Beck throws 5 TD passes in Bulldog rout

ATHENS, Ga. — Led by five touchdown passes from quarterback Carson Beck, the top-ranked Georgia football team earned its 26th consecutive win at Sanford Stadium on Saturday, routing Tennessee Tech 48-3 in the Bulldogs’ home opener. The victory, in front of a crowd of 93,033, was also the Bulldogs’ 41st straight regular-season win.

From the moment he stepped onto Dooley Field, Beck was on target. He completed his first 11 passes, for 111 yards, and threw three touchdown passes in the first half. Beck sat out much of the second half after the game was a 38-0 runaway, and ended his day 18 of 25 passing for 242 yards and five touchdowns. Beck is the eighth Georgia passer to throw five TD passes in a game.

While the Georgia (2-0) offense piled up 498 yards, averaging 8.2 yards per play, the Bulldog defense held the Golden Eagles (0-2) to 134 yards of total offense and just 2.8 yards per play. Tech’s only points came on a 32-yard field goal on the game’s final play.

On Tennessee Tech’s first play from scrimmage, the Golden Eagles were stopped for a four-yard loss. The first time a Georgia player got his hands on the ball was when Anthony Evans III returned the Golden Eagles’ first punt, going 46 yards down to the Tech 22-yard line. On the Bulldogs’ first offensive play, Beck hit wide receiver Dillon Bell on the left edge of the end zone for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead less than three minutes into the game.

After the Bulldog defense forced another punt, the Georgia offense kept rolling. Facing a third-and-11 at the UGA 41, Beck hit Oscar Delp for 13 yards. On the next play, Beck hit Dominic Lovett for 12, followed by a 14-yard completion to Arian Smith, to the Tech 20. A short pass to Brandon Robinson on the next play resulted in a 14-yard gain, and on first-and-goal at the 6, Beck connected with a crossing Colbie Young for a six-yard touchdown and a 14-0 lead with 6:37 left in the first quarter.

Two drives into the game, Beck was 8 of 8 passing for 90 yards and two touchdowns, with completions to seven different targets. By the end of the first quarter, with Georgia driving again, Beck was 11 of 11 for 111 yards.

Beck threw a little long on his first attempt of the second quarter, snapping his perfect start. The Bulldogs eventually settled for a 27-yard Peyton Woodring to push their lead to 17-0 with 11:45 to play in the half.

Running back Trevor Etienne, the Florida transfer who missed the Bulldogs’ opener, made his Georgia debut Saturday. He finished with 78 rushing yards on five carries, including a 45-yarder late in the second quarter that helped set up the Bulldogs’ next score. Georgia took a 24-0 lead into halftime after Beck hit Lovett in the end zone near the front right pylon for a 10-yard touchdown with 1:11 left. It was Beck’s third TD pass of the half, to three different receivers.

Georgia got the ball to open the second half, and soon another Beck pass was in the air for a touchdown. This time, on first down at the 50, Beck lofted one deep toward the end zone where Smith was wide open behind the secondary. Smith reeled it in for an easy score and a 31-0 lead with 12:54 left in the quarter.

Tech fumbled on its next drive, the game’s first turnover, and safety Dan Jackson recovered the loose ball at the 27. Soon after, following a penalty, Beck lofted an easy pass to an open Lawson Luckie on the left side for a 37-yard touchdown and a 37-0 lead.

Gunner Stockton took over at quarterback midway through the third quarter and led the Bulldogs on another touchdown drive. Stockton completed 5 of 6 passes on the drive and running back Branson Robinson scored on a 13-yard rush, pushing the lead to 45-0. Stockton finished the game 10 of 12 passing for 90 yards. Woodring kicked a 32-yard field goal with 3:07 remaining in the game to make it 48-0 Bulldogs.

A lot of Bulldogs got in on the offensive and defensive action Saturday. Seven rushers combined for 24 carries for 166 yards, and in the passing game, 15 receivers caught at least one pass. Defensively, linebacker CJ Allen’s five tackles (three solo) led 13 Bulldog defenders with at least two stops.

The Bulldogs open SEC play next Saturday against Kentucky in Lexington. Georgia has won an SEC-record 27 consecutive regular-season conference games.

POST-GAME NOTES

*Home Openers and Series History: With today’s 48-3 win over Tennessee Tech, top-ranked Georgia (2-0) now has won 41 straight regular season games dating back to the 2020 season.

*The Bulldogs are 48-2 in their last 50 games. Head coach Kirby Smart’s career record improved to 96-16.

*The Bulldogs extended their school record home winning streak to 26 games. Georgia has won 13 straight home openers.

*Georgia leads the TTU series 3-0. Tenn. Tech scored their first points in the series after getting shutout 67-0 in 1943 and 38-0 in 2009, both in Athens.

*Summary Of The Offense: In Georgia’s 48-3 victory, the Bulldogs collected 498 yards of total offense on 61 plays and 15 different Bulldogs caught a pass. In the first half, Georgia collected 24 points with 250 yards of total offense on 33 plays, scoring on four of its five possessions.

*Senior QB Carson Beck (18-for-25, 242 yards, 5 TDs) tied a school record with five TD passes. Redshirt freshman QB Gunner Stockton played most of the second half and finished 10-for-12 for 90 yards.

*Defensive Review: The Golden Eagles finished today with 134 yards of total offense on 48 plays. They made a 32-yard field goal to end the game.

*For the second straight game, Georgia shut out its opponent in the first half. TTU finished 52 yards of offense on 27 plays. The Golden Eagles had 59 yards rushing on 25 attempts and went 2-for-2 passing for minus seven yards. Last week in Atlanta, #14 Clemson finished the first half with no points on 76 yards of offense, running 20 plays. Overall, the Tigers were limited to just three points, tallying 188 yards of total offense on 52 plays. Last season, Georgia posted a pair of first half shutouts, and they came in the first two games versus UT Martin and Ball State.

*Georgia’s leading tackler was sophomore CJ Allen with five tackles followed by Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins and Christen Miller with four.

*The Bulldogs had three sacks today with freshman KJ Bolden and Jordan Thomas notched their first career sacks while sophomore Christen Miller had his first sack of the year and the second of his career.

*Senior Dan Jackson recovered a fumble and the TTU 27, and it led to an eventual TD and a 38-0 advantage.

*With Georgia leading 45-0, the fourth quarter was reduced to 10 minutes.

*Beck By Popular Demand: Senior Carson Beck (18-for-25, 242 yards, 5 TDs) tied a school record by tossing 5 TDs in a game as he played the first half and the first two possessions of the second half in building a 38-0 advantage. The TD passes went to five different Bulldogs. Beck is the seventh Georgia QB to notch 5 TD passes, joining Stetson Bennett (2021 vs UAB), Aaron Murray (2013 vs. Nebraska and 2011 vs. New Mexico State in the first half), Joe Cox (2009 vs. Arkansas), Matthew Stafford (2008 vs. Ga. Tech), D.J. Shockley (2005 vs. Boise State) and David Greene (2004 vs. LSU)

*In the first half, he went 16-for-22 for 155 yards and 3 TDs as the Bulldogs scored on their first four possessions. He started out 11-for-11 for 116 yards, 2 TDs. Last season, Beck began the Kentucky game by completing his first 13 passes, which ranked third best in school history to start a contest.

*Georgia needed just one play, covering six seconds for its first TD in the form of a 22-yard strike from Beck to Dillon Bell for a 7-0 lead. It was Bell’s sixth career TD catch. The short field was set up by a 46-yard punt return by Anthony Evans.

*Before today, the last time the score came on a first play pass was 2017 over No. 17 Miss. State, a 59-yard fleaflicker from Jake Fromm to Terry Godwin.

*Before today, the last time Georgia scored a TD on its first offensive play came in 2020 against Florida in Jacksonville when Zamir White raced 75 yards.

*Georgia’s second possession was a seven play, 58-yard TD drive in 3:44, capped by a six-yard TD pass from Beck to Colbie Young for a 14-0 edge.

*The third possession resulted in a 27-yard field goal and a 17-0 lead with 11:45 left in the first half.

*Georgia went up 24-0 with a TD on its fourth possession, going 80 yards on seven plays in 3:12.

*Beck started the second half and directed a five play, 75-yard drive featuring a 50-yard TD strike to Arian Smith.

*An Array Of Targets: A total of 15 Bulldogs hauled in a pass today and that was the most since the 2022 Samford game when 15 had a reception. Last week, nine players caught a pass in the season-opening win over #14 Clemson in Atlanta.

*Senior Arian Smith (4 rec., 73 yards, 1 TD) caught a 50-yard TD from Beck to start the second half that capped a five play, 75-yard drive in 2:06 and a 31-0 lead. Junior Dillon Bell had four catches for 46 yards and one score, all in the first half.

*Senior Dominic Lovett (3 rec., 33 yards, 1 TD) had a 10-yard TD catch.

*Running Backs Share The Load: Georgia tallied 166 yards on the ground (24 attempts, 6.9 avg) and were led by junior Trevor Etienne (5-for-78 yards, 15.6 avg., long of 45). Seven different Bulldogs had a rushing attempt.

*Special Teams Highlights: Sophomore PK Peyton Woodring tallied 12 points (6 PATs, 2 Field Goal) plus he handled the first seven kickoffs with three touchbacks and one out bounds. His field goals covered 27 and 32 yards.

*Junior Brett Thorson’s first punt came with 7:44 left in the contest, and it covered 55 yards and was fair caught.

*Sophomore Anthony Evans had five punt returns for 62 yards including a career-long 46-yarder.

*Up Next: The top-ranked Bulldogs (2-0) open SEC play at Kentucky (1-0) next Saturday with kickoff at 7:30 p.m. (ABC). The Wildcats played host to South Carolina today in Lexington with a 3:30 p.m kickoff.

POST-GAME QUOTES

Head Coach Kirby Smart

On being home in Sanford Stadium…
“It’s awesome being home. Every time you walk into Sanford Stadium and see it packed, I give our fans credit. They were in the heat, they fought the heat and came and were loud, especially early. I think it was good entertainment, we scored on that first play on offense and got things rolling in the first half. I was proud of our fans.”

On 15 Bulldogs catching passes in the game…
“You have to do that nowadays in college football. You have to keep those tight ends happy and those wideouts happy. You have to throw the ball. We want to spread the wealth and in a game like this you can certainly do that.”

On the defensively attacking plan…
“We wanted to be aggressive, stay physical and do it for four quarters. I thought we did it for at least three and a half until it got sloppy at the end, we did do that.”

#15 Carson Beck | RSr. | QB

On the abundance of receivers at his disposal…
“I think it makes my job really easy. Not that being a quarterback is easy by any means but as long as I keep my mental processing right and I’m in the right place with the ball we can count on guys to be open and be in the right spot at the right time. So having that talent definitely makes my job a little bit easier.”

#22 Branson Robinson |RSo. | RB

On what it felt like to get into the endzone today…
“It felt great. It felt great for my confidence. It felt great for my mental, and it felt great for the team. I’m just here to help the team and do what’s best for the team.”

On the running back room…
“The potential is through the roof. I don’t think we have scratched the surface this early in the season. We’re going to get back to work, fix the kinks and the potential is just through the roof.”

#93 Tyrion Ingram- Dawkins | RSo. | DL

On what he has learned about the defense over the first two games…
“I know we’re tough. I know when things don’t go our way, I know we have the type of mental toughness that we can battle through adversity.”

On Coach Smart’s message following the game…
“It was a great game, but we also got a lot more things to clean up — a lot of areas to get better.”

On what has allowed him to start the season with such great performances…
“If you want me to be honest, it’s just my teammates. These guys, they pour into me day in and day out. They had my back when I was down, kind of went through a lot mentally when I missed the season last season. I would say, overall, my teammates, my coaches, just the love that they give me every day. That’s what keeps me driving day after day.”