Last week, Georgia beat Kent State but also committed three turnovers, after having zero in its first three games. The Bulldogs are 7-4 when committing three or more turnovers under Kirby Smart (7-1 vs. unranked teams, 0-3 vs. ranked teams). The Dawgs also allowed a season-high 22 points to Kent State (after allowing ten points in their first three games combined). Georgia allowed 20 or more points just once last year since and that was against Alabama in the SEC Championship.
Georgia has a scoring differential of +137 this season through its first four games. The Bulldogs are fourth in the nation in that category trailing Alabama, Minnesota and Michigan. The +137 is the fifth highest all-time in school history through the first four games.
Texas and Oklahoma will be joining the SEC soon. Over the last thirty seasons, four schools have been added to the SEC and Georgia has had success against every one of them, including Missouri who Georgia faces next.
Stetson Bennett went 27-for-36 passing against Kent State for 272 yards. He did not have a touchdown pass for the first time since the Arkansas game on October 2, 2021. The 27 pass completions were the second-highest total of his career and it gave him 383 total. That moves him into eighth place on Georgia’s career list, passing Zeke Bratkowski. Current offensive analyst for the Dawgs, Mike Bobo is next on the list with 445.
While Bennett’s 272 yards of passing was a season-low, it still gave him 1,224 for the season. His 306 per game average is second in the SEC behind Mississippi State’s Will Rogers. Since 1990, the 1,224 total through the first four games is the third highest among Georgia quarterbacks.
Bennett currently leads the SEC and is seventh nationally in completion percentage on the season at 74.2. His career completion percentage of 64.6 is still second by a Bulldog quarterback, trailing Hutson Mason’s career percentage of 65.0.
Another thing Bennett is doing well this season is running the ball. He added another rushing touchdown to his total last week and now has one touchdown rush in each game of 2022. He is one of four quarterbacks in the FBS that have at least one score in every game (KJ Jefferson, Sean Clifford and Dequan Finn). The four touchdown rushes this season give him eight for his career. He also has 44 career touchdown passes for a total of 52 touchdowns for which he is responsible. He is tied for seventh all-time in Georgia history. This list includes SEC record holders and two Heisman Trophy winners.
Brock Bowers has 15 receiving touchdowns and four rushing touchdowns including a career-high two last week. Bowers has seven career rushes and four have gone for touchdowns. To put that in perspective, Herschel Walker would have had 568 touchdown rushes at Georgia if scored on the same percentage as Bowers.
The more traditional runners for the Dawgs are still splitting up carries as you can see in this chart.
The Dawgs have had 19 different players catch at least one pass this season. They are tied for second in the nation in that category behind only Michigan. The Bulldogs also have three players with 15 or more receptions this season which is also tied for second behind only Mississippi State. Those three Georgia players are Kenny McIntosh (21), Ladd McConkey (16) and Bowers (15). McIntosh’s 21 receptions are one shy of his total of last season. Since 1990, McIntosh’s 21 receptions rank near the top among some pretty elite Bulldogs.
On defense, Georgia ended up getting three sacks last week after getting just one in its first three games. Jamon Dumas-Johnson had two sacks against Kent State after having two the season before (one against Missouri and one against Georgia Tech in 2021). Nolan Smith added one as well and now has 9.5 in his career.
Christopher Smith had an interception and is now tied with Malaki Starks for the team lead with two. The Bulldogs have two of the four players in the SEC who have two interceptions (Dwight McGlothern and Kamal Hadden have two as well). Smith was second on the team last season with three interceptions. The five picks are tied for the fourth most in the Smart era.
Jack Podlesny was recently named one of the 156 semifinalists for the prestigious William V. Campbell Award. The Campbell Award recognizes an individual as the absolute best football scholar-athlete in the nation for his combined academic success, football performance and exemplary leadership. This list will be cut to 12-14 finalists on October 26 and then the winner will be announced on December 6 at The Bellagio in Las Vegas. Matt Stinchcomb won this award back in 1998 and several Bulldogs have been finalists in recent years such as Jon Stinchcomb, Aaron Murray, Drew Butler and Rodrigo Blankenship.
