Report Card: Georgia swats Tech 37-14

Georgia it made it 12 straight wins and eight straight unexciting quarters of football with a 37-14 win over Georgia Tech on Saturday. The Bulldogs honored around two dozen seniors, allowed a touchdown on the opening drive, and reeled off 37-straight points to put the game away.

As has become the norm of late, there were ups and downs for Kirby Smart’s team — a lot of good and some bad. We’ve watched the game more than once at this juncture. We’re also ready to dole out grades to each position unit win this week’s report card.

Georgia quarterbacks

How much of Stetson Bennett’s play the past couple of weeks is due to Georgia dialing it back and going conservative? The Bulldogs haven’t really played a game this season where they’ve cut the senior quarterback loose and felt bad about it. But he didn’t play well against Georgia Tech and it looked a lot like what we saw against Kentucky without the one head-scratching throw into coverage. He did some good things with his legs but Bennett wasn’t at all happy with his own play after the game. Carson Beck didn’t do much with limited action, completing one pass and fumbling once. Grade: C

UGA running backs

Massive game from Kenny McIntosh, who racked up 177 total yards. He’s doing such a good job of finding the running room and getting through the first tackle at full speed. Daijun Edwards averaged almost eight yards per carry. Kendall Milton needed just four totes to get to 56 yards and he looks incredibly quick since coming back from that groin injury. Grade: A

Georgia receivers and tight ends

There just wasn’t a ton of involvement. Brock Bowers was targeted a lot and got into the end zone once but only posted 20 receiving yards. Georgia used him as a fullback to punch it out of its own end zone, too. Darnell Washington had one catch. The receivers had three catches combined. It just wasn’t an active day for the passing game. Washington blocked really well in the run game and there were some tremendous perimeter blocks thrown by Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint, who caught a touchdown, and Ladd McConkey. Grade: B+

UGA offensive line

I wasn’t all that impressed with the play of the offensive line in real time. Georgia was obviously moving the ball and breaking off some big gains, but I just didn’t notice anything in terms of movement. I must missed it because when I watched a second time, Georgia kind of mauled Georgia Tech up front more often than not. The Bulldogs’ guard play was MUCH improved over last week. The pass protection was also strong. Short-yardage was a little better but still not great. Grade: B+

Georgia defensive line

Tech had its way on its opening possession. It went right down the field and blocked Georgia well. The Bulldogs got better from there on out and almost seemed to wear on the Yellow Jacket offensive line. Mykel Williams, Tyrion Ingram Dawkins, and Bear Alexander all flashed. Jalen Carter added another tackle for loss. Nazir Stackhouse also played really well despite not having major presence on the stat sheet. Grade: A-

UGA linebackers

The inside linebacker play was tremendous. Smael Mondon gets better every week and led the Bulldogs in tackles again on Saturday. He’s making more plays in the backfield as the season progresses. Jamon Dumas-Johnson was also excellent and Trezmen Marshall made some nice plays.

The outside linebacker play was very spotty. Robert Beal played well. He affected the quarterback a few times and played the run well. Marvin Jones Jr. got in late and picked up a sack. But Chaz Chambliss really struggled. He lost contain on the Georgia Tech touchdown on the opening drive. He missed the quarterback at the line of scrimmage later in the game. It was a tough outing for the sophomore linebacker. Overall, the group played quite well. Grade: B+

Georgia defensive backs

Tough day for the Bulldog secondary. They gave up four plays of 20 yards or more and two of 30 yards or more. Javon Bullard was beaten on the opening drive. Malaki Starks got beat later on. Kelee Ringo had a questionable pass interference penalty, a big missed tackle, and a few short passes given up. Chris Smith also had some issues. Kamari Lassiter was the only guy back there who got out pretty clean. The group gave up some plays but it also made some. Ringo broke up three passes, Tykee Smith had a tackle and a half for loss, and Starks got more involved near the line of scrimmage. Grade: B

UGA special teams

This was a big difference in the game. Brett Thorson had a great day with another punt downed near the opponent’s goal line. Jack Podlesny was fantastic in what might have been his last game in Sanford Stadium. He connected on all three of his field goal attempts with one of those coming from 50 yards out. Ladd McConkey wasn’t very productive on offense this week but he had two punt returns for 53 yards with a long of 39. Georgia also got a decent kickoff return from Kearis Jackson. Grade: A

Georgia vs. Tech overall…

The Bulldogs can play better. It’s fair to say that they can play a lot better. It’s hard to know what is up with the conservative game plans the past two weeks. Against Kentucky it was a weather thing. That made more sense. Doing it again against Georgia Tech didn’t really add up. But the Bulldogs were explosive and dominated the game after allowing the touchdown to open the game. Special teams stepped up when needed and made a big-time difference. That’s the mark of a championship team. Grade: B