Although Georgia’s defense mostly adhered to the standard set by its predecessors of the previous two years, the Bulldogs left Saturday’s 48-7 win against UT-Martin feeling there’s still much work to do.
“I wouldn’t say we played to our standard,” nose guard Nazir Stackhouse said. “They had (132 yards rushing), and we didn’t like that, after last year when guys were averaging 67 yards a game. But we’ve got time to work on it. We’ve got a lot of guys on the defense who are going to help us out.”
Head coach Kirby Smart agreed.
“Hard to evaluate the level of competition. We’re better than the guys we played against. It’s going to be a bigger evaluation when it’s, A, hotter, and B, a bigger offensive line,” Smart said. “No disrespect to UT-Martin, but they made a decision that if they were going to run the ball, they were going to do it through the quarterback. I think, I would venture to say, I don’t know, 33 percent of their yards were quarterback runs. He’s not necessarily a true runner, but they did it because they had to rush the ball. They did a nice job of that. I didn’t think internally we had breakdowns.”
The Skyhawks finished with 260 total yards, although the Bulldogs did not finish off the shutout that they were hoping for.
After three-plus quarters of little to nothing, the Skyhawks finally scored a touchdown against second and third-team members of the Bulldog defense.
Freshman Kyron Jones helped ease that disappointment later in the quarter when he picked off a pass and returned it 26 yards for a Pick-6.
“I’ve been happy to see the way he’s transitioned from running back to defensive back,” defensive back Tykee Smith said. “He’s still learning, so for him to go out there and make a play like that, I’m happy for him.
He wasn’t the only freshman who flashed.
During UT-Martin’s final drive, freshmen Gabe Harris and Jamaal Jarrett also made big plays, with both athletes flexing for the crowd.
“I was so excited. Actually, I was too excited because after that play, Gabe made a play, and after that, Kyron had the pick-six, but I missed that,” Stackhouse said. “I like to see the young guys make plays, because I’m pretty sure the adrenaline is flowing, and they’re probably nervous.”
UT-Martin would miss a long field goal in the third quarter, but otherwise, the Bulldogs were never seriously threatened until the Skyhawks pieced together a 12-play, 75-yard drive against Georgia’s backups in the fourth quarter.
“We talked a long time this week to our players about setting a standard for how we prepare for games during the week of practice, how we prepare for games on Friday, how we prepare for games on Saturday and I thought they did a really good job of that every day,” Smart said. “I thought they grew up tonight, and we get feedback. The next step in this process is, what is the feedback? And I'm not talking about feedback from you guys. Unfortunately, I don't care what you think or what you say. We get to watch the tape and say, 'What does the feedback say?' and figure out who we are and where we go from here.”
