What just happened: Georgia moves past Austin Peay despite sloppy offense
Georgia’s performance matched the weather that rolled through at halftime.
Extra sloppy.
Fortunately for the Bulldogs, they faced FCS opponent Austin Peay and were able to come away with a 28-6 victory despite the poor performance. Compared to last week’s thrashing of Marshall, Georgia looked lackluster against an Austin Peay group that otherwise appeared overmatched.
The game began with running back Nate Frazier fumbling on Georgia’s first possession. The Bulldogs then scored two touchdowns on back-to-back possessions before stumbling through the rest of a sluggish first half that ended with them leading 14-3.
To open the third quarter after an extremely long weather delay, Georgia rumbled its way to a touchdown, thanks to a 14-yard rushing score from Chauncey Bowens. But on the next offensive possession, receiver London Humphreys fumbled the ball, which led to an Austin Peay field goal. Georgia’s defense later allowed Austin Peay to drive down to the 1-yard line before stopping them with a goal-line stand.
Georgia will have a much tougher opponent in Tennessee next week, so perhaps it was good for the team to get this kind of performance out of its system.
Quarterback Gunner Stockton finished the game 26-of-34 passing for 227 yards.
What it means
Football truly is a week-to-week sport. Georgia looked like world beaters against Marshall. It came back down to Earth against Austin Peay.
On the final drive of the first half, the Bulldogs got the ball inside the 1-yard line and failed to score a touchdown. First, it was Frazier who was unable to punch the ball in the end zone. Bowens later slipped on a final attempt to run the ball in. Stockton almost threw a disastrous interception in between those runs.
The Bulldogs must do better than this if they’re going to be competitive in the SEC. The offensive line wasn’t dominant against an FCS opponent — albeit it came into the game down two starters and saw Jah Jackson get banged up early on. Still, even Georgia’s second stringers shouldn’t have as many stalemates as it did against the Governors on Saturday.
The Bulldogs must regroup and reorganize following this performance. While they came away with a victory, it was the typical less-than-inspiring showing against a lesser opponent that folks have become accustomed to in recent years.
A question that needs answering
Will Stockton trust himself to push the ball downfield?
Last week, Stockton relied on completing safe passes and running when opportunities arose. He looked good in doing so. In the second quarter against Austin Peay, those plays tightened and Stockton was put in position to take chances in pushing the ball downfield.
Each time, he seemingly refused to do so. That will not be a recipe for success next week against Tennessee.
What irritated fans early on about Stetson Bennett was his willingness to push the ball and trust his receivers, which would occasionally result in interceptions. But what led to two national championships and becoming a Heisman Trophy finalist was Bennett’s relentlessness about taking chances and trusting his receivers to make plays.
Stockton doesn’t need to be Bennett but he can’t be as cautious as he was Saturday afternoon. He only took one deep shot down the field. If a quality defense picks up on this timidity, it’s over.
The Georgia coaches clearly trust Stockton to be the program’s top quarterback. Stockton needs to trust himself to make those throws that the coaches believe he’s capable of making.
Three important plays
Third-down stuff: On Georgia’s first offensive possession, Frazier fumbled and gave Austin Peay good field possession. On the subsequent third-and-1 from the Georgia 44-yard line, CJ Allen and Quintavius Johnson teamed up to stuff Courtland Simmons for a 2-yard loss. Austin Peay was forced to punt and Georgia scored the game’s first touchdown on the ensuing drive.
Frazier gets stood up: This play should be a wake-up call to every single Georgia player to never take an opposing player lightly. The Bulldogs had a chance to go up 21-3 and be in complete control at the half. However, from the Austin Peay 1-yard line, Frazier took the carry and was stood up by Charles Crews III. This was unfortunately the defining moment for the Bulldogs in the first half as they ran four additional plays that resulted in zero points.
Frazier’s second score: In a four-quarter game that should have never been a four-quarter game, Frazier capped off a 99-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown to secure the victory with 5:39 left to play.
Other important games of note
No. 22 Tennessee 72, East Tennessee 17: The Volunteers had no issues in their tune-up as they rolled the Buccaneers easily.
No. 6 Oregon 69, Oklahoma State 3: Oregon’s spending resulted in a 66-point victory over the Cowboys.
Grading Georgia
Offense: C-
Although it was a rough showing for the group, the Georgia offense did finish the game with 421 total yards — 231 passing and 190 rushing.
Defense: B-
Ellis Robinson recorded his first career interception on a deflected pass in the first half. But in the second half, with the Governors feeling hope following Georgia’s ineptitude on offense, the defense began experiencing lapses and was unable to deliver a consistent pass rush.
Special teams: A
Brett Thorson returned and booted a long of 54 yards. Zachariah Branch still looks poised to break a big return at some point. There were no issues in this phase of the game.
Season grades to date
Offense: C+
Defense: B+
Special teams: A