It’s one of the more amazing stats you’ll find when perusing Georgia’s pregame notes for Saturday night’s game at Georgia Tech (7:30 p.m., ABC)

Through 11 games, the Bulldogs punt team has not allowed a return of one of Brett Thorson’s kicks. Not even for a single yard.

"No, never had that in my career. I don't know that I've ever seen it. I've actually seen negative more than I've seen zero return yards because we've held a couple of teams that have held people to negative return yards, meaning the returner went backward, but he got a return,” head coach Kirby Smart said. “Just the fact they haven't given up a return, it's really a credit to the staff, the punt coaching staff, the punt players, and the punter who has to match distance with hang.”

Thornton is averaging 42.8 yards on 26 punts this year. The Aussie native typically provides great hangtime on his kicks.

It also helps to have great gunners like Arian Smith and Dominic Lovett.

“You have to have elite coverage with gunners. I don't think people give enough credit to Arian and Dom. They've been our gunners, I think, on every single rep of every single game that the game was in hand, they've been in there, and they do an incredible job,” Smart said “It comes down to your punter and your gunners, to how you do things. It's been pretty remarkable what they've been able to do. We've also had fewer punts than what most teams have, which helps with that stat."

Tight end Oscar Delp said only one thing went through his mind when he saw teammate Brock Bowers “freak out” following a play in Saturday’s 38-10 win at Tennessee.

Bowers was seen reacting angrily during a brief skirmish with a Vol player with Delp immediately jumping in to get him out of the way.

“Bowers doesn’t usually start to freak out under a pile and, so I knew something was wrong, and I had to get in there and get him out as quickly as possible,” Delp said. “I didn’t know what was going on, but I didn’t want it to escalate any further than normal. We didn’t want any flags thrown, for sure, so we just tried to get him in and get him out.”

Neither Bowers nor Smart offered any details after the game. Allegedly, however, Bowers reacted the way he did after being spat upon by a Tennessee player.

“He and another player got into it; I don’t really know what happened,” Delp said. “He didn’t like what happened, so I just got him out of there.”

Sophomore Malaki Starks has already established himself as one of the better defensive backs in the SEC, and he keeps getting better.

“He's really athletic. He could probably go out and play corner for us if we had to,” Smart said. ‘When you look at players, what can he do and what can't he do? He can do a lot of things, and there's very little he can't do. He's gotten more physical with his tackling.”

Others have taken notice.

Last week, Starks was named a finalist for the Bronco Naguski Award, which goes to the top defensive player in college football. He was also a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe and Chuck Bednarik Awards.

“He's much more knowledgeable and confident in his abilities. He understands the check system. He gives us the luxury of being able to do extra things that people can't do,” Smart said. “A lot of safeties can't tackle well and play man. He gives us the ability to do both of those things. He's done nothing but get better and lead since getting here."

…Saturday night’s announcers on ABC will be Sean McDonough, Greg McElroy, and Molly McGrath.

…Tight end Brock Bowers was named one of 10 semifinalists for the Biletnikoff Award for the second year in a row.

…Smart was asked why Georgia Tech is Georgia’s biggest rival.

"Well, geographically, they're close, right? They're in our state. You're playing for something every time you play them, because you're playing for a state championship. I think that's always important,” Smart said. “They do a good job. It's the next opponent. You know, I don't rank them any higher than anybody else because I look at all the games as rivalries, and I let everybody else debate what's the highest. I don't get into those comparisons. A lot of respect for Brent (Key) and the job they do."

…Georgia ranks fifth nationally in scoring defense (15.1 points per game) and fifth in scoring offense (40.4 points per game).

…Tykee Smith leads the team with 56 tackles, a team-leading 6.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, and a team-high four interceptions.

…With Saturday’s win at Tennessee, Carson Beck is 4-0 against Top 20 opponents with a 74.6 completion percentage (91 of 122) for 1,247 yards, 11 touchdowns, and two interceptions.