Georgia Bulldogs news and notes for Tuesday

So far, Stetson Bennett’s stint as the holder on field goals and extra points has gone on without a hitch.

However, that does not mean he and kicker Jack Podlesny aren’t putting in a lot of work to make sure their chemistry stays that way.

“I think we’re still figuring it out,” Podlesny said after practice Tuesday. “I’ll grab him after practice everyday … you can never get comfortable; you’ve always got to get the reps.”

Head coach Kirby Smart said Bennett was the easy choice for the job.

"He was the best one to hold. He played baseball in high school, and the kicker wanted him,” Smart said. “We don't have holder tryouts. We just get the best one, and we felt like he was the best one to do it."

Fortunately, practice had made perfect; almost.

Podlesny is 20 of 20 on extra points and converted 8 of his 9 field goal attempts, each with Bennett doing the holding.

“It’s (the chemistry) definitely improved since the season started,” Podlesny said. “I’ve got to out a lot of trust I him now.”

That was not always the case.

“At the beginning of the spring when I was told Stetson was going to be holding for me, and I was like hmmm, OK,” Podlesny recalled. “Jake (Camarda) had held for me since my freshman year and did a great job; there was nobody better. This spring was tough having to trust him; there wasn’t much trust in the spring. But over this summer, we put in the work and early in August, got in even more work."

Smart said he’s been pleased with the job Podlesny has done.

"He's been so consistent. We hate that we have had to kick as many as we've had. That's been the Achilles heel of our offense. We may not punt, but we kick a lot of field goals. It's fun for Pod, but it's not fun for the rest of us,” Smart said. “That's been one of the areas that we have targeted to get better at coming off of last year, and it's really great to have Pod. The reliability and the consistency that he has played with has been great, but the hope is you don't have to rely on him all the time because you score touchdowns."

Kirby Smart was asked again about the status of wide receivers AD Mitchell (ankle) and Arian Smith (ankle) if they’ve practiced and whether they might travel this weekend.

He did not have much to say.

"Arian more than AD (has practiced),” Smart said. “But we're still hopeful on both."

Hurricane Ian has already caused high schools around the state to move up games in deference to the approaching storm.

So far, however, that does not include the Georgia Bulldogs. When asked if the hurricane might affect Georgia’s travel plans to Missouri, Smart does not believe it will.

“As far as I know, the last update I had was that we are still going to be comfortable getting out of here,” Smart said. “There is a concern that we would have to fly to Atlanta, like we used to, and we would have to leave earlier if the panes can't get into Athens. As of right now, it looks like we are going to be able to get out of Athens."

…Smart was asked about the progress of redshirt freshman defensive lineman Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins: "He's done a good job. He's gotten more physical and aggressive. He's practicing better,” Smart said. “He's stronger from the weight room and getting better with each game, gaining more confidence. I'm proud of the toughness he's shown, and he's growing up."

…Smart expressed more concern about his team’s red zone offense. Although his Bulldogs rank fourth in the SEC having scored 25 of 26 times, the fact Georgia has settled for eight field goals does not sit well.

"It goes back to the run game. When the field tightens up and shrinks, that's where the run game is more glaring because the boxes are tighter,” Smart said. “They're tighter to the box. There are less people in parts of the field, and they are in your front yard. You have to block them and run through them. Some of them are just misses.”

Unfortunately, there’s been other problems.

“You go back to the Samford game where we struggled, and there were a couple times that we had guys open, and we just missed them. We have to do a better job. We've looked at it really hard. First down run percentage, second down run percentage,” Smart said. “Third down conversions in the red area are critical because they get you a new set of downs. We've been there a lot, but we haven't converted as much as we need to. If it all had to boil down to one thing, I would say accuracy in the passing game, and then being effective at running the ball at the heavy boxes."