UGA Football Fans Celebrate Georgia's Big Lead Heading Into 4th Quarter
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ATHENS - The Georgia Bulldogs have a comfortable 45-0 lead heading into the 4th quarter of their game against Ball State.
It’s a day game, so there are no lights lighting up Sanford Stadium, but Bulldog fans are still ready to celebrate.
*Defense Posts Another First Half Shutout: For the second straight week, top-ranked Georgia blanked its opponent in the first half. Today, Ball State was limited to 68 yards on 26 plays with 55 through the air and 13 yards on the ground. Last week, Georgia shut out UT Martin until 6:39 left in the contest when they scored a TD on a nine-yard completion. Last week in the first half, UT Martin was held to 89 yards on 24 plays.
Georgia’s leading tacklers were senior star Tykee Smith with three, 1.5 TFL and an INT while junior Smael Mondon had three stops. Sophomore Malaki Starks notched his first INT of the season and third of his career. He gave the Bulldogs the football at their own 22 with 12:41 left in the 2nd quarter with Georgia leading 7-0. It led to TD. Later in the quarter, junior LB Chaz Chambliss notched his first career INT. That led to a TD (two plays, 30 yards in 51 seconds)) and a 21-0 advantage. Senior Tykee Smith notched his first INT (on a PBU by Daylen Everette) as a Bulldog and fifth of his career. He took it to the BSU 20, and it led to a TD. Georgia scored 21 points off three turnovers. The last time Georgia had three interceptions in a game was last season in a 48-7 road win over South Carolina.
*Special Teams Spark: Redshirt sophomore Mekhi Mews served as the punt returner with a 69-yarder for a TD, the first by a Bulldog since 2018 when Mecole Hardman took one 70 yards to paydirt against Middle Tennessee. Also today, Mews had one kickoff return for a career-long 42 yards. True freshman PK Peyton Woodring registered seven points, going 4-for-4 on PATs and 1-2 on field goals (made 35-yarder, missed 28-yarder). Junior Jared Zirkel handled kickoffs. Sophomore Brett Thorson punted once for a 37.0 average.
*Offensive Higlights In The First Half: Georgia amassed 235 yards of total offense on 39 plays in building a 31-0 advantage with all the points coming in the 2nd quarter. The 31-point outburst was the most in a quarter by the Bulldogs since scoring 35 in the first quarter at Vanderbilt in 2021. Junior QB Carson Beck finished the first half 15-for-21 for 153 yards and 1 TD plus had four rushes for 16 yards. Sophomore WR Dillon Bell had his first career carry, good for 10 yards and a first down in the first quarter. His second carry resulted in a 21-yard TD scamper and a 21-0 edge. He was the team’s leading rusher. Senior Kendall Milton capped the scoring with his 10th career rushing TD.
*Multiple Targets: Ten Bulldogs caught a pass in the first half, and the leading receivr was junior Dominic Lovett with four for 29 yards. Senior Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint (2 rec., 17 yards, 1 TD) had his first TD of the year and fourth of his career, this one covering seven yards.
*Red Zone Review: Georgia went 3-for-4 in the Red Zone with two TD, one field goal (35-yarder) and one missed field goal (28-yarder) while Ball State did not reach the Red Zone.
*Captains, Coin Toss and For Starters: Seniors Zion Logue (DL), Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint (WR) and Tykee Smith (Star) along with redshirt sophomore Tate Ratledge (RG) served as the game captains. Georgia won the toss, elected to take the football and then missed a field goal.. There were no first-time starters on offense or defense. Junior center Sedrick Van Pran made his team-leading 32st career start.
*Honoring #77 Devin Willock: Junior center Sedrick Van Pran, normally #63, 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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