WATCH: Georgia Bulldogs Fans "Light Up" Sanford Stadium Against Samford
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ATHENS - Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs are back in Sanford Stadium, and with a 4:00 PM kickoff time, Bulldog fans were able to “Light Up Sanford” somewhat as the Bulldogs took a 30-0 lead into the 4th quarter.
First Half Notes Versus Samford: No. 2 Georgia leads 30-0
First Half Shutout For The Defense: Samford finished the first half with no points on 59 yards of total offense on 23 plays. Late in the second quarter and trailing 23-0, they turned it over on downs at their own 44, which led to a TD. The leading tackler for the Bulldogs at the half was Smael Mondon with three stops and 1.5 TFL. Georgia forced one turnover that led to three points. Last year, the Bulldogs posted seven first-half shutouts.
In the season opener last Saturday against No. 11 Oregon, Georgia limited the Ducks to three points on the day including a goal-line stand with less than two minutes left in the contest. For the day, Oregon ran 68 plays and had 313 yards of total offense. In the first half, the Bulldogs built a 28-3 advantage as the Ducks ran 36 plays for 183 yards of total offense (41-rushing, 142-passing).
Offense In The First Half: The Bulldogs were 6-for-6 in the Red Zone with three TDs and three field goals. Georgia finished with 329 yards of total offense on 47 plays in building a 30-0 lead. Last week in the season opener versus No. 11 Oregon, Georgia went seven-for-seven in the Red Zone with seven touchdowns for the game.
Georgia’s first drive today resulted in a 27-yard field goal and a 3-0 lead with 7:52 left. Georgia converted a pair of third downs until stalling out at the Samford 4. It was a 12 play, 47-yard drive. Following a turnover, Georgia reached the Red Zone again and had to settle for a field goal on a five play, 34-yard drive. Georgia’s third possession resulted in a TD on a three-year rush by QB Stetson Bennett. It capped a 7 play, 71-yard drive in 3:44. It was Bennett’s second rushing TD and sixth of his career. Georgia extended its lead to 19-0 as Bennett directed another 71-yard drive on nine plays capped by a three-yard TD pass to freshman Dillon Bell. Kenny McIntosh had a one-yard run to finish the final scoring drive of the half and a 30-0 lead. It was the second of the year for McIntosh and eighth of his career. It was Bell’s first career TD catch.
In the first half, Bennett was 20-for-28 for 252 yards and one TD plus four rushing yards with one rushing TD.
The leading receiver is Kenny McIntosh with five for 61 yards with Kendall Milton leading all rushers with 43 yards on seven carries.
Podlesny Tallies 12 Points In The FIrst Half: Senior PK Jack Podlesny connected from 27 yards out for his first field goal of the year and a 3-0 lead with 7:51 left in the first quarter. Later in the first quarter, he made a 25-yard field goal for a 6-0 lead. He made a 26-yarder with 5:01 left in the half to make it 23-0. In his career, he is now 15-for-15 in the 20-29-yard range. He made three PATs. Podlesny had six touchbacks on seven kickoffs with one going out of bounds.
For Starters & Game Captains: Georgia had one first-time starter today in freshman Malaki Starks (DB). Samford won the toss and elected to take the ball. Georgia forced the Bulldogs to punt. Senior Warren Ericson (OL), junior Zion Logue (DL), and junior Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint (WR) were the game captains.
Points Off Turnovers: Georgia got three points off one turnover today. In the first quarter, junior Dan Jackson caused a fumble that was recovered by redshirt freshman Xavian Sorey. The Bulldogs are +3 for the year with 17 points off turnovers. In the first half of the season opener against No. 11 Oregon, Georgia converted two interceptions into 14 points.
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Fresh off an impressive 49-3 rout of No. 11 Oregon in Atlanta, third-ranked Georgia (1-0) plays host to Sam- ford (1-0) Saturday at 4 p.m. on the SEC Network. The Bulldogs of Samford upset No. 8 Kennesaw State 27-17 in Birmingham, Ala., on Sept. 1. The Samford Bulldogs are part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).
They are led by Chris Hatcher, who hired Kirby Smart for his first coaching job at Valdosta State in 2000. Smart served as the defensive backs coach, and the defensive coordinator at that time was Will Muschamp. In 2001, Muschamp left to become linebackers coach at LSU and Smart was promoted to defensive coordinator. Georgia is 1-0 all-time versus Samford, winning 42-14 in 2017.
Saturday will mark the home opener for Georgia where the Bulldogs are 368-107-9. In the Smart era, the Bulldogs are 31-4 at home including 29-1 since 2017. Georgia’s .886 winning percentage at home under Smart is the best in school history. The Bulldogs were 3-3 at home in his first season (2016), and the only loss since then came in double overtime to South Carolina in 2019. Georgia has won 12 straight home games.
Georgia has a streak of 58 consecutive sellouts that began Sept. 15, 2012 versus Florida Atlantic. The last non-sellout was Sept. 1, 2012 versus Buffalo. The school record for consecutive sellouts is 64. The record streak began Sept. 1, 2001 versus Arkansas and lasted through Sept. 10, 2011 versus South Carolina.
Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium grew to its current capacity of 92,746 in 2004. It ranks fifth among capacity for SEC stadiums and ninth for largest on-campus stadiums across the country.
STETSON BENNETT HONORED FOR WEEK 1 PERFORMANCE
After helping lead Georgia to the 2021 national championship, senior QB Stetson Bennett returns to the quar- terbacks room in 2022. In this year’s opener, Bennett was named the Walter Camp National FBS Offensive Player of the Week after leading third-ranked Georgia over 11th-ranked Oregon 49-3 during the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game. Bennett was 25 for 31 (80.6 percent) for a career-high 368 yards and two touchdowns to go along with one rushing score. Assuming the spot behind center for three-plus quarters against the Ducks, Bennett helped the Bulldogs go 8-for-8 on third downs while he was in the game. Ten different Georgia players hauled in catches in the season opener.
Bennett is 15-3 as a starter, including getting the nod in the final 11 games last season. He set the school record for Passing Efficiency at 176.7 during the 2021 national title campaign.
GETTING DEFENSIVE
Senior OLB Nolan Smith, redshirt sophomore DB Kelee Ringo and senior S Christopher Smith are the Bull- dogs’ three returning defensive starters from last season’s championship team. Eight Georgia defenders were taken in the 2022 NFL Draft, including the No. 1 overall pick in Travon Walker (Jacksonville) and four others in the First Round (Jordan Davis, Philadelphia; Quay Walker, Devonte Wyatt, Green Bay; Lewis Cine, Minnesota). For the third time in school history, Georgia led the nation in Scoring Defense. The 2021 unit allowed just 10.2 points per game and only 153 total points in 15 games. The 2022 unit allowed just a field goal in the season opener for the second year in a row. This was the first time since 2017 that Oregon failed to score a touchdown in a game.