The Mailman delivered. Again and again, over and over.

Backup quarterback Stetson Bennett earned the start against UAB and lit up the stat sheet in Georgia’s 56-7 victory Saturday. From the onset, Bennett let loose a flurry of bombs that were all well-timed and placed into the hands of wide open receivers and tight ends. He didn’t need a ton of volume to post his numbers, either.

He finished the game 9-of-11 passing for 279 yards and five touchdowns. At the half, Bennett had completed eight of nine passes for 269 yards and all five of his scores.

Three of his touchdowns were deep throws for 61, 73, and 89 yards apiece. Perhaps the Georgia coaching staff knew what it was doing when deciding to go with Bennett in a game the Bulldogs were going to win regardless.

While it’s evident a faction of the UGA fan base wanted to see Carson Beck get the start, it’s important to remember that coaches are paid to play the best players in the game they’re currently preparing for.

Given the result, it’s extremely hard to second-guess Smart’s decision to roll with Bennett against the Blazers. And while Beck, by all indications, had a great spring and preseason, that doesn’t preclude Bennett from also enjoying similar strides with his improvement.

All of this stated, starting quarterback JT Daniels’ oblique injury shouldn’t keep him out for much longer. He practiced this week and dressed out, most likely to be ready in the event of an emergency situation.

So against UAB, Smart went with the more experienced backup who played a great game in response—despite the negativity he likely heard and saw over the past couple of days.

Kudos to Bennett for stepping up and delivering the mail—quite a lot of it actually.

Georgia was expected to win, and more than covered the 22.5-point spread, easily looking like the No. 2 team in the country in the process. There were numerous explosive plays in the passing game, which was great to see after the Bulldogs faced a stingy Clemson defense that held the unit without a touchdown a week ago.

At 2-0, the Bulldogs will now face South Carolina, which needed a game-winning field goal to defeat East Carolina. That won’t stop Smart and the players from proceeding as if the Gamecocks are the toughest team since the 1985 Chicago Bears this week.

Individually, however, I want to center this section on two players.

Beck: When Radi Nabulsi dropped his 3-2-1 Report, I received a number of texts from friends who seemed bewildered that the Bulldogs would actually go with Bennett in this game. In addition to all the reports about Beck’s offseason, Smart said Beck was the No. 2 quarterback during the past week of practice.

One of the concerns I heard, and read, was that if Georgia goes with Bennett over Beck, Beck could transfer.

C'mon now.

This was one game against UAB, involving two backups in no position to overtake Daniels as a starter. If Beck decides to weigh this sort of hypothetical decision down the road, it won’t be over who earned the start against UAB.

Daniels has a great chance of turning pro after this season. Bennett is a fifth-year senior. Beck is in the driver’s seat to be Georgia’s starting quarterback next year. Given these facts, Beck will have to hold off Brock Vandagriff and Gunner Stockton to be Georgia’s starting quarterback in 2022, of course. Using logic, any sort of transfer plans wouldn’t come into play until after the spring.

TE Brock Bowers: For those clamoring to see the tight ends become more involved on offense, your wish was granted and should continue. Bowers looks to be the type of tight end the Bulldogs have wanted and needed for many years now. After springing open on a wheel route in the first quarter, Bowers outran the UAB defense en route to an 89-yard touchdown.

He finished the game with three catches for 107 yards and two touchdowns. With the weapons on the outside getting healthy—receiver Jermaine Burton being one, with his three catches for 92 yards and a score—Bowers should continue to create matchup problems for opposing defenses.

With this performance, you can bet offensive coordinator Todd Monken does his part to scheme up more designs for Bowers.

Burton’s bomb: On the second play from scrimmage, Bennett let loose on a deep pass to Burton that was caught in stride and taken for 73 yards and a touchdown. This play set the tone for a dominating performance against an overmatched team.

First career interception: With 8:29 to go in the third quarter, cornerback Kelee Ringo picked off quarterback Tyler Johnston III to record the first interception of his career. Earlier this week, Smart mentioned he was looking forward to seeing Ringo respond after committing two pass interference penalties against Clemson.

First career touchdown pass: Back to Beck—he threw his first-ever touchdown toss to receiver Justin Robinson at the 7:11 mark of the third quarter. This score followed Ringo’s interception, making the sequence an all-around positive one for the Bulldogs.

Although he didn’t start, Beck still saw plenty of quality game reps, with the Bulldogs putting the game away in the first half. Beck finished the game 5-of-11 passing for 97 yards, a touchdown, and an interception.

I saw some questions about the grading scale on the Dawgvent after the Clemson win, so I wanted to offer some clarification here. The grading scale I’m using is the same that UGA switched to halfway through my time at the university. One of the criticisms I noticed was that I didn’t give the defense an A+ last week. As is noted below, A is the highest it goes.

Here’s a rundown of the grading scale:

A: 4.0

A-: 3.7

B+: 3.2

B: 3.0

B-: 2.7

C+: 2.2

C: 2.0

C-: 1.7

D: 1.0

F: 0.0

I will also keep a running total of the grades as the season progresses, rounding up or down based on where the average lies.

Offense: A-

It was almost as perfect an offensive performance as a fan could desire. Bennett only missed on two throws and ended with a staggering average of 25.4 yards per passing attempt. The run game didn’t do much, but it wasn’t needed when the explosive pass plays came so quickly in succession. The lone major mistake of the game was the pick-six Beck threw late in the fourth quarter.

Defense: A

I received a funny text this week from a friend suggesting UAB would probably score more points than Clemson. Well, the only reason the Blazers did was due to a poor throw late in the game. It was another incredible performance that featured three interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown by linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson.

Special teams: B+

Jake Camarda averaged 49.7 yards per punt with a long of 60. He also landed two inside UAB’s 20-yard line. He’s turned into the early favorite for the Ray Guy Award. Kearis Jackson also returned a punt for 33 yards. The punt team, the punt return team and the kickoff team excelled against UAB.

The field goal unit was a different story.

Jack Podlesny missed from 32 yards late in an already-decided game, giving him two misses in two games. Last week could be seen as a blip. In a home environment with a giant lead, it’s a bit harder to understand. Perhaps the Bulldogs should open up the place-kicker competition this week in practice and take another look at Camarda—who last year stated he’d love to handle both duties—and Jared Zirkel.

Coaching: A

Two games in, there’s nothing to fault with this staff. Outside of a missed field goal and a late-game interception, Georgia executed the game-plan as efficiently as anyone could have hoped.

Offense: B-

Defense: A

Special teams: B+

Coaching: A