Georgia Bulldog Star George Pickens Returns To Action Against Georgia Tech
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ATLANTA - The wait is FINALLY over.
Georgia Bulldog star wide receiver George Pickens made his first appearance this year after recovering from an ACL tear that took place back in March.
Pickens has slowly come along week by week, and the third-year star wideout made his big return in Georgia’s final regular season game against Georgia Tech.
With the Bulldogs up 24-0, Pickens came into the ballgame for the first time on their opening drive in the 2nd half, catching a pass for 5 yards.
Halftime notes...
*Defense Posts Another Strong Start: Top-ranked Georgia, the national leader in Scoring Defense (7.5 ppg), blanked Tech in the first half as they became the seventh team this year to be shutout in the first half. Tech had 67 yards of total offense (50-rush, 17 pass) on 29 plays. Coming in today, opponents have scored just 83 total points on the Bulldogs. Georgia collected 5 TFLs and had one sack (Nakobe Dean & Nolan Smith) and the leading tackler was Dean with five.
*Pouring On The Points: Georgia built a 24-0 lead and now is outscoring opponents 308-29 in the first half. Georgia had 272 yards of total offense on 27 plays.
*Bennett Leads Bulldogs: Senior QB Stetson Bennett finished the first half 10-for-15 for 226 yards and 3 TDs. His first nine completions went to nine different Bulldogs including TDs to Jermaine Burton and Ladd McConkey. He got the start for the eighth straight week and ninth time overall this year. He completed a 25-yard scoring strike to Burton for a 10-0 edge to cap an eight play, 80-yard drive and the one to McConkey covered 11 yards to complete a seven play, 87-yard drive and a 17-0 advantage. Then, he fired a 77-yarder to freshman Brock Bowers to cap a 17-second drive in two plays for a 24-0 lead.
*An Array Of Targets: In the first half, nine different Bulldogs caught a pass as they were 10 completions for 226 yards. Sophomore Jermaine Burton notched his fourth TD of the year on a 25-yard completion from Bennett. Redshirt freshman Ladd McConkey caught an 11-yard TD to make it 17-0 for his fourth TD catch of the year. He hit Brock Bowers for a 77-yard TD for the freshman’s ninth TD catch and 10th overall (has one rushing) this season. Bowers led the team with two catches for 91 yards and 1 TD. He now owns the Bulldog record for receiving yards in a season by a tight end with 643 on 36 receptions. The old mark was 574 by Orson Charles on 45 catches in 2011.
*Special Teams Summary: Junior Jack Podlesny went 3-for-3 on PATs and 1-for-1 on field goals, making a 38-yarder. For the year, he is now 58-for-59 on PATs and 17-for-21 in FG. Senior punter Jake Camarda had one punt for 32 yards. Junior Kearis Jackson had two punt returns for 20 yards before leaving in the first half with a rib injury.
*Game Captains/Coin Toss/For Starters: The captains were seniors Jamaree Salyer (OL), Justin Shaffer (OL) and Lewis Cine (DB). Georgia won the toss and deferred the football until the second half. The only first-time starter was junior RB Kenny McIntosh. Junior WR George Pickens saw his first action of the year as he’s been sidelined with a knee injury.
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