UGA grades: Which Dawgs position earned the highest marks vs. Austin Peay?

By Paul Maharry

Every week, UGASports.com teams up with 11Alive.com to hand out grades for Georgia’s position groups. Here is the Bulldogs’ report card from their 45-0 win over Austin Peay.

QUARTERBACKS

The quarterback position was in good hands before Saturday's game, but with the addition of Justin Fields, the position will be set for years to come.

Jake Fromm started the game as expected and had a great stat line: 12 of 16 passing for 157 yards and two touchdowns.

Fields came into the game with 11:39 left in the second quarter and showed off not only his arm but also his wheels. Fields finished 7 of 8 passing for 63 yards and one touchdown. He also tallied 33 yards on the ground on just three carries.

There were only two negatives for the position. Walk-on quarterback Matthew Downing fumbled trying to hand off the ball and Fromm looked hesitant in trying to take shots downfield in the first quarter.

While the latter could have been because the coaching staff wanted to try and get the running backs more involved in the passing attack, it sure seemed like Fromm checked down to D’Andre Swift a lot more than necessary.

GRADE: A

RUNNING BACKS

The rushing attack tallied 284 yards on 33 carries, which equates to a very impressive 8.6 yards per carry.

The new sheriff in town, D’Andre Swift, only had eight carries for 43 yards but did score a rushing touchdown before retiring to the sideline early in the second quarter. Elijah Holyfield also had a limited number of rushes, five, but had a very impressive touchdown which was Chubb-esque in the way that he was able to break three tackles and bounce to the outside with ease.

Freshman James Cook had an impressive 36-yard scoot in which he was able to show his one-cut-and-go speed. The craziest stat of the night came in the way of a 72-yard touchdown run by transfer wide receiver Demetris Robertson who absolutely blew past the Austin Peay secondary.

Overall, the running backs group didn’t miss a beat after losing Nick Chubb and Sony Michel, but the real test will be next weekend in Columbia against a talented SEC foe.

GRADE: A

WIDE RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS

This could very well be the best group of wide receivers that has played in the red and black in a long time. Mecole Hardman caught a pass from Fromm and blew by the inferior competition to score a 59-yard touchdown.

Interestingly enough, it was a running back, Swift, who led the team in receptions. He tallied four receptions for 33 yards and was a safety valve for Fromm. Two other receivers, tight end Isaac Nauta and wideout Riley Ridley both had touchdown receptions.

Both caught a pass and did a quick spin to get past the defender who was in their way. Redshirt freshman Matt Landers was one player who stood out in the latter part of the game.

He didn’t make the stat sheet, but his run blocking was impressive and will help the 6-foot-5 wideout see the field more often.

GRADE: A+

OFFENSIVE LINE

Offensive line coach Sam Pittman rotated in 13 offensive linemen and still managed to keep all three quarterbacks upright for the entirety of the game.

The starters, Andrew Thomas, Solomon Kindley, Lamont Gaillard, Ben Cleveland, and Isaiah Wilson all did a great job of making sure that the Austin Peay defensive line moved backward. While the offensive line could very well change starters throughout the season, fans should feel confident knowing that the Bulldogs are three deep at almost every position.

Much like the running backs, the true first test for this unit will be against South Carolina and the five starters will most certainly play more than they had to against the Governors.

GRADE: A+

DEFENSIVE LINE

There should’ve been a party in the backfield of Austin Peay, but that just simply wasn’t the case. Instead, the defensive line managed to not tally a single sack or tackle for loss, which could be a red flag.

Yes, the unit was part of the overall shutout, which is hard to do against any football team, but it looked like the defensive line still has some work to do in terms of rushing the passer. The Governors had just 91 rushing yards for the game, but their lead rusher averaged over 10 yards per carry on his three attempts.

Julian Rochester registered three tackles and Jonathan Ledbetter did a good job while was in. Also, graduate transfer

Jay Hayes played in his first game for the Bulldogs but didn’t register a tackle. Of course, that could have been because it seemed like he was being held on every play. This could’ve easily been a fluke game or a scheme decision. Also, it was extremely hot on the field which could’ve played a factor for the big men up front.

GRADE: B+

LINEBACKERS

One thing that this game did show is that there isn’t a replacement for Roquan Smith on the roster. Now, this isn’t a shot against any of the linebackers, but Smith was a top-10 pick in the NFL and a Dick Butkus award winner. The defense looks different without Smith manning the middle.

Monty Rice did a good job of stepping into that tackling machine middle linebacker void left by Smith, as Rice accounted for four tackles and was in on a number of other stops in which his name wasn’t credited.

The outside linebackers group also lost two players to the NFL, but senior D’Andre Walker was supposed to fill in the void just fine, but instead did not register a tackle. One bright spot for the linebackers was the play of true freshmen Brenton Cox and Adam Anderson. Anderson had two tackles, with a great tackle for loss.

Cox had one tackle but did put some pressure on the Governors quarterback. This group, much like the defensive line, will need to improve moving forward, as the competition will obviously get tougher. Still, even with all the questions that need to be answered, this group helped shutout Austin Peay.

GRADE: B

DEFENSIVE BACKS

With three new starters taking the field for Georgia, it was impressive that the secondary played as well as it did against Austin Peay.

True freshman Tyson Campbell started at cornerback and was tested early by the Governors, but he held his own and even had a great pass break-up on a third down that forced a punt.

The two other new starters, Richard LeCounte and William Poole, both played excellently and helped hold Austin Peay to just 61 passing yards. Not only did the starters play great, but also backups Deangelo Gibbs, Eric Stokes, Mark Webb, and Otis Reese all shined. While its true Austin Peay is a running team, the secondary also racked up a number of tackles in run support.

GRADE: A

SPECIAL TEAMS

This grade should be an A+, as both kicker Rodrigo Blankenship and punter Jake Camarda were excellent. Instead, one play by Cook left the special teams unit with an asterisk on an otherwise great performance.

Cook was ejected from the game after a targeting call when he his the Austin Peay punt returner. With Cook being ejected in the second half, he will now have to miss the first half of the South Carolina game.

The play showed a lack of judgment from the true freshman. Aside from that one mistake, Blankenship was 8 of 8 on touchback attempts, as the Governors did not have a single decent chance to return a kickoff. Blankenship was also perfect on his extra point attempts and nailed a 34-yard field goal to put Georgia up 3-0.

As for Camarda, the true freshman only had to punt three times, but those three punts averaged 55 yards per punt, with his longest being a 63-yard bomb.

GRADE: B+