UGA Football Fans Light Up Sanford Stadium For 2023 Season-Opener
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ATHENS - Kirby Smart and the UGA football team could be playing a lot better, but they currently hold a comfortable 31-0 lead heading into the 4th quarter.
Of course, when it’s night Between the Hedges, the lights come on.
Watch Georgia fans light up Sanford Stadium...
Halftime Notes:
*Defense Posts First Half Shutout: Top-ranked Georgia blanked the Skyhawks on 89 yards as they ran 24 plays. Georgia’s leading tacklers were sophomore Safety Malaki Starks with seven and senior Star Tykee Smith with six including a TFL. Sophomore defensive end Mykel Williams had a sack. Williams led the team last year with 4.5 sacks.
*Offense Nets 17 Points At The Half: Georgia built a 17-0 lead, tallying 248 yards of offense on 42 plays. Junior TE Brock Bowers scored his fifth career rushing TD with a three-yard scamper to put the Bulldogs up 7-0. It capped a 10 play, 76-yard drive in 4:39.Senior Kendall Milton was the leading rusher with 53 yards on nine carries including a 37-yarder in the 2nd quarter. The second TD drive covered 68 yards on seven plays. The Bulldogs added a field goal on its final possession of the second quarter to cap their scoring.
*Starting Role BECKons: Senior QB Carson Beck made his first career start, and in the first half, he was 14-for-21 for 140 yards. Also, he had his first career rushing TD, a four-yarder to make it 14-0 with 4:29 left in the first half.
*Top Targets: The leading receivers were junior TE Brock Bowers (5 rec., 77 yards) and redshirt sophomore TB Cash Jones (career-high 3 rec.,for 28 yards).
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*Special Teams Summary At The Half: True freshman PK Peyton Woodring registered five points, going 2-for-2 on PATs and made a 23-yard field goal with three seconds left in the first half. He is the first true freshman placekicker to make his debut in the season opener since 2012 (Marshall Morgan). Junior Jared Zirkel handled kickoffs. Sophomore Brett Thorson punted three times for a 42.3 average. Redshirt sophomore Mekhi Mews served as the punt returner with two for 19 yards and two fair catches.
*Red Zone Review: Georgia went 3-for-3 in the Red Zone with two TDs and a field goal while UT Martin did not reach the Red Zone.
*Captains, Coin Toss and For Starters: Juniors Brock Bowers (TE), Sedrick Van Pran (C), Javon Bullard (S) and Jamon Dumas-Johnson (ILB) served as the captains. UT Martin won the toss and elected to take the football. Both teams punted on their first possession.
There were three first-time starters on defense: junior Chaz Chambliss (OLB), redshirt sophomore Xavian Sorey (ILB) and sophomore Daylen Everette (CB).There were five first-time starters on offense: junior Carson Beck (QB), sophomore Oscar Delp (TE), redshirt-freshman Earnest Greene III (LT), redshirt sophomore Mekhi Mews (WR) and junior Arian Smith (WR). Also, true freshman Peyton Woodring (PK) made his debut.Van Pran made his team-leading 31st career start.
*Honoring #77 Devin Willock: Senior LG Xavier Truss wore #77 today in honor of his late teammate Devin Willock. A different Bulldog offensive lineman will be wearing #77 each game this season.
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