Georgia’s ground game didn’t need a masterpiece to handle Oklahoma on Saturday, and that was the point. With starter Nate Frazier out, the Bulldogs still found enough production to keep the offense moving in a 41-13 win, finishing with 130 rushing yards on 26 carries and a 5.0-yard average against a Sooners defense that had been allowing just 2.8 yards per carry.
Kirby Smart wasn’t exactly handing out a gold star afterward. He liked the effort from the other backs, but he wanted more finish at the end of runs.
"I thought the other backs did a great job," Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said. "We've got to hang on to the ball, got to get more yards after contact.
We talk about Dawg yards. If we're going to be an elite team, they've got to turn 3-yard runs into 5-yard runs.
They've got to turn 5-yard runs into 7-yard runs. They've got to get yards after contact.
I don't know that we actually did that today.
"I think we played against a really good defense. We did not knock them out or blow-by-blow take them out of the game like we wanted to. They're talented, and they've got a good coach."
Frazier suited up after dealing with a rib injury a week earlier, but it was clear in warm-ups he wasn’t going to be available. That left the workload to Chauncey Bowens and the rest of the rotation, and while the day was uneven, they did enough to keep Georgia on schedule.
Bowens led the group in carries, but his final line was modest: 29 rushing yards and a touchdown, with a long run of 7 yards. His best moment came through the air, when he hauled in a 24-yard catch early in the fourth quarter after Georgia had stalled a bit the possession before.
Then came the play that really opened things up.
Dwight Phillips Jr. took a run to the right, got to the edge, and outran the Oklahoma defense for a 54-yard touchdown that pushed Georgia to a 38-6 lead. Phillips finished with 84 yards and was behind both of the Bulldogs’ explosive rushing plays.
"You've got to catch him if you can," Georgia linebacker Raylen Wilson said of Phillips. "You've got to catch him before he gets rolling."
Smart used one word to describe him: Explosiveness.
"We've got to get Peanut more touches and find ways to get him the ball. I mean, that's what we saw all spring and fall," Smart said.
"I was really proud of him today, his stick-to-itiveness, his ball security, his hitting the hole. But then he also had a special teams tackle on one of the best returners in the country, and that's what we challenged him to do this game."
Bo Walker, Jaden Reddell and Gunner Stockton also chipped in as Georgia spread the carries around. Drew Bobo called the day "alright," which tells you plenty about the standard in Athens.
Still, Bobo said the depth matters.
"It's great to block for them because I know no matter who's back there, it can be an explosive play no matter what," Bobo said.
Smart didn’t offer much on Frazier’s status beyond saying he didn’t know how close the back was to playing. Georgia would clearly prefer to have its top runner back, but Saturday showed the Bulldogs can survive without him when the rest of the backfield does enough.
In Other News...
Georgia Has One Dangerous Problem Heading Into Vanderbilt
Georgia has spent this season looking every bit like a team that expects to keep winning, and the matchup with Vanderbilt fits the same script on paper. The Bulldogs are undefeated, favored again, and coming off a run of steady, no-drama performances that have kept them in the thick of the national conversation while the rest of the league keeps trying to catch up.
Still, there is a little extra edge to this one because Vanderbilts quarterback is freshman Jared Curtis, who was once committed to Georgia before ending up with the Commodores. The bigger concern for the Bulldogs, though, is less about the opponent than about themselves and whether they can stay locked in for four quarters, since the season has shown they can control games when they stay sharp and leave openings only when their focus slips. [Read more 🡒]
Kirby Smart Hinted At A Bigger Georgia Role Fans Will Notice
With Vanderbilt next on the schedule, Kirby Smart used his weekly availability to touch on the usual game-week checkpoints and a few broader themes around Georgias roster. He praised Clark Leas work with the Commodores, pointed to players such as Jared Curtis and Thomas Blackshear as part of the discussion, and walked through the kind of injury and practice updates that tend to shape how the Bulldogs prepare from one Saturday to the next.
Smart also spent time on the kind of player development questions Georgia fans tend to notice over the course of a season, offering thoughts on London Humphreys, JJ Hane, Dwight Phillips and Jordan Hall. Taken together, the remarks suggested a coach looking beyond the immediate matchup, with more attention on how individual roles are taking shape and where the Bulldogs may be leaning as SEC play keeps moving forward. [Read more 🡒]
Brock Bowers Is Already Giving Georgia Fans A Reason To Watch
Brock Bowers wasted no time reminding everyone why Georgia fans still track his every move on Sundays. Back from a knee injury, the former Bulldogs star was the focal point of the Las Vegas Raiders offense in a 35-27 win over the New Orleans Saints, piling up 10 catches for 116 yards and a touchdown in a performance that looked awfully familiar to anyone who watched him in Athens.
There was more Georgia flavor in the result, too, with Nakobe Dean leading the Raiders defense with a team-high 12 tackles and helping close the door with a game-sealing fumble recovery. At 3-0, Las Vegas is leaning on multiple former Bulldogs in all three phases, and for Georgia fans, that makes the Raiders an especially relevant watch even before the full story of this season takes shape. [Read more 🡒]