Thoughts From The Box: Georgia Football QB Gunner Stockton Leads The Way In Big Win
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ATHENS - It wasn’t the cleanest game we’ve seen from Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs, but a win is a win and the Dawgs are now 5-0 on the season after a sound 38-14 victory.
They didn’t play to their standard, but they took Vanderbilt’s best shot and still took home a 24-point win.
The offense had major issues on the ground through the first three quarters, rushing for just under 100 yards before the final quarter started.
Defensively Glenn Schumann’s group was extremely poor on 3rd down and simply didn’t play at an elite level.
With Jared Curtis out Vanderbilt veteran Blaze Berlowitz led the offense and gave the Bulldog defense fits at times. He was effectively with his legs and came up with some key throws on 3rd down, ending the day with 190 passing yards and 37 rushing yards.
As well as he played at times, he just couldn’t score with Stockton and the Bulldog offense.
After an unimpressive game against Oklahoma last week Stockton bounced back with an extremely efficient game against the Commodores. Vanderbilt stacked the box and halted Georgia’s running game early on, putting pressure on Stockton to lead the offense through the air.
And Stockton delivered.
The senior ended the game 25/32 for 295 yards and three touchdowns. He made one of the best throws of his career early on as he hit a covered Landon Roldan 55-yards down the field that led to a one-yard touchdown on the next play.
Stockton thrived, but the running game was non-existent through the first three quarters. There was not a lot of push up front by the offensive line and nowhere to run between the tackles. That has to change if the Bulldogs want to leave Tuscaloosa with a win next weekend.
The game was never in doubt. They had some not so great moments but also hit some explosive plays, stepped up when they needed to defensively, and delivered the knockout punch in the 4th quarter.
It wasn’t always pretty, but we finally saw what this team can do in the second half and in the final quarter. The Bulldogs went touchdown, field goal, touchdown to start the second half and sent the ‘Dores home.
The Bulldogs didn’t necessarily look like the best team in the country today. There’s a lot to clean up on both sides of the ball before they take on an Alabama team out for blood. To come out alive next weekend the Bulldogs will need a healthy Nate Frazier and more impressive quarterback play.
They’ll also need to clean up things defensively. While they dominated in the second half, they still left too many receivers open down the field and they need the first defender to get the ball-carrier down more consistently.
Still, while we’ve seen them play better, the Bulldogs won decisively. They took care of business, got excellent play from their quarterback, and did not give up a single point in the second half.
Now, it’s on to Alabama. This Georgia team isn’t perfect, but you can expect them to be ready for what’s in front of them next weekend.
