Following No. 2 Georgia’s devastating 56-7 rout over UAB, Blazers head coach Bill Clark met with the media and primarily discussed the extraordinary performance by Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett.

No UAB players were made available.

“To start off, we got behind early,” Clark said. “We gave up a big play early, which is not characteristic of us.”

After Zamir White had a two-yard gain following the opening kickoff, Bennett connected with Jermaine Burton for a 73-yard touchdown. In relief of an injured JT Daniels, Bennett made his first start since starting games two through six of last season.

Clark said his team “heard all the rumors about (Georgia’s) quarterback situation (Daniels not playing) and knew every one of those guys (Daniels’ backups) were good, especially (No.) 13. I guess that’s Bennett.”

Clark also said they watched Bennett from last year and “knew he liked to throw it deep.” Also, Clark said Bennett’s scrambling ability—more so than what Daniels possesses—was a difference-maker as well.

“The starter (Daniels), there’s a reason he’s the starter. He’s a great, great thrower—but he’s not as mobile,” Clark said. “You saw that a couple times where (Bennett) got out there on us in our two-man (coverage). His legs made a difference. A little bit different than the starter.”

After throwing his second touchdown pass with 10:17 remaining in the first quarter, Bennett completed an 89-yard score to freshman tight end Brock Bowers towards the end of the opening stanza to give the Bulldogs an early 21-0 advantage. The lengthy pass play ranks as the ninth longest touchdown pass in Georgia history.

“We hadn’t really seen deep shots out of it,” Clark said of Georgia when the Bulldogs had lined up in a “bunch” offensive set. “(Georgia) knew we were going to try to go in there and stop the run because that’s what they did last week (in the bunch set). Give them credit. They ran by us a couple of times.”

For the game, Bennett was phenomenal. He completed nine of 11 passes for 279 yards and five touchdowns (all in the first half), which tied a school record for most touchdown passes in a single game. His lone rushing attempted netted a 20-yard gain.

Besides praising Bennett, Clark gave credit where credit was due. The 49-point loss today was UAB's worst defeat since he became the Blazers' head coach in 2014.

“Give Georgia all the credit in the world. They’re super talented. That was an unreal environment,” Clark said. “There’s no doubt they’re deserving of that No. 2 ranking.”