Georgia comes in atop ESPN College Football Power Rankings after Week One
Week One of the College Football season is in the books and Georgia comes away 1-0. The Bulldogs beat Oregon 49-3 on Saturday, and as a result, are atop ESPN’s weekly College Football Power Rankings released late Monday night.
Maybe Georgia can win a national title with Stetson Bennett as its quarterback. Just kidding. Bennett, a former walk-on, proved that last season, when he led the Bulldogs to their first national title in 41 years. Now, in his third year in offensive coordinator Todd Monken’s system, Bennett is emerging as one of the best quarterbacks in the SEC, if not the entire FBS. He completed 25 of 31 passes for a career-high 368 yards with two touchdowns in a 49-3 win against Oregon. He also ran for another score. His mobility has always been underappreciated, and he’s proving that his accuracy and arm strength aren’t bad, either. Up next: vs. Samford (Saturday, 4 p.m. ET, SEC Network/ESPN App)
Mark Schlabach
Georgia comes in at No. 1 ahead of Alabama and Ohio State, both teams that are ranked ahead of them in the actual polls. We’ll see if that stands when the AP and Coaches polls are announced later on Tuesday. The Crimson Tide beat Utah State 55-0 as reigning Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young threw for 195 yards and five touchdowns while adding another 100 yards and a score on the ground. Meanwhile, Ohio State edged out Notre Dame 21-10 in what was a top five matchup according to the polls.
As for Georgia, it was a 49-3 beatdown of the then-No. 11 ranked Oregon Ducks at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game. Stetson Bennett threw for a career-high 368 yards and two touchdowns while the defense intercepted Bo Nix twice on the day and kept Oregon out of the end zone for the first time since 2017. Christopher Smith, who had one of those interceptions, was named SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts.
“I was really proud of the way our kids played,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said in his postgame press conference. “We tried to talk about coming out and playing as if we were hunting, and we wanted to play connected football. That was all we talked about all week; we’re going to play connected, we’re going to play aggressive, we’re going to be a hunter. Kids kind of bought into that theme, and they like playing here.”
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“Offensively we did execute at a high level, which when you have an experienced quarterback and you have experienced players, you can do that,” he continued. “I thought Coach Monken and his offensive staff had a good plan. They played well. Defensively we were a little more bend-but-don’t-break. At the half we both had 14 1st downs and really had not stopped them like either team had wanted. Some opportunistic turnovers really helped the defense.”
Georgia is back in action this coming Saturday at home against FCS opponent Samford. Kickoff time is set for 4:00 p.m. ET on the SEC Network.
