Georgia football had as good of an opening weekend as they could've expected by defeating Tennessee State 63-3. While it is not all that surprising considering the Dawgs were favored by over 47 points, the competition gets slightly more difficult in week two as they face off at home against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers.
Tennessee State is an FCS team and now Georgia will face the Hilltoppers of the CUSA, an FBS D1 conference. While this game should also be a breeze for Georgia, there are three Bulldogs to pay close attention to this Saturday.
1. QB Ryan Puglisi
With Ryan Puglisi's experience and being put in immediately following Gunner Stockton last week, it is worth assuming that the QB2 position is his to lose. Ryan Montgomery and Hezekiah Millender also had solid games last week with Montgomery throwing a 54-yard touchdown strike and Millender showing off his legs and dual threat ability.
Puglisi had a solid game for the time he had to play, but he could easily lose that spot with one or two bad performances upcoming. It is likely that Stockton will get pulled early in this game again, so keep a close eye on Puglisi when he takes the field in Athens.
2. OL Zykie Helton
It may come as a surprise to see a true freshman offensive lineman on this list, but Zykie Helton deserves that level of respect and more. Helton joined a short list of elite Bulldogs who can say they started as true freshmen on the offensive line under Kirby Smart which consists of Andrew Thomas and Juan Gaston, who started a few games last year due to several injuries on the line.
Helton not only started week one, he shined. It is fair to say it is not all that impressive against a team like Tennessee State, but he had little to no mental errors as a true freshman playing in Athens in front of 93,000 people. He also paved a huge hole for Nate Frazier on his first touchdown of the season.
Helton was only a three-star recruit coming out of high school, making the Georgia native's impressive debut that much more special.
3. LB Justin Williams
Justin Williams was one of few defensive players that played nearly the entire game for the Bulldogs last week. The junior linebacker was a highly sought after recruit coming out of high school and committed to the Bulldogs. Despite being behind guys like CJ Allen and Jalon Walker, Williams never transferred and stuck it out in Athens. Now, he has been given several opportunities to start and be a leader at Georgia.
Though he did not have many electric plays, he had a very solid performance against Tennessee State as he had three total tackles and one tackle for loss. It will be fun to see what Williams can do in the second game of the season against slightly better competition, but he is already showing signs that he could be a leader for the Bulldogs' defense this season.
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