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Grading the Dawgs, Kentucky Edition

Every week, UGASports.com teams up with 11Alive.com and hands out grades to Georgia’s position groups. Here is the Bulldogs’ report card from their 42-13 win over Kentucky:
Nov 18, 2017; Athens, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs quarterback Jake Fromm (11) rolls out against the Kentucky Wildcats during the second half at Sanford Stadium. (Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports)

Every week, UGASports.com teams up with 11Alive.com and hands out grades to Georgia’s position groups. Here is the Bulldogs’ report card from their 42-13 win over Kentucky:

Quarterbacks: B-

Jake Fromm started off looking as badly as he had performed all season. On the first drive, he made a poor read and threw an interception into coverage. Later, the freshman quarterback threw another pass into coverage when it appeared he had Javon Wims wide open for a touchdown. Still, Fromm would calm down and finish with a decent passing day: 9 of 14 for 123 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He also had a nifty 21-yard run—the longest rush of his young career—on third down and three. That conversion eventually led to a Georgia touchdown. Towards the end, reserves Jacob Eason and Brice Ramsey saw some time under center, as well, but merely for seven consecutive running plays.

Running Backs: A+

After a dismal performance last week at Auburn, Georgia’s running game started off a bit slow, but then proceeded to gain steam to where it was essentially unstoppable. The Bulldogs’ five-headed ground monster of Nick Chubb, Sony Michel, D’Andre Swift, Brian Herrien and Elijah Holyfield rushed for 151, 87, 66, 48, and 16 yards respectively, while averaging as a group a staggering 9.4 yards per carry. Chubb rushed for two touchdowns, while Michel scored three—only the second time in his Bulldog career he has rushed for three-plus touchdowns in a single game. In addition, Chubb became only the second Georgia player in history to reach the 1,000-yard rushing mark in three seasons.

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Wide Receivers/ Tight Ends: B

Catching only nine passes (although a ruling of a no-catch probably should have resulted in another reception), Georgia’s receiving corps was hardly needed—that is, except for Javon Wims, who had six catches for 83 yards, including a 27-yard touchdown reception from Fromm in the second quarter. The tight ends did not make a single catch (and have totaled only 17 all season) but blocked really well for the running game, especially Jeb Blazevich who admittedly has struggled with blocking for much of his collegiate career.

Offensive Line: A-

After regressing beyond comprehension last week at Auburn, Georgia’s offensive line returned to playing like a complete unit against the ‘Cats—and how. The group did commit three penalties, including false starts by Kendall Baker and Andrew Thomas (who was also called for holding), and was part of two negative pass plays (one sack, one interception) in just 15 total passing plays (pass attempts + times sacked). Still, despite redshirt freshman Ben Cleveland making his first career start and senior Isaiah Wynn being injured during the game, the unit was instrumental in a 50 percent third-down rate (4 of 8). More so, the line paved the way for an adjusted rushing average (minus sacks and kneel downs) of a whopping 9.7 yards per carry, and hence deserves an “A.”

Defensive Line: C+

Not nearly as much as last week, but Georgia’s defensive line was again somewhat pushed around. Although the Bulldogs tallied three sacks, only one was recorded by the line (Tyler Clark). Led by Benny Snell, who gained many of his yards after contact, the Wildcats had a respectable adjusted rushing average of 4.0 yards per carry, while none of their 34 adjusted run attempts went for loss. However, Georgia’s defenders upfront were an integral part of four negative pass plays, while limiting Kentucky to a combined rate of just 5 for 15 on third and fourth down.

Linebackers: B-

As has been the case all season, Nagurski Award finalist Roquan Smith was all over the field, recording a game-high nine tackles and a sack. Coming off the bench, Natrez Patrick was second on the team with seven stops and D’Andre Walker tallied a sack (but also committed two penalties). Although more so than against South Carolina and Auburn, when the pair combined to total only eight tackles in the two games, outside linebackers Lorenzo Carter and Davin Bellamy again made little impact, combining to record six tackles against the Wildcats. Contrarily, the outside duo will be desperately needed next week to make an impression on Georgia Tech’s vaunted triple option offense.

Defensive Backs: C-

The one area in which Georgia actually regressed slightly from last week, the defensive secondary allowed an average passer, Stephen Johnson, to complete 12 of 22 passes for 138 yards, including a 45-yard gain on a reception which should have been an interception made by Malkom Parrish. It could have been even worse as Kentucky receivers dropped two passes. The defensive backfield did come up with a critical interception by Aaron Davis on a trick pass play thrown by Wildcat receiver by Lynn Bowden Jr. Still, the most glaring inefficiency was the unit’s tackling as it tackled poorly for most of the contest.

Special Teams: A-

Punter Cameron Nizialek continued to be one of the biggest surprises this fall, punting twice for a 48-yard average (and, most importantly, the same net average). Placekicker Rodrigo Blankenship converted all six of his PATs while four of his six kickoffs went for touchbacks. Although Kentucky had a noble 23-yard average on three kickoff returns, Georgia’s return game with Mecole Hardman again was noteworthy (and, again, Hardman nearly ran a kick back for a touchdown). The sophomore return man returned two kickoffs for 35 and 26 yards, and one punt return for 20 yards.

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