Report Card: Georgia beats Kent State 39-22

Georgia fans will be stewing over the next few days but they’ll be the first to tell you that they would prefer to do that over an ugly win than a loss. The Bulldogs fell way short of impressive in their 39-22 victory over Kent State.

We definitely weren’t impressed in real time and after an extra look at the game, little has changed. So let’s go through and grade each position in our weekly report card.

Georgia quarterbacks

Stetson Bennett got all the work and had his sloppiest game of the season. He threw his first interception and didn’t have a passing touchdown. Bennett did, however, run one in from a yard out. He did some positive things with his arm and legs but it wasn’t anywhere near his best showing. Grade: C+

UGA running backs

Kenny McIntosh was having a solid game on the ground before getting dinged up. We saw a couple more broken tackles than in previous weeks. Daijun Edwards ran the football really well in the second half. Kendall Milton had some ups but also some struggles, especially with his decision making in the open field. Grade: B

Georgia receivers and tight ends

Brock Bowers was, once again, a force to be reckoned with. He piled up over 100 yards of total offense once again and two more rushing touchdowns. Darnell Washington was also excellent both as a receiver and blocker.

The Georgia wideouts, however, had some problems. Ladd McConkey had a drop and a fumble. Both were huge in a bad way. Dillon Bell also had a drop. If we were just grading the receivers, it would be a C-. If we were just grading the tight ends, it would be A+. Let’s meet in the middle. Grade: B

UGA offensive line

I saw a lot of complaining about the offensive line after the game and outside of the two crucial penalties, I didn’t see much to complain about. The Bulldogs protected the passer well for the most part. The Georgia running backs had room to get going with the front five pushing Kent State off the ball, as it should. The two penalties, however, had a major impact on this game. Grade: B

Georgia defensive line

It was the tale of two halves. The defensive line held the point of attack, maintained their gaps, and let the linebackers run in the first half. Kent State couldn’t really get anything going on the ground. The defensive front leaked a lot more in the second half, though. Bear Alexander saw the most action of his career and showed promise. Grade: B

UGA linebackers

Jamon Dumas-Johnson was a force in the first half with two sacks and three tackles for loss. He finished the game with six solo tackles. He tapered off some in the second but Smael Mondon had an active final two quarters. None of the other inside linebackers flashed, really.

Nolan Smith picked up his first sack of the season and pressured the quarterback some. Robert Beal saw plenty of action and played the run well. Grade: B

Georgia defensive backs

Too many explosive plays and too many poor angles from this group. The safeties had a really tough go of it with pursuit angles. It led to poor tackling and more chunk plays than the Bulldogs normally give up. Javon Bullard did a good job from his STAR position and was probably the one guy who really stood out. Kelee Ringo also seemed to have a really solid game. Grade: C+

UGA special teams

The blocked punt was a big highlight and a nice play by Georgia freshman Jalon Walker. Jack Podlesny made all three of his field goal opportunities and he kicked off really well.

Special teams was pretty awful other than those two aspects. The return game got very little going. In fact, it hurt more than it helped with McConkey muffing a punt that led to Kent State’s first three points of the game. Then Georgia allowed a successful fake punt for the second week in a row. Smart definitely isn’t happy with this aspect of the team. Grade: C-