Kirby Smart Praised the Crowd After the Bulldogs Dominated No. 8 Arkansas
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ATHENS - Georgia head coach Kirby Smart talks about the No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs' game with No. 8 Arkansas.
Defense Dominates: Georgia’s defense shut out Arkansas, limiting them to 78 yards on 23 plays. This is the fourth time this year that Georgia’s opponents have been shutout at the half. Coming in today, Georgia led the nation in Scoring Defense, allowing just 5.8 points per game. Opponents have scored just 23 points on the Bulldogs this year.
Arkansas’ first possession went two false starts, a rush of two yards, a sack of KJ Jefferson by Devonte Wyatt (his first of year) on KJ Jefferson and then an incompletion for a net of minus 14 yards. Arkansas’ second drive resulted in just one yard on three plays. UA made four first downs on its 3rd drive and then missed a 37-yard field goal. UA’s fourth drive resulted in zero yards on three plays and its next one was another three-and-out for seven yards. UA’s longest play was a 22-yard catch by Raheim Sanders from Jefferson.
Quick Strike For Offense: Georgia QB Stetson Bennett made his second start this year and finished the half 4-for-7 for 54 yards to help build a 24-0 lead. Georgia marched down the field on its opening drive, going 75 yards in nine plays in 4;14 for a 7-0 lead. The drive was capped by a three-yard run by Zamir White, his third of the year and 17th of his career. On the second possession, Georgia went 56 yards on nine plays in 4:38 for another TD, this one by Kendall Milton, his first of career. During this drive, the Bulldogs converted a 4th-and-1 at the 35 when White rushed for three yards. Georgia built a 14-0 lead with 4:34 left in the first quarter.
Coming in Saturday, Arkansas had not allowed any points in the first quarter, outscoring their foes 34-0. Today, Georgia led 21-0 after the first and added a field goal in the second quarter for the 24-0 advantage.
Focused on Rushing Attack: Georgia tallied 193 yards of total offense including 139 on the ground, rushing the ball 29 times. James Cook led the attach with 62 yards on seven carries. Zamir White had 11 for 43 yards and one score.
Special Teams Summary: Senior punter Jake Camarda had one punt for 47 yards and handled the kickoffs. Junior Jack Podlesny was 3-for-3 on PATs to improve to 25-for-25 this season plus he made one field goal covering 47 yards, a season long. He is 5-for-7 in FG this year.
Redshirt sophomore DB Dan Jackson blocked an Arkansas punt, and it was recovered by Zamir White in the end zone to make it 21-0 with 2:17 left in the first quarter. The last time Georgia blocked a punt was against Arkansas last year by Zamir White. The last blocked punt returned for a TD before today was Eric Stokes at Missouri in 2018. Georgia now has five special teams TDs in the Kirby Smart era.
For Starters & Game Captains: Georgia did not have any first-time starter today. The captains were seniors James Cook (RB) and Jamaree Salyer (LT) and junior Christopher Smith (DB). Arkansas won the toss and elected to defer the football until the second half.
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