No. 2 Bulldogs hound Hilltoppers, 70-20

ATHENS, Ga. — The No. 2-ranked Georgia football team looked different Saturday afternoon at Sanford Stadium, dressed in all white for the first time ever, but the result was like so many games that have preceded it. Behind another strong outing from quarterback Gunner Stockton and the Georgia defense, the Bulldogs walloped Western Kentucky, 70-20.

Stockton, who was 15 of 16 passing with three touchdowns in last week’s opener against Tennessee State, completed 13 of 16 attempts against the Hilltoppers. He threw for 234 yards and tied a program record with five passing touchdowns. As a team, Georgia (2-0) had 493 yards of offense while holding Western Kentucky (0-2) to 225.

Georgia linebacker Anthony Kruah forced a fumble on the opening kickoff, and cornerback Demello Jones recovered the loose ball at the Hilltopper 18-yard line. Two plays later, Stockton hit tight end Ethan Barbour for a 7-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead 61 seconds into the game. It was the first touchdown of Barbour’s career.

On Western Kentucky’s first possession, both linebacker Chris Cole and safety KJ Bolden had a tackle for loss. After a Hilltopper punt and penalty, Georgia took over at the 50, and on first down, Stockton fired a long pass to wideout Craig Dandridge Jr. for a 43-yard gain to the 7. Running back Nate Frazier ran the ball in on the next play for a 14-0 lead. Frazier, who had three touchdowns on four carries against Tennessee State, had six carries for 55 yards and the score Saturday.

Georgia’s third touchdown of the opening quarter came on a 21-yard screen pass from Stockton to running back Chauncey Bowens, who scampered up the right side after the catch and hurdled a would-be tackler at the goal line. At that point, Georgia had 137 yards of offense on 11 plays.

Western Kentucky (0-2) picked up a couple of first downs on its next drive, but a 9-yard sack by Gabe Harris Jr. helped force a punt after the Hilltoppers drove down to the Georgia 31. On the ensuing drive, a 13-yard completion to Dandridge and a 26-yarder to wideout Talyn Taylor helped move the ball to the WKU 31 at the end of the first quarter. A couple of plays later, after a 20-yard Frazier rush, Stockton found receiver London Humphreys in the back of the end zone for a 3-yard touchdown and a 28-0 lead with 13:28 to play in the half.

Georgia needed just three plays to score on its next drive. On third-and-3 at the UGA 30, Stockton hit a crossing SaCovie White-Helton near midfield, and the speedy wideout outran everyone to the end zone, putting the Bulldogs ahead 35-0.

Jones, who recovered the fumble on the opening kickoff, picked off a Rodney Tisdale Jr. pass on the ensuing drive, setting the Bulldogs up for another score. That came on Stockton’s 5-yard pass on the left side of the end zone to Taylor.

Georgia linebacker Khamari Brooks recovered a Tisdale fumble on WKU’s next drive, giving the Bulldogs the ball back at the Hilltopper 16. A couple of plays later, wideout Landon Roldan ran the ball in from the 9 to make it 49-0 with 5:51 to play in the half. It was the first TD of Roldan’s career.

Backup quarterback Ryan Puglisi, who took over running the offense after Stockton’s fifth TD pass, fumbled on a run later in the half, and the Hilltoppers recovered at the Georgia 15 with 1:18 remaining. On the next play, WKU quarterback Brock Glenn ran the ball in for the first touchdown scored against the Bulldogs this season. The Hilltoppers missed the kick, so Georgia headed into the locker room at halftime with a 49-6 lead.

On the opening drive of the third quarter, Puglisi made up for his fumble, running 70 yards for a touchdown and a 56-6 lead. Georgia finally punted for the first time in the game on the Bulldogs’ second drive of the quarter.

With 4:17 left in the third quarter of the second game, Georgia likely scored its most unusual touchdown of the season. Safety Blake Stewart intercepted a Glenn pass that bounced off linebacker Terrell Foster’s hands at the WKU 27 and started running the other way. He was then stripped of the ball around the 15, and the ball kept rolling toward the end zone. Just before the ball passed through the back of the end zone for a touchback, safety Tyriq Green dove on the ball for a touchdown, pushing the lead to 63-6 with 4:17 to go in the quarter.

Glenn ran the ball in for a 10-yard touchdown with 5:10 to go, making it 63-13. On the ensuing kickoff, Green scored his second touchdown of the game, returning the kick 91 yards into the end zone. It was Georgia’s first kickoff return for a touchdown since Terry Godwin did it against South Carolina in 2016.

Western Kentucky added a final touchdown with 1:17 remaining, scoring on a 7-yard completion following a Georgia muffed punt. Twenty-one Bulldog defenders had at least two tackles in the game, with linebacker Anthony Kruah leading the way with five.

The Bulldogs open SEC play next Saturday at Arkansas. Georgia leads the all-time series 12-4, with the most recent win, 37-0, coming in Athens in 2021. The Bulldogs are 5-0 all-time at Razorback Stadium.

POST-GAME NOTES

*Record Scoring Output: For the first time since 1915, Georgia has had back-to-back games with at least 60 points. That year, it was the first two games in Athens too, blanking Newberry 79-0 and Dahlonega 64-0. This year, second-ranked Georgia (2-0) has a 63-3 win over Tennessee State and a 70-20 win over WKU today.

*Georgia’s 70 points today was the most since 1994 when it beat Northeast Louisiana 70-6 here.

*For the first time since the 2011 win over New Mexico State, Georgia had nine different Bulldogs score a TD (Tyriq Green scored two).

*In the first half, Georgia’s 49 points tied a school record for Most Points In One Half since 1950. Georgia also scored 49 in the first half against Charleston Southern in 2021, New Mexico State in 2011 and Northeast Louisiana in 1994. In the first half today, Georgia had 343 yards.

*Georgia had four TD drives in under a minute today plus a defensive TD and a special teams TD.

*Georgia scored a TD on its first seven possessions today after scoring on its first five in the season-opening win over TSU.

*Offensive Review: Georgia tallied 493 yards of offense on 60 plays, gaining 234 yards on the ground and 259 through the air.

*Georgia built a 21-0 edge in the 1st quarter, including a couple of two-play drives that took just 55 and 51 seconds each. The third drive covered 64 yards on seven plays in 3:21. Last week in the 63-3 win over Tennessee State, Georgia built a 28-0 lead in the first quarter.

*The Bulldogs first TD today was just an 18-yard drive following a forced fumble and recovery on the opening kickoff. Sophomore ILB Anthony Kruah caused the fumble, and it was recovered by junior CB Demello Jones. It was the first forced turnover by Georgia this year.

*The Bulldogs made it 28-0 after its fourth possession, going 80 yards on nine plays in 3:45.

*Georgia used another quick strike score to make it 35-0 with 9:22 left in the first half, going 78 yards on three plays in 1:26. The drive was capped by a career-long 70-yard TD pass from Stockton to Sacovie White-Helton.

*Fifth-year QB Gunner Stockton only played the first quarter and half of the second quarter, finishing 13-for-16 for 234 yards and tied a school record with a career-high 5 TD passes. Stockton has 35 career TD passes, good for a tie for ninth in Georgia history.

*Stockton is the third Bulldog to tally 5 TD passes in the first half, joining Stetson Bennett (2021 vs UAB) and Aaron Murray (2011 New Mexico State). He was lifted with 7:11 left in the 1st half and the Bulldogs up 42-0 as junior QB Ryan Puglisi came in to the game. He finished the half 1-for-1 for 5 yards and a fumble that gave WKU the ball at the UGA 15. It led to a TD to make it 49-6 after a missed PAT.

*Puglisi scampered 70-yards for a TD to open the 2nd half, finishing a three play, 84-yard drive in 52 seconds to make it 55-6. Puglisi’s  TD run was the longest by a Bulldog since Ladd McConkey went 70 for a score versus Mississippi State in 2022.

*The Running Game: The Bulldogs finished with 234 yards rushing on 35 attempts for a 6.7 average and 3 TDs. Junior QB Ryan Puglisi had a career-long and team-best 70-yard scamper for a TD in the second half. He was the team’s leading rusher with 79 yards on two attempts.

*Junior Nate Frazier gained 55 yards on six carries with a TD. He had a 7-yard TD to give him four on the year in his first six carries.

*Junior Chauncey Bowens had one rush for four yards and had two catches for 45 yards including a 21-yarder for a TD, hurdling the final defender. Sophomore WR Landon Roldan notched the other rushing TD in the first half, a nine-yarder for the first of his career.

*Receiving Leaders: Junior Sacovie White-Helton had a career-long 70-yard TD, and it was his only catch of the game.

*Sophomore Talyn Taylor had a pair of catches for 31 yards including a five-yard TD.

*Freshman Craig Dandridge Jr. hauled in a career-long 43-yard reception as part of a two-play, 50-yard drive in 51 seconds. He led all Bulldogs with 56 receiving yards on two catches.

*Senior London Humphreys caught a 3-yard TD for a 28-0 edge. It was his first of the year and 10th for his career.

*Sophomore Ethan Barbour notched a 7-yard TD, the first of his career. It capped a two play, 18-yard drive in 55 seconds for a 7-0 lead.

*Georgia had 12 players combine for 16 catches and five TDs.

*Defensive Review: WKU finished the game with 20 points, tallying 225 yards of offense (110-rush, 115-pass) on 74 plays.

*In the first half, WKU scored 6 points on 63 yards of offense (32-rush, 31-pass) on 35 plays.

*Senior Gabe Harris Jr. had a nine-yard sack in the first half. It was his first this year and fourth of his career. Freshman Anothony Lonon Jr. had his first career sack.

*Junior Demello Jones had a 41-yard INT return (first of his career) to the WKU 1-yard line but was flaggged for unsportsmanlike conduct afterwards to move the ball back to the 16-yard line. The INT eventually led to a TD. Jones also had a fumble recovery.

*With 4:27 left in the 3rd quarter, Georgia scored a TD when Tyriq Green recovered a fumble in the endzone after Terrell Foster tipped a pass that was intercepted by Blake Stewart who fumbled it and Green pounced on it. The score made it 63-6. It was the first fumble recovery for a TD by a Bulldog since Tyson Campbell against Ga. Tech in 2019.

*Anthony Kruah and Khamari Brooks each had a forced fumble. Kruah led the team with five tackles

*Special Teams Summary: Senior PK Peyton Woodring tallied 10 points (10 PATs) plus took care of all but the final kickoff.

*Junior Drew Miller did not have to punt in the first half and finished with a 46.0 average on four punts with a long of 57.

*Sacovie White-Helton had two PR for 23 yards; Jaden Reddell had one KOR for 14 yards.

* Tyriq Green had two KOR for 104 yards including a 91-yarder for a TD. It was the first KOR-TD since 2016 when Terry Godwin went 43 yards for a score against South Carolina. Green also scored a TD on a fumble recovery in the endzone. Bo Walker had one KOR for 14 yards.

*Captains, Coin Toss And For Starters: Georgia’s captains were KJ Bolden, Terrell Foster, Nate Frazier and London Humphreys.

*Georgia won the toss and elected to defer the football until the 2nd half. Sophomore Elyiss Williams (TE) made his first career start.

*Up Next: No. 2 Georgia (2-0) opens SEC action at Arkansas on Saturday, Sept. 19th at Noon ET (ABC). UA plays at No. 21 Utah tonight.

POST-GAME QUOTES

Coming soon.