Staff Writer
ATLANTA — We didn't know what we knew back on Sept. 4, when Christopher Smith returned an interception for a touchdown and the defense led Georgia to a 10-3 grind-it-out win over then-No. 2 Clemson in the Duke's Mayo Classic in Charlotte, N.C.
OK, we knew that this might be a really good Bulldog defense. But the rest — the offense, special teams, injuries, the schedule, this bounce and that deflection, the million unknowns that are slowly revealed from the start of September through the end of November — we had to wait and wonder and watch.
We know a lot more now, including how crazy good this defense actually is.
Georgia has been the No. 1 team in the land since the middle of October, and the Bulldogs have played like it week after week. There's strength in numbers and Georgia's greatest strength may be its numbers, the incredible depth of talent it has all over the field. Perhaps nowhere is that strength more evident than on the defensive line, where good plays are crushed before they have a chance to develop.
On Saturday, the top-ranked Bulldogs wrapped up a perfect regular season with a 45-0 swatting of overmatched Georgia Tech at Bobby Dodd Stadium. It was a fun finish to a 12-0 regular season, but we know that the biggest games of the 2021 Georgia football season have yet to be played.
When you're chasing SEC and national championships, the regular season is, without diminishing each and every delicious bite, the appetizer course. Now, as we head into December and the postseason, bring on the entrees — bring on that gorgeous fried turkey that you've been dreaming about for the past few weeks.
Georgia will be back in Atlanta next weekend for the SEC Championship Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, where the East Division champions will take on No. 3 Alabama for the conference title. The Bulldogs will be making their fourth appearance in the past five seasons.
Unlike the previous appearances, Georgia goes into this one unbeaten, untied, and generally unchallenged since that Week 1 nail-biter win over Clemson. The Bulldogs beat UAB 56-7 the next week, with Stetson Bennett making his first start of the season at quarterback, in place of a banged-up JT Daniels. Bennett threw five touchdown passes in the first half that day — three of them 61 yards or longer — and finished 10 of 12 passing for 288 yards.
Then came the Southeastern Conference opener, a 40-13 win over South Carolina, with Daniels back at QB, and the only real drama was whether the defense would allow a touchdown. (The reserves did, late.) After that, a 62-0 throttling of Vanderbilt, followed by a 37-0 smashing of then-No. 8 Arkansas — a game most of us thought would be a tough, physical battle for four quarters. Bennett was back in the starting lineup for that one and has been leading the offense ever since, including against Tech when he threw four touchdown passes.
At Auburn, the Bulldogs won 34-10, getting behind for the first time this season after the Tigers scored first with a field goal. Then came 24 straight points from the Bulldogs and Georgia left the Plains with a 24-point victory. Kentucky was undefeated and 4-0 in SEC play heading to Athens on Oct. 16, and the Wildcats left with their first defeat after a 30-13 Bulldog win in which Georgia outgained Kentucky 416-243 and was efficient and effective throughout.
The day before Halloween, Georgia took the field in Jacksonville, Fla., and hammered Florida, 34-7. After a few weeks at No. 1 in the rankings and with an undefeated regular season very much a possibility, the Bulldogs never let their attention wander. They routed Missouri 43-6 on Nov. 6, in a game best remembered for former coach Mark Richt's return to Sanford Stadium.
The following Saturday, against an improved and physical Tennessee squad, Georgia left Knoxville with a 41-17 victory. That win clinched an 8-0 record in SEC play for the first time in school history, and last week in Athens, in Georgia's home finale, nose tackle Jordan Davis scored on a 1-yard run and the Bulldogs left Dooley Field smiling and relaxed after a 56-7 win over Charleston Southern.
All that remained in the regular season was a trip to Grant Field, which might need to be renamed after the Bulldogs. Saturday's win was Georgia's 10th straight on Tech's home field, and the first time UGA blanked the enemy here since 1957. The Bulldogs dominated from the start, and the most memorable moments were first when wide receiver George Pickens, out all season while recovered from a knee injury, lined up out wide for the first time in 2021. He later caught a 5-yard pass, getting a big roar from a stadium crowd that seemed to have a couple of Georgia fans for every fan of the home team.
Or the memorable moment was when freshman sensation Brock Bowers, as explosive a tight end as Georgia's ever had, caught a pass across the middle and outran the entire Tech secondary for the last 50-plus yards. He later scored on a 9-yard pass to tie Terence Edwards' single-season TD catch record of 10. Bowers will have plenty more chances to get into the end zone and make the record his own.
Remember back in the late hours of Sept. 4, after Georgia's defense had put on such a show against Clemson, not allowing a touchdown and holding the Tigers to just 3.0 yards per play, while also getting seven sacks? We kind of knew that the Bulldogs' D was going to be a problem for teams all season. We could never have guessed just how darn hard it would be to score on this bunch.
As the clock struck all zeroes on the fourth and final quarter of the regular season Saturday, Georgia had held its opponent scoreless in 34 of 48 quarters. And about half the points the Bulldogs did allow came late in blowouts when the starters were watching from the sideline.
We knew, or thought we did, what this defense could do. But the rest, you never know. The joy is in watching it all unfold. And it has been a joy from the first Saturday in September to the last one in November.
What do December and January have in store for us? We'll find out soon enough.
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
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November 28, 2021 at 03:30AM
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12-0: A Tough Start, A Perfect Finish - University of Georgia Athletics - Georgia Bulldogs
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