Bulldogs were a beast in first test of the new season
No matter the margin of victory, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart can always find something to critique his team on. After a 45-0 rout of Austin Peay to open the Bulldogs’ season, it was no different.
He took the podium for his postgame press conference after Georgia simply overmatched the underdogs from the Ohio Valley Conference. The Bulldogs’ young defense didn’t allow any points, which Smart gave credit for, and the offense opened a halftime margin of 38-0.
But, as expected, it wasn’t perfect by Smart’s standards.
“I hope we can grow and learn from the mistakes. There are a lot of things we can improve on because, let’s be honest, there are better teams we will play. We can’t do some of the things we did.”
Nevertheless, a 508-yard offensive performance, a rotation of newcomers and a number of roars from the Sanford Stadium crowd gave Georgia a sufficient season-opening win.
Here are three things we learned about the rout of Austin Peay.
Quarterback rotation
Although Smart wouldn’t announce it, Jake Fromm took the first snap as expected to open the season for Georgia. He stayed within Georgia’s basic offensive game plan — a lot of short, underneath passes that allowed the Bulldogs to string together drives.
Georgia made it known not to reveal an excess of its offensive prowess with the SEC opener at South Carolina coming Saturday. But, against the mismatch of an opponent in Austin Peay, it worked. Fromm’s first seven completions went to six different receivers, the running backs were used in the passing game and his first touchdown was a 10-yard completion to Riley Ridley.
Fromm finished 12-for-16 with 157 yards and two touchdowns.
“The offense was really clicking today,” Fromm said. “It was really the running backs and wide receivers who were making the plays for us.”
Fromm played the entire first quarter, then his action became more sporadic before he was sidelined in the second half. He gave way to the true freshman Justin Fields, a former five-star recruit who presents a dual-threat capability at the position.
Fields displayed his running abilities with 33 yards on three carries. He added his first career touchdown on a 12-yard completion to tight end Isaac Nauta and finished 7-for-8 with 63 yards.
“We have two good quarterbacks and they both got better today,” Smart said. “The way they get better is by playing. We will make those decisions based off of every game.”
Strong showing, but targeting from Cook
Georgia had 19 of its true freshmen play in the season opener, and one of which was the frequently discussed running back James Cook. He saw action on the Bulldogs’ first drive on a pass completion, but his workload thickened in the second half.’
Throughout preseason practices, many of his teammates highlighted Cook’s speed, footwork and ability to create problems for opposing defenses. He recorded 66 yards on six carries in the win, including a long burst of 36 yards.
“I thought he did a great job,” said fellow running back D’Andre Swift, who had 11 touches in the first quarter. “Especially a young guy knowing what his assignment is so he could do it to the best of his ability.”
Then, things turned unfortunate for Cook on punt coverage late in the fourth quarter. Mecole Hardman had been in the spot throughout the course of the game, but Smart opted to make a substitution for the freshman and Cook was involved in a targeting penalty seconds later.
As a result, Cook will miss the first half of the South Carolina game. Georgia will be down to three scholarship running backs until the second half.
“It was just a poor decision,” Smart said. “The kid was playing tough, a lot of effort. We were actually subbing out. … “He didn’t see the fair catch so it wasn’t like it was intent to harm. I never saw the fair catch myself, so we didn’t think he fair-caught it.”
Campbell gets the nod
Earlier in the week, Georgia defensive end David Marshall was asked which freshman he was most excited to see in the Bulldogs’ opener. His response was Tyson Campbell, a former five-star cornerback recruit, and Marshall’s sentiment echoed that of his coaches and teammates.
Smart opted to give Campbell the starting nod because he was “the best guy” to fill the role opposite Deandre Baker. Campbell rotated at the position with sophomore Eric Stokes and others, but recorded three tackles and a pass break-up.
Once more, the freshman drew more support from his elder teammates.
“He’s very mature,” Georgia safety J.R. Reed said. “It’s very surprising and it’s very rare to see a corner freshman start like that and play like the way he did today.”
Look ahead
The leisure games are over for Georgia, at least for a week. Now, things toughen up for the Bulldogs as they head to Columbia, South Carolina. In the preseason, the Gamecocks were projected to finish second in the SEC East behind Georgia, so this matchup serves as one of the season’s most crucial.
Smart has an opportunity to go 3-0 against the Gamecocks in his tenure and was able to squeeze out a last-minute victory at Williams-Brice Stadium in 2016.
South Carolina opened its season with a 49-15 win over Coastal Carolina and features multiple highly regarded offensive weapons including quarterback Jake Bentley and wide receiver Deebo Samuel.
Georgia’s contest with South Carolina will kickoff at 3:30 Saturday.
“It’s going to excite me because it’s the second game of the season,” Georgia graduate transfer Jay Hayes said. “We will get to play our physical brand of football.”
This story was originally published September 2, 2018 at 3:48 PM with the headline "Bulldogs were a beast in first test of the new season."