Georgia Bulldogs run to rout over Troy: Quick game reaction, grades

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The Georgia Bulldogs absolutely obliterated the Troy Trojans, 66-0, at Sanford Stadium today, but it wasn’t all peaches and cream for the home team.

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Running Game: The Georgia running game gets an A+ of course. Todd Gurley only saw action for one series before he sat down, and still managed to get 73 yards on six carries. He was the one that got everything started for Georgia after a shaky defensive series to open the game.

Sony Michel…welcome to the big time. The freshman ran for 155 yards and three touchdowns on 10 carries, including a 75-yard scamper that he almost broke for another score.

The other backs, Nick Chubb (and his right hand club), Brendan Douglas and Keith Marshall, all made big contributions as well.

However, Marshall did get carried off the field by trainers after being awkwardly tackled on a run up the middle. It looked like his right knee took the brunt of the tackle, and he wasn’t happy. No word yet as to the severity.

Passing Game: The Georgia passing attack was clean and efficient, but anything but electric. Give them a B-

Hutson Mason looked the same has he did in the first two games, making accurate and clean passes on the short routes, but really nothing challenging the Troy receivers deep down the field. He ended the day in the 3rd quarter, going 8/12 for 97 yards and two touchdowns.

When backups Brice Ramsey and Faton Bauta entered the game, things didn’t slow down. Ramsey had a couple of chances to show off his arm strength and looked good, while Bauta was also efficient with his two completions, but was even more impressive with how he ran the ball.

Run Defense: Troy only ran for 47 yards in the game, but that wasn’t unexpected. A- just because of the competition.

This is Troy, and they were going to look to pass the ball no matter what. But Georgia’s front seven looked strong, and pursued well. Didn’t see them lose contain on any back trying to get to the edge. Lots of tackles for loss which is exactly what this defensive line needs to do.

Pass Defense:  Here’s where the game got a bit scary. C-

Troy game out of the gate passing the ball and passing it well. A poorly judged targeting call on J.J. Green that got him ejected from the game didn’t help. Quincy Mauger was also injured early in the game, so the already thin secondary was really stretched out.

But even with that, the hardly fleet-footed Troy receivers were still able to find a lot of soft spots and make some easy catches. As the game progressed, the pass defense tightened up somewhat. but Georgia still should never have given up 169 passing yards to Troy and their backup quarterback, Dontreal Pruitt.

Special Teams: A couple of years ago this was a real concern. Not now. A+

Great coverage on both kickoffs, with 25 yards being the longest return given up. Punt coverage on Georgia’s two total punts was clean as well.

Isaiah McKenzie had his breakout game, contributing not only as a wide receiver, but also in the kicking game, returning two punts for 53 yards, and one touchdown. Reggie Davis added a 51-yard punt return that nearly was broken for a score.

Marshall Morgan was flawless kicking the ball, and punter Collin Barber didn’t even have to break a sweat.

All in all it was a quality win, but the potential injuries to Keith Marshall and Quincy Mauger have to be conerning, as was the inability once again of the secondary to keep receivers covered.