become big things, no matter what part of the depth chart anybody is on.
7. After Ryan Puglisi last week and now Gunner Stockton, there’s an apparently a contagious trait in the quarterback room of having a sneaky speed to turn a designed run into a big gain. All jokes aside, it has done Georgia no good the first two games to not even have Stockton play a half of football, so getting more time to gain comfort with the new-look receivers may have been one of the bigger wins of the day.
8. This was a good game for Georgia’s offensive line. With three sacks being surrendered, it showed some glaring issues for this group to work on. The good news is that in the scheme of a lopsided win, those sacks did not impact the overall outcome…but they could next week and further down the road.
9. Lawson Luckie is a lot of things. One? Safety valve. With Stockton being in the game longer on Saturday, you saw him connect again three times for more than 50 yards with Luckie, who hauled in touchdowns from two UGA quarterbacks. As this schedule gets tougher, times will come where the tight end position will be an extension of the run game through short passes, and Satruday was a degree of returning to that. This team may be inexperienced at receiver…but the play of Luckie relieves some of that heartburn.
10. Ignore the Alabama first half. Expect them to play like the 1972 Dolphins in Oct. 10.
Go Dawgs!
