There’s one area of Georgia’s play that’s definitely on the uptick from that of a season ago.

After scoring just one non-offensive touchdown in 2017 (J.R. Reed’s 3-yard fumble recovery against Florida), the Bulldogs enter Saturday’s game against Tennessee (3:30, CBS) already with four non-offensive scores under their collective belt.

“That’s just a testament to the program we have,” quarterback Jake Fromm said. “All the work—it’s just something that pays off.”

All four non-offensive scores have come in different ways, much to the delight of head coach Kirby Smart.

"I think Coach (Mel) Tucker would be the first to tell you some stat, like, 89 percent of the teams that have a non-offensive touchdown win the game,” said Smart, whose Bulldogs are testament to that by entering Saturday’s game a perfect 4-0, 2-0 in SEC play.

First, there was Deandre Baker’s interception at South Carolina, which the senior would have scored himself if not for dropping the football at the 1-yard line for Juwan Taylor to pick up and step across the goal line to complete the pick-6.

Against Middle Tennessee, it was Mecole Hardman’s turn.

Hardman, who has scored five touchdowns in Georgia’s first four games, scored one on special teams when he returned his first career punt for a score, a 70-yarder in the Bulldogs' 49-7 win over the Blue Raiders.

Georgia might not have beaten Missouri if not for two very big plays.

It was Tyson Campbell’s strip and 64-yard fumble recovery that put the Bulldogs up 7-0 before Eric Stokes blocked a punt, scooped up the ball, and scored from 8 yards out to put Georgia up 20-7.

“Those are very impactful. It’s hard to overcome those emotionally, because they're sometimes a shock. But at the end of the day, they happen,” Smart said. “They happen on special teams. They happen on defense. And whether they happen to you or for you, it's the next play that matters. It's not that play. So, a lot of it is overcoming adversity, and how you're built within your program to overcome things like that."

Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt knows the importance of not letting the Bulldogs receive any gift scores Saturday afternoon.

“I think you’ve obviously got to take care of the football, which obviously we didn’t do this past week,” Pruitt said on Wednesday’s SEC teleconference. “Whether they score or not, you don’t want to give a good football team an extra opportunity. So I think it doesn’t matter who you are playing. You want to approach it that way.”

You hear the terms “brotherhood” used a lot in football that.

That’s certainly the case with Georgia’s offensive line, redshirt sophomore Soloman Kindley said.

“We are like a family. When I first got here, Lamont (Gaillard), Kendall Baker—they used to give me rides everywhere. I didn’t know the town; I’m from Florida,” Kindley recalled. “It’s a brotherhood. Me, Andrew (Thomas), Lamont, I go to their house to chill with them. Justin Shaffer. It’s a big brotherhood.”

Hitting local restaurants is a favorite pastime.

“We like Longhorn,” said Kindley, who laughed when asked to describe the reaction they get from patrons.

“All they do is stare,” said Kindley.

He just doesn't eat as much as you think.

“You’re probably not going to believe me, but I don’t eat steak—just chicken,” he said. “I like chicken.”

In a surprise presentation at Barrow Elementary School on Wednesday morning, junior place kicker Rodrigo Blankenship was recognized as one of 11 players in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) to be named to the 2018 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team.

Following Blankenship’s reading of Dreaming of the Redcoat Band to the classroom of teacher Abby Brink, the Marietta, Georgia, native was greeted with the award by an Allstate representative, Merryn Walker, an insurance agent in Athens. Allstate also presented Barrow Elementary with a new collection of books for the classroom.

The Bulldogs' previous Good Works Team honorees are Alec Millen in 1992, Travis Jones in 1993, Brian Smith in 1995, Matt Stinchcomb in 1997 and 1998, Brett Millican in 2000, Jon Stinchcomb in 2001, David Greene in 2003, D.J. Shockley in 2005, Quentin Moses in 2006, Kelin Johnson in 2007, Jeff Owens in 2009, Aron White in 2011, Aaron Murray in 2012, Chris Conley in 2014, Malcolm Mitchell in 2015, Jeb Blazevich in 2016, and Aaron Davis in 2017.

“I don’t know that it wasn’t there. I was going to say work has led to it. But then you would say, well, he didn’t work last year. Riley Ridley works hard. He works hard at practice. He competes at practice. It’s important to him. He’s one of the highest on the GPS systems every day; he just really competes. It’s important to him. But it was that way last year. We’ve got a quarterback who’s played a whole year—that has a lot to do with it—instead of his first college games. He’s playing with confidence. He’s playing fast.” – Kirby Smart on Riley Ridley

. . . Tight end Jackson Harris has been included as a semifinalist for the 2018 William V. Campbell Trophy, according to an announcement from the National Football Foundation (NFF) and the College Football Hall of Fame. The Campbell Trophy goes to the top scholar-athlete.

. . . Georgia worked out for two hours in full pads inside the team's indoor athletic facility.

The Bulldogs conducted a two-hour workout in full pads at the William Porter Payne and Porter Otis Payne Indoor Athletic Facility Wednesday afternoon in preparation for Saturday's game against Tennessee.

“It’s a big rivalry game for us, a big SEC East challenge,” Smart said on Wednesday's SEC teleconference. “Traditionally over the last 15 to 20 years, it's been some really classic battles that usually resulted in a lot of close games. Our kids have practiced well, hopefully getting prepared for a good Tennessee football team.”