News and Notes: Stetson Bennett Shows Vulnerability In Beat Down by Alabama
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TUSCALOOSA - #3 Georgia Football Postgame Notes Vs. #2 Alabama, Oct. 17, 2020.
*Bennett Directs The Offense: Junior Stetson Bennett (18-for-40, 269 yards, 2 TDs, 3 INTs) directed No. 3 Georgia to a 24-20 half-time advantage but No. 2 UA outscored Georgia 21-0 in the second half for a 41-24 win. The Bulldogs finished with 414 yards of offense on 70 plays.
Down 7-0, Bennett led an 8-play, 57-yard TD drive in 2:40 capped by a 10-yard rush by Zamir White, his fifth of the year and eighth of career. Bennett connected on an 82-yard TD to James Cook, career-highs for both, and it makred the longest TD pass by the Bulldogs since a school record 98-yarder in 2013 from Aaron Murray to Reggie Davis versus North Texas. Following the PAT, it made it 14-7 Georgia. With the scored tied at 17, Bennett led a 12 play, 66-yard TD drive in 2:43, converting a 3rd-and-goal to freshman Jermaine Burton with a five-yard TD pass.
*A Look At The Defense: Coming in, Georgia led the SEC and ranked fifth nationally in Scoring Defense at 12.3 points per game while Alabama led the nation in Scoring Offense at 51.0 points per game. In the first half today, Georgia held No. 2 Alabama to 20 points on 298 yards of total offense on 41 plays. However in the second half, UA scored 21 points including getting 14 off turnovers and finished the game with 564 yards of total offense on 76 plays. UA hit a 90-yard TD pass to Jaylen Waddle for a 27-24 lead with 4:00 left in the 3rd quarter.
*Special Teams Summary Includes NCAA Record For Consecutive PATs: Redshirt sophomore PK Jack Podlesny hit a 50-yard field goal for a 17-10 lead with 5:42 left in the first half, missed a 35-yarder in the 4th quarter, and he was 3-for-3 on PATs. Georgia now has made an NCAA record 306 consecutive PATs with the streak including six kickers dating back to 2014. Auburn did hold the mark of 304 that ended last year. Podlesny is 8-for-10 in field goals including hitting a pair from 50-plus yards.
Junior punter Jake Camarda finished with four punts for a 49.0 average, placing three inside the 20 and two going for for 50+ yards. He also served as the kickoff specialist tonight for the first time in his career. Coming in tonight, Camarda ranked No. 1 nationally in punting (51.4 avg.) and Net Punting (47.7). UA had just one punt return for 2 yards. Sophomore Zamir White had two kickoff returns for 58 yards. Redshirt sophomore Kearis Jackson had two kickoff returns for 56 yards. White finished with 57 rushing yards on 10 attempts.
*Tonight’s Leading Receivers: Junior running back James Cook established career-highs as he tallied four catches for 101 yards (all in the first half) including an 82-yarder for a TD. Sophomore George Pickens had five for 53 yards. Freshman Jermaine Burton had a five-yard TD, the first of his career, on a 3rd-and-Goal to make it 24-17. He finished with four for 58 yards, both career-high.
*Points Off Turnovers: Georgia got no points on one turnover while UA got 21 points off three Bulldog miscues.
Richard LeCounte got his team-leading third interception of the year on the first play of the game at the UA 41. It led to an eventual interception on a tipped pass at the line at the UA 42.
*For Starters: Senior DT Julian Rochester made his 20th career start but his first since 2018. The longest active starting streak on offense belongs to center Trey Hill now with 22 while Richard LeCounte leads the defense with 22 straight.
*Captains: Georgia senior Monty Rice, junior Jamaree Salyer and redshirt sophomore Azeez Ojulari served as the captains. The Bulldogs won the toss and elected to defer until the second half.
*Series History And Another Ranked Foe: With the 41-27 victory, No. 2 Alabama now leads the all-time series 41-25-4 including 8-2 edge in Tuscaloosa. Tonight marked No. 3 Georgia’s third straight game facing a top 15 foe after posting wins over No. 7 Auburn and No. 14 Tennessee. Overall, Georgia is 9-5 in Top-10 showdowns in the CKS era.
*Up Next: Georgia (3-1) is now off next Saturday and will face Kentucky, Sat., Oct. 31 in Lexington at Noon, per the SEC’s announced schedule change yesterday.