Bulldogs surge past UMass as seniors get 51st win

ATHENS, Ga. — The No. 10-ranked Georgia football team extended its school-record home winning streak to 30 games on Saturday with a 59-21 victory over UMass at Sanford Stadium. The Bulldogs celebrated Senior Day on Dooley Field prior to kickoff, and with the win the 2024 senior class became the most successful in program history with its 51st victory.

Georgia redshirt senior quarterback Carson Beck threw four touchdown passes and completed 20 of 31 passes for 297 yards. Freshman running back Nate Frazier had the first 100-yard game and first multi-touchdown game of his career, finishing with career-highs in yards (136), touchdowns (3) and carries (21).

The Bulldogs (9-2) needed the offense to excel because it was at times a tough day for the defense, which allowed UMass (2-9) to move the ball effectively on numerous drives. Georgia ended up with 550 yards of offense to the Minutemen’s 351. The Bulldog defense did score a touchdown late in the game after forcing a turnover.

UMass received the opening kickoff and quickly drove 75 yards for a touchdown. The Minutemen got a 38-yard run from quarterback Ahmad Haston on third-and-8 at the UMass 30, and CJ Hester later scored on a 1-yard run for a 7-0 lead with 9:15 left in the first quarter.

Georgia answered right back with its own touchdown drive, one that featured a mix of runs by Frazier and passes to a variety of targets by Beck. There was a 15-yard completion to sophomore tight end Lawson Luckie, an 8-yard completion to freshman wideout Sacovie White, and the Bulldogs scored when junior tight end Oscar Delp turned a screen pass on the right side into a 17-yard touchdown.

The Minutemen had the ball for nearly 11 minutes of the first quarter, out-gaining the Bulldogs 134-65. UMass was at the UGA 16-yard line as the second quarter began, but soon the Minutemen were headed backward. There was a 15-yard offensive pass interference penalty followed by a 7-yard sack by Georgia senior defensive lineman Warren Brinson on third down, forcing a punt.

Georgia started its next drive at its 10, got a 12-yard rush from freshman Dwight Phillips, Jr., followed by a 49-yard completion from Beck to senior Arian Smith — plus a 15-yard penalty on UMass for roughing the passer. Later, on fourth-and-4 at the 8, Beck hit redshirt junior Cash Jones out of the backfield for an easy touchdown and a 14-7 lead with 10:30 on the clock.

The Bulldog offense was soon back on the field after senior defensive lineman Nazir Stackhouse forced a fumble on a rushing attempt and sophomore linebacker Raylen Wilson recovered it at the UMass 28. A few plays later, senior wideout Dominic Lovett hauled in a 15-yard touchdown pass in the left corner of the end zone, pushing Georgia’s lead to 21-7 with 8:56 until halftime.

UMass didn’t go away after getting behind a couple of touchdowns. On their next drive, the Minutemen converted a pair of fourth-down plays and had a first down at the 3 at the two-minute timeout. On the next play, Jalen John capped a 14-play drive with a 3-yard touchdown run, cutting the Bulldog lead to 21-14 with 1:55 to go in the half.

Beck led the Bulldogs on a quick scoring drive before halftime. Beck ran for 10 on one play, completed a 20-yard pass to junior wideout Cole Speer on another, and found Smith for a 34-yard touchdown down the middle with 43 seconds left. At the break, Georgia led 28-14.

Georgia had a couple of big offensive plays on the first drive of the second half — a 15-yard completion to Phillips and a 27-yard completion to Smith — but eventually had to settle for a 53-yard Peyton Woodring field goal, extending the lead to 31-14.

UMass only needed two plays to answer with a touchdown. Quarterback AJ Hairston avoided the Georgia rush and fired a deep pass into double coverage that wideout Jakobie James-Keeney pulled in, running the final 35 yards for the score and cutting Georgia’s lead to 31-21 with 12:53 left in the third.

Frazier did much of the work on Georgia’s next drive, including scoring on a 9-yard run to push the Bulldog lead to 38-21 with 8:44 to go in the third. Frazier carried the ball five times on the nine-play drive, gaining a total of 37 yards.

The Georgia defense forced its first three-and-out on the next UMass drive, with defensive end Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins batting down a third-down pass. After a 33-yard punt, the Bulldogs had a first down at their 40. Despite fumbling twice on the drive, Georgia was able to go ahead 45-21 with 1:26 left in the third on a 15-yard touchdown run by Frazier.

The Minutemen needed one play to get inside the Georgia 10 on the ensuing drive. On first down, John took a handoff 68 yards to the UGA 7. Two plays later, the Bulldogs got a strip sack from defensive end Mykel Williams that resulted in a loss of 23 yards to the 28. Kicker Jacob Lurie later missed a 37-yard field goal, keeping the UGA lead at 24 points.

Frazier added a third touchdown, this one a 2-yarder, to make it 52-21 with 6:33 to play in the game. Georgia’s defense, which struggled to contain explosive plays at times in the game, scored with 3:28 remaining when freshman linebacker Chris Cole returned a fumble 28 yards for the first defensive touchdown of the season for the Bulldogs. Linebacker Gabe Harris’s sack and strip forced the fumble.

The Bulldogs wrap up their regular season at Sanford Stadium next Friday night against Georgia Tech.

POST-GAME NOTES

*Bulldog Senior Class Gets Record Win: With today’s 59-21 victory, the 2024 Senior Class is an FBS-leading 51-4 which is a school record, passing the 2023 Bulldog senior class who finished with a 50-4 mark.

*Home Winning Streak At 30: With the win over UMass, 10th-ranked Georgia (9-2) now has won 30 consecutive home games dating to 2019, which leads in FBS and improves on its school record. In the Kirby Smart era, the Bulldogs are 49-4 at home. Also, Georgia now has won 25 consecutive non-conference matchups and are 37-2 against those teams under Smart.

*Summary Of The Offense: Georgia scored a season-high 59 points in securing its ninth win of the year, tallying 550 yards of offense on 72 plays.

*Georgia scored on its first seven possessions today to build a 45-21 lead before turning it over on downs with 11:18 left in the contest.

*Georgia began the 2nd half with a 45-yard drive that ended with a 53-yard field goal against the wind by Peyton Woodring for a 31-14 advantage.

*Freshman Nate Frazier set career-highs with 136 yards on 21 carries with three TDs. He was Georgia’s first 100-yard rusher this season. He notched his first TD on a nine-yarder to make it 38-21. His second TD was a 15-yard score to put the Bulldogs up 45-21, ending a 13 play, 60-yard drive in 6:16. His final score covered two yards and made it 52-21.

*The Bulldogs came in averaging 30.6 points per game and led 28-14 at the half. They had 248 yards of offense on 25 plays in just 9:23 time of possession.

*Down 7-0 in the first quarter, Georgia answered with a 75-yard drive on eight plays in 4:15 capped by a 17-yard TD pass from Carson Beck to Oscar Delp. It marked Beck’s 20th TD pass of the season and third for Delp, who had a pair last week in the win over #7 Tennessee.

*Georgia’s second drive began at its 10, and the Bulldogs drove 90 yards on six plays in 2:46 for a 14-7 lead. The drive featured a 49-yard completion to Arian Smith, and a 4th-and-4 conversion from the UMass 8 that resulted in an 8-yard TD pass to Cash Jones.

*The Bulldogs went 3-for-4 on 4th Down today and are now 15-for-20 (75%) with 4 TDs on 4th Down this season. Georgia came in ranked 7th nationally with an SEC-best 75% conversion rate.

*Following a turnover by UMass, the Bulldogs converted it into a TD and a 21-7 edge with 8:56 left. The 28-yard drive in three plays featured a 15-yard TD catch by Dominic Lovett.

*Up 21-14 with 1:55 left in the first half, Beck drove the Bulldogs 75 yards on eight plays in 1:12 for another score, capped by a 34-yard TD pass to Smith. Smith had his fourth career game of 100+yards receiving, finishing with 110 yards on three catches including a score

*In the Red Zone, Georgia finished 5-for-5 with (5 TDs). The TD drives covered 28, 60, 75 (twice) and 90 yards.

*Senior QB Carson Beck finished 20-for-31 for 297 yards and 4 TDs. The TDs covered 8, 15, 17 and 34 yards to four different receivers. Redshirt sophomore QB Gunner Stockton (3-for-4, 45 yards) saw action in the fourth quarter and led one TD-drive that covered 65 yards.

*Defensive Review: UMass finished with 21 points, 351 yards of offense, including 226 on the ground, on 57 plays. This was the most rushing yards allowed by the Bulldogs since 2018 at LSU when the Tigers ran for 275. Coming in today, the Bulldogs were allowing just 114.4 rushing ypg.

*In the first half, UMass had 209 yards on 36 plays with 20:37 on time of possession. They had 166 rushing yards in the first half

*UMass took the opening kickoff and marched 75 yards on 10 plays in 5:45 for a TD. The drive featured a 38-yard run by QB Ahmad Haston on 3rd-and-5, which at the time tied for the longest rush by an opponent this season. Then in the 3rd quarter, Jalen John reeled off a 68-yard scamper.

*On its second drive, UMass was forced to punt after reaching the Red Zone (UGA 13) following a pass interference penalty and a sack.

*Georgia forced a fumble (KJ Bolden) and recovered it (Raylen Wilson) on the UMass 28 on the third drive. It led to a TD and a 21-7 lead.

*The Bulldogs have scored 62 points off 14 turnovers this season and are -1 in Turnover Margin.

*In the first half, UMass closed it to 21-14 with a 75-yard TD drive on 14 plays in 7:01.

*Down 31-14, Ahmad Hairston connected with Jakobie Keeney-James for a 75-yard TD pass, which tied the longest allowed by the Bulldogs this year.

*Senior Warren Brinson notched his first sack of the season and fifth of his career. Junior Mykel Williams picked up a sack in the 2nd half to give him three for the year and 12 for his career. Freshman Quintavius Johnson The Bulldogs now have 29 sacks on the year.

*Georgia’s top tacklers were Williams and Brinson (5 each and a sack apiece) while junior Malaki Starks had four. Redshirt sophomore DL Christen Miller injured a shoulder in the first half and did not return.

*Freshman Chris Cole notched a 31-yard fumble return for a TD, the first of his career and first by the Bulldog defense this season. The sack and forced fumble was by freshman Quintavius Johnson, his first of his career too. It was the 17th defensive TD in the Smart era.

*Special Teams In Action: Sophomore PK Peyton Woodring tallied 11 points (8 PATs, 53-yard FG) plus handled most of the kickoffs. On field goals, Woodring is now 17-for-18 on the year including 3-for-4 from 50+. He has made his last eight FGs after a 55-yard miss versus Mississippi State on Oct. 12.

*Juniors Cash Jones and Cole Speer served as the KORs. Jones had one KOR for 19 yards. Junior Malaki Starks was the PR with one for 18 yards.

*Junior P Brett Thorson did not punt today. It marked the first time the Bulldogs did not have to punt in a game since the 2023 Vanderbilt contest.

*Captains, Coin Toss And For Starters: Georgia’s captains were Xavier Truss, Jared Wilson, Dan Jackson and Mykel Williams.

*Georgia won the toss and deferred the ball until the second half. In a pregame ceremony, Georgia honored its Seniors. There were no first-time starters.

*With junior TB Trevor Etienne sidelined due to injury, Nate Frazier made his second consecutive start. Also, sophomore Monroe Freeling made his second straight start at LT for the injured Earnest Greene III.

*Up Next: The Bulldogs (9-2) play host to Ga. Tech (7-4) Friday in Athens at 7:30 pm (ABC) to close out the regular season.

POST-GAME QUOTES

Head Coach Kirby Smart

On the 2024 senior class…

“I think you start with the senior class. Any time you have 51 wins over your career, that’s remarkable. The ironic thing is a couple of those guys had six years, so they had about 70 or 80 wins. But [Xavier] Truss and Dan [Jackson] are on their sixth year, we’ve got a bunch of guys on their fifth year, and the fourth-year family of guys are responsible for this 51. Georgia’s been playing football for a lot of years, and to have a class do that – that’s pretty special, and I thought that was great honoring them. I wish it had been a cleaner game, but they did great.”

On the team’s offensive efficiency against UMass…

“I thought they operated well. We were able to run the ball. When you can run the ball efficiently and you can throw and convert third downs, you’re going to be really good, and we were able to run the ball and control the line of scrimmage. They don’t have a lot of big guys, so that helped us tremendously in terms of running the ball. I think we were around 50 percent on third down. We didn’t have a lot of third downs because they converted them without it. We were explosive, but we should have been. As dominant as we were on offense, we should have been the same on defense.”

On Nate Frazier’s performance…

“It’s been huge. He’s very confident. He’s hitting the hole really hard, sometimes too fast, but he’s a good running back and he’s growing up fast. He’s a kid that usually would be getting a few carries, and now he’s our veteran back at this point.”

#15 Carson Beck | QB | 5th

On his connection with Oscar Delp over the past two games…

“I don’t think anything was missing. I just think it’s the play calling and then obviously him being the one that’s in there. Those guys rotate in a lot in the tight end room, and we have a lot of talented tight ends. I think he’s just been in the right spot and has ended up making the plays. So yeah, I’m proud of him and what he’s been able to do for the past two weeks.”

On him playing cleaner in the last two contests…

“I think the first thing is, obviously, the offensive line played so well, so when I’m not getting pressured as much and I can sit back there comfortably and make my reads, it makes life a lot easier for me… Our wide receivers are being explosive and then the run game. The run game always helps the run game, play action pass, being able to throw the ball deep and check it down when I have to. Our offense has been executing on a lot of levels.”

On the upcoming game against Georgia Tech and the possibilities for the post season…

“Absolutely, and when I talked to the team before Tennessee I kind of talked about it. I said, ‘we control our own destiny.’ Every game is a playoff game from here on out. That’s how you have to approach it. I think the challenge has been accepted. And, week in and week out we’re just focusing on going 1-0, and then we can control our destiny from there.”

Arian Smith | WR | Sr. 

On Senior Day…

“I had a great day. I’m blessed to be a part and get to walk out with the senior class that I came here with and play good football.”

On being a member of the most-winning senior class in Bulldog history…

“It speaks to how dominant and consistent we are. We don’t care who we’re playing. We’re just going to go out there and dominate.”

On his game today…

“The offense was clicking on all cylinders, and everyone was doing their job. I think we did a good job with execution and making sure we were locked in no matter the opponent.”

#6 Daylen Everette | DB | Jr.

On the defensive performance today…

“The turnovers, that’s good, that’s always a good thing to have. But we started really slow, and it showed on that side when they got those early points. We just had to go out and execute and do the right things. We will just go in tomorrow and see what we can do better and fix.”

On turning the page to Georgia Tech…

“It’s a rivalry game, so they’re going to come in with a lot of energy, a lot of hate towards us, and I guess we will have to do the same. We will go in this week to prep and see what we can do against them.”