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Major Matchups: Georgia hosts Kent State

On3 imageby: Jake Rowe09/22/22JakeMRowe

Georgia is back inside the friendly confines on Saturday to take on Kent State (12 p.m. ET on SEC Network+). The Bulldogs sport the nation’s No. 1 team but the Golden Flashes aren’t exactly strangers to Power Five competition.

Through three games this season Kent State has played the likes of Washington and Oklahoma. It didn’t fair well in either of those games but it wasn’t intimidated. Georgia enters the game as the 41-point favorite and, as Kirby Smart has point out a number of times, it’s about the standard and not who is on the other side line.

If UGA is going to take care of business against Kent State, it will have to win the most crucial matchups. Below, DawgsHQ identifies those.

Georgia front seven vs. Kent State run game

The Bulldogs have been good against the run but not as good as last season. In fact, Oregon and South Carolina seemed to have some success running the ball early in games that ultimately turned into Georgia blowouts.

Meanwhile, Kent State really likes running the football. It is averaging well north of 40 attempts per game. Georgia should have the Golden Flashes outmanned up front but nothing can be assumed.

Dawgs HQ’s take: Odds are that Georgia will put enough points to get Kent State out of its run game, but it’s still important to start fast. The Bulldogs bent but didn’t break on early drives against the Ducks and Gamecocks. They also got some key turnovers. We’re looking for and expecting more from the Georgia run defense coming out of the blocks.

UGA offensive line vs. Kent State linebacker Khalib Johns

The Golden Flashes do some funky stuff on defense and Johns is the straw that stirs the drink. He’s the middle linebacker but he has four sacks and seven tackles for loss on the year because Kent State uses him similarly to how Georgia used Nakobe Dean and Channing Tindall last season. It allows Johns to attack the line of scrimmage at a high rate.

UGA’s pass protection this season has been really good but the argument can be made that Johns is as good as any front-seven defender it has played. Protection breakdowns just can’t happen.

DawgsHQ’s take: Georgia will have to know where Johns is at all times. He’ll blitz from depth, loop around the edge, or even get into the defensive front in a two point stance and basically spy the quarterback. Whoever engages him has to do a good job of mirroring and not letting him shed blocks and run down the line of scrimmage.

Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett IV vs. Kent State defensive backs

Speaking of that funky Golden Flash defense, they like to drop a lot of guys and play different coverages. They’ll use seven and eight guys in coverage quite a bit and it’s not the same zone or man scheme over and over. It might be tough to figure out at times.

Bennett has done a really good job taking care of the football this season. He has kept it out of harm’s way. With that said, he’ll probably have more thrown at him in this game than other teams have shown. That’s just what Kent State likes to do.

DawgsHQ’s take: A strong run game would go a long way toward supporting Bennett. Getting the tailbacks going will set up the early-down play-action game where the sixth-year senior quarterback might be able to feast on an aggressive group of defenders. If he does have to lean to the drop-back game, taking what the defense gives and forcing Kent State to tackle feels like a sound strategy.

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