Georgia football playing in 'spurts' on way to 4-0 start, still seeking dominant showing
Georgia football hasn’t put an Oregon-like beating on any of its first four opponents this season.
That includes UAB which the No. 1 Bulldogs downed 49-21 Saturday night.
The Bulldogs 49-3 shellacking of the Ducks served notice last season that a team that won its first national title in 41 years could reload despite losing a boatload of NFL talent.
Oregon and former UGA defensive coordinator Dan Lanning had a similar type of win Saturday against the show that was Deion Sanders and Colorado, 42-6.
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Georgia football is 4-0, but visitors leaving Sanford Stadium this season have had reason to feel good about the types of loss they are going home with against the two-time reigning national champions.
This was the same UAB team that was drilled by Louisiana 41-21 a week earlier.
“I don’t believe in moral victories,” UAB coach Trent Dilfer said. “I don’t want anybody think this is an expectation that you come and compete well with a great team, and you feel good about it. But I do feel good about the improvements we made.”
Georgia had reason to feel good about its offense which put up 581 total yards, its second most since 615 against Missouri on Dec. 12, 2020. The only other game Georgia has had more yards since then was the 589 it had in the 65-7 blowout of TCU in the national championship game.
“Just looked to be in rhythm a lot better,” coach Kirby Smart said.
Georgia scored touchdowns on all six of its possessions in the red zone and went 10 of 13 on third downs.
Carson Beck threw for career highs with 337 yards and three touchdowns on 22-of-32 passing and scored on a 1-yard touchdown run.
Now Georgia (4-0, 1-0 SEC) heads to Auburn (3-1, 0-1) next Saturday and then returns to Athens just once more until Nov. 4.
Smart said Georgia hasn’t reached its standard yet.
“Spurts,” he said. “I really thought the offense played to the standard tonight. … Defense played in spurts. It was the closest we played to the standard. Not domination, not what we want, but it was much better in spurts of the standard was there.”
Here are areas Georgia needs to get better as it reaches a third of the way through the regular season.
Ball security
Georgia had three fumbles Saturday and lost its first two of the season.
One came on a punt return by Mekhi Mews and the other on a kickoff return by Dillon Bell.
“I feel there’s this uncanny emphasis on getting the ball on special teams and defense,” Smart said. “We continue to not get it and we had two on special teams. You can’t do that in our league and win games so we better fix it.”
Making more explosive plays
The opening drive began with a bang on a 33-yard connection to Dominic Lovett.
“I wish we hit the other ones that were there,” Smart said.
Beck overthrew Jackson Meeks on a deep ball and had another that was on target but went off Arian Smith’s fingertips for a drop.
“The thing could have got ugly if those two deep balls were completed,” Dilfer said.
Fixing 'lack of communication'
Georgia gave up a touchdown late in the second quarter for the second week in a row.
“A lot went wrong,” Smart said. “We missed tackles, didn’t communicate well. Bad eye control. What’s sad is (Glenn) Schumann and the defensive staff do an unbelievable job of scripted plays before the game of a 70-play walk through we do. They hit every one of them. They outexecuted us.”
Inside linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson chalked it up to “bad eyes and a lack of communication.”
On the mend
The good news for Georgia is the prospect of getting healthier. The Bulldogs were missing a slew of key contributors Saturday because of injuries.
“We haven’t played a complete game,” said Xavier Truss, who started at right tackle to fill in for injured Amarius Mims. “I think I’m already starting to get an idea of what this team is made of. I don’t think we need to necessarily play a perfect game for me to realize the identity of this team. … I know the team we have and I’m proud to go out there and grind it. It’s not always going to be pretty.”
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Where No. 1 Georgia football team can go from good to dominant
