Georgia football: new stars emerge in win over Middle Tennessee

Georgia football whopped Middle Tennessee 49-7 with a hot second quarter and big plays from emerging superstars.

A win was expected. Big plays were also on the menu. But who would have guessed that so many players would step up to have the biggest games of their Georgia football careers? While others began to cement their legacies as Georgia legends.

The Dawgs scored on six of their 10 possessions, and only failed to scored twice in each half. Though Georgia rested many starters and second stringers in the second half after taking a 49-7 lead.

The first star to emerge was Elijah Holyfield. This has been building for the last two weeks, but Holyfield exploded with a 66-yard-run on Georgia’s opening possession. He finished the day with the first 100-yard-game of his Bulldog career, and Georgia finished that drive with a Mecole Hardman touchdown catch from Jake Fromm.

Deandre Baker intercepted his second pass of the season later in the first quarter. He returned the ball past midfield to the 49-yard-line. Six plays later Fromm threw his second touchdown pass of the day. This time, the recipient was Jeremiah Holloman for his first career touchdown catch. Holloman led the team with three catches for 90 yards, he caught a 65-yard-pass later in the game. With five catches for 112 yards so far in 2018, the former four-star from the 2017 is beginning to show his potential.

Justin Fields entered the game on the Bulldog’s next drive and his first pass was a 20 yarder to Isaac Nauta. The junior tight end finished the game with four catches for 47 yards, his best day since the 2016 Vanderbilt game. Tyler Simmons then proved he is more than just a blocker with a 56-yard touchdown run. The longest play of the juniors career.

Hardman made the score 28-0 with a 70-yard punt return . He ended the game with 111 total yards and two touchdowns. He played like the darkhorse Heisman candidate I called him last Friday. He should be a finalist for several other post season awards this year.

The Blue Raiders scored their lone-touchdown on their ensuing possession, but Georgia answered with two big passes by Fromm. First the 56 yarder to Holloman to get the drive going, and then a 12-yard pass to Riley Ridley for a touchdown. Fields returned to end the first half and he completed the possession with his first-career touchdown run. He ended the day 6-of-8 for 71 yards with three careers for 31 yards, and two total touchdowns. He finished with a touchdown pass to Jayson Stanley that extended the score to 49-7. That was also Stanley’s first career touchdown.

Overall, the Dawgs racked up 484 yards, much more than Middle Tennessee’s 288. Georgia was very balanced with 261 rushing yards and 233 passing yards. After three games, Georgia has scored 135 total points, good for an average of 45 per game. The defense is complimenting them well with 24 points allowed for a 8 average.