It's hard to find many things wrong with an offense averaging 39.5 points per game. But over the past few weeks, it's been clear something has been ailing Georgia's offense.
The Bulldogs have struggled at times through the air and on the ground. The red zone has been a house of horrors at various points. But in the second half against Auburn last week, the team showed signs of hitting its stride.
After one of the team's best practice weeks of the year, Georgia clicked again in a 55-0 shellacking of Vanderbilt.
"I think we have spurts throughout the season where we struggled, spurts where we’ve been really good," center Sedrick Van Pran said. "I think for us, it’s just trying to be consistent. For us, it’s how can we make our peak our consistent play level all the time."
After slow starts the last two weeks, Georgia wasted no time jumping on the Commodores.
The Bulldogs posted 28 points in the first half, rolling up 295 total yards in the process. Stetson Bennett completed 18-of-20 passes for 211 yards and two touchdowns, his first scoring tosses since the South Carolina game.
Bennett said the team had a fantastic week of practice. After saying last week the Bulldogs got back to having fun in the second half, that mindset carried into this week.
"Hey, this is football. When we score touchdowns, when we do good plays, it’s fun, it’s exciting," Bennett said. "That’s why we got started in this whenever we were little kids. It’s just bringing that back."
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart also noted the strong practices. He said he worried a bit about the team peaking too early during the week. But the fast start erased those fears.
Van Pran said the team had higher energy and more focus throughout the week of practice. That helped give the Bulldogs more confidence heading into Saturday's contest.
"I feel like we got an angry taste in our mouth," receiver Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint said. "We feel like we haven’t been starting fast in the past couple of weeks. I feel like there was an emphasis this week to start fast. We really focused on going out there and making the first move."
That attitude carried over into the second half. After a pair of field goal drives opened the half, Georgia's reserves closed the game with three straight touchdown drives.
Now the Bulldogs head into their bye week at roughly the halfway point of the season. The meat of the SEC schedule - Florida, Tennessee, Mississippi State, and Kentucky - lies beyond.
How much potential still resides in the offensive unit? If the team clicks as one, Van Pran sees no ceiling.
"When we play to a standard and everybody’s executing and rolling, I think our standard is limitless," Van Pran said. "I think for us, it’s just maximizing the bye week and getting better. Each day, everybody has to get better. We have to hone in on whatever our coaches give us, whatever we self-scout ourselves, and just get better at it."
