Three in-depth takeaways from the Georgia football victory over Samford

Georgia football easily won its second game of the season, and while it wasn’t the prettiest victory, it still counts. The Dawgs took a very vanilla approach to the Samford game plan, and while it worked, there were times that Georgia should have made a big moment happen and didn’t.

A vanilla win is just as good as one that fans find more exciting — winning by 33 points is good regardless of the opponent.

Georgia fans should know this performance can be something to work off of, but at the same time, the Dawgs are sitting in a good spot after Week 2.

Just look at what almost happened to Alabama and did happen to Texas A&M and Florida. Right now, Georgia looks like the best team in the country. No, they are the best.

Georgia football won easily, but these are our three in-depth takeaways from the Week 2 victory.

The Dawgs needed to have some struggles to stay humble, which is the best way to describe this week’s victory. A vanilla 33-point win is something a team will take any day, no matter what the “eye test” provides. Georgia has things to work on, but those things are fixable.

Head coach Kirby Smart was disappointed with his team’s performance, and he should be because stalling out on offense is never something you want to see, but at the same time, it wasn’t detrimental.

After rewatching the game, here are the three biggest takeaways.

Georgia football put a lot of bodies on the field.

The Dawgs did not shy away from rotating players throughout the game. Georgia used 81 players in this game, which was great. Getting younger guys on the field is important for the future. Plus, getting those inexperienced players on the field who the Dawgs might need was even more crucial for this team’s success.

At one point in the game, there were 10 true freshmen playing defense for Georgia. That number is crazy to think about, but at the same time, they didn’t give up any points.

Georgia has so much depth, and it’s important to get those reserve players more time on the field so they can handle the pressure when their number gets called. The Dawgs need to rotate players until they find the best and the ones who will give Georgia the best chance to win.

Rotating players and utilizing 81 bodies is why Georgia plays teams like Samford. Who cares if it was only 33 points, it’s a win not just literally but for what this team could build into the rest of the year.

Georgia football showed a good but vanilla offensive performance

A frustrating 33-point win is something that not many people can brag about, but Georgia fans are doing just that. Yes, Georgia went 7-of-7 last week against Oregon scoring seven consecutive touchdowns, but it wasn’t quite the same this week.

There were a lot of drops and a few bad passes from the quarterbacks. However, it wasn’t flat-out terrible. It just wasn’t as crisp as what we saw in Week 1. There are ebbs and flows in a season, the weather could have played a part, or maybe it was the conservative game plan — regardless, Georgia scored 33 points.

Yes, 15 of those points came from Jack Podlesney, but it’s important to have him feeling confident in his kicks for big-game moments. Did he miss a 54-yarder? Yup, but that is a long kick that he probably could have made with just a bit more juice.

Starting quarterback Stetson Bennett went 24-of-34 for 300 yards and one touchdown. He also ran for one score, so the Mailman once again provided a strong performance that led to a victory.

This performance is his fourth consecutive 300-yard game dating back to the Michigan semifinal matchup.

Bennett still completed 70% of his passes, which is an impressive number, but there were a few bad choices, overthrows, and he wasn’t as sharp. It’s truly nothing to worry about because while it wasn’t phenomenal, it was still a great performance.

The Dawgs saw 15 receivers catch at least one pass. Georgia is using so many weapons and some of those drops came from younger players, or an incomplete pass came because a guy didn’t lay out, so it wasn’t all that bad.

Oh, did we mention Georgia collected 149 yards on the ground, with Kendall Milton averaging 8.5 yards a touch? Georgia would have had more rushing yards if it weren’t for a sack on Bennett and Carson Beck losing five yards. The Dawgs averaged four yards a touch, which isn’t great, but it helped keep the chains moving as Georgia recorded 25 first downs.

Georgia’s offensive line could have gotten a better push up front, but they rotated so many it was understandable why it sometimes stalled or looked bad.

It was frustrating to see Georgia not hang 50-plus points on Samford, but fans’ whole eye-test fascination is a bit skewed. Georgia did its job, and while it was far from pretty, it resulted in another blowout win.

Deep breath, Georgia fans — practice this week will knock off any cobwebs and ego out of this team.

Georgia football can work with this defense

The Dawgs pitched its first shutout of the season and didn’t give up a touchdown for the second week.

The Dawgs are doing a great job at containing their opponents to have so many young and inexperienced guys on this side of the ball. South Carolina will provide a much tougher test than Samford did, but the important thing to remember here is growth.

Georgia held Samford to 128 total yards, including just 19 on the ground. After Week 2 of the season, the Dawgs rank No.1 nationally in scoring defense, giving up just 1.5 points per game.

The Dawgs rank No.1 in the SEC in total defense, giving up 220 yards on average, No. 3 in pass defense with 140 yards and No. 5 in rush defense with 79.5 yards. So it’s another strong start defensively for Georgia, and the season has barely begun.

Georgia didn’t give up a touchdown late, and they played aggressively against the Bulldogs. Head coach Kirby Smart should be proud of this side of the ball because of the shutout and for them to only give up one third down conversion all game. Samford hung 52-points on Florida last year and isn’t an easy offense to shut down, but Georgia did it with ease.

The Dawgs haven’t caused as much havoc in terms of tackles for loss or sacks, but they forced another fumble this week. Mykel Williams recorded the first sack of the season, and Smael Mondon led the team with 1.5 tackles for loss. So it wasn’t great, but it’s getting better.

Mondon led the team with four tackles, three of which were solo, so he is getting better, but this entire defense has shown some growth as a whole. Regardless of the level of play, the Dawgs fought hard the last two weeks and to not give up a touchdown while so many other opponents are dropping a ton of points — it’s a good sign.

It’s early, but Georgia fans should be excited about this defense because it’s a solid unit. This group has a chip on its shoulder, showing how hard they fight each play. The pressure, sacks, and tackles for a loss will come as the season progresses because this group will continue to come together and form that connection.

Georgia is now 2-0 on the season and will hit the road for its first SEC matchup of the year against South Carolina. The Dawgs look like the best team in the country right now, and they can solidify that argument even more by putting the Gamecocks in their place.