Georgia Football: Week 5 Report card vs. Tennessee

Georgia Football is now 5-0 after a 38-12 victory at home over Tennessee. How did the team’s performance grade in this game?

Offense: B

Yes, Georgia Football scored 38 points in this game. But two of those touchdowns came late in the game. Tennessee was challenging the Dawgs late when the score was only 24-12. There were many things about the offense that needs to be improved going forward.

As we saw for a second straight week, Georgia’s offense looked sloppy and undisciplined at several points in this game. Missed throws, questionable play calls, penalties, dropped balls, and poor execution are just some of the things that come to mind when assessing the offense’s performance.

The bright spot on offense was D’Andre Swift and Justin Fields scoring two rushing touchdowns each. Hopefully, this gives Swift the boost he needs after a slow start to 2018.

Ben Cleveland’s absence and uncertainty at both guard positions were very evident in this game. The Dawgs have to find a way to develop some chemistry on the offensive line going forward if they want to hold their own against good teams like LSU, Auburn, or Kentucky.

The offense once again just didn’t have good tempo or chemistry in this game. And despite all of that, the team still managed to score 38 points. There’s a lot this team needs to clean up on offense going forward. Hopefully, we will see some improvements this weekend against Vanderbilt.

Defense: A

For the most part, Georgia’s defense was lights out in this game. Tennessee did score two long passing touchdowns in this game but overall the performance was quite a step up from last week’s game against Missouri.

After getting gashed by Missouri’s rushing attack last week, Georgia gave up only 66 rushing yards to the Volunteers. That kind of performance is something we’ve come accustomed to seeing from a Kirby Smart defense.

D’Andre Walker seemed to live in the backfield in this game and was able to register another sack. David Marshall and Keyon Richardson both stood out to me by making some big stops on short down situations. Deandre Baker was his usual self once again and showed he is a true lockdown corner.

The overall performance wasn’t perfect but it was easy to see this unit felt challenged after a poor performance against Missouri last week. Hopefully, we continue to see this young defense improve more and more as each game passes.

Special Teams: A

Rodrigo Blankenship returned to his true form in this game after having two missed field goals in the game against Missouri. He connected on his lone field goal attempt, converted on all five extra points, and had a touchback on all of his kickoffs.

Freshman punter Jake Camarda continues to remain consistent. He averaged over 40 yards per kick on four punts. Consistent special teams play will be critical going forward as the Dawgs continue through the heart of the team’s SEC schedule.