Everything you need to know about Austin Peay at Georgia
ATHENS — Kirby Smart will look to make the most of Georgia’s final “warm-up” game before the SEC portion of the schedule kicks in at Tennessee.
Smart has said he wants to see better execution on his offensive line and more confident play at quarterback, as Gunner Stockton makes his third career start.
Austin Peay enters the game Saturday (3:30 p.m., ESPN+) coming off a surprising 34-14 upset win over Middle Tennessee State, which was the Football Championship Subdivision-level Governors’ first win over a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent since 1987.
Smart said Austin Peay presents challenges with its defensive front.
“Twitchy, quick, disruptive, keep you off balance,” Smart said. “Their defensive coordinator was at Tennessee Tech last year and does a great job. They have guys that run to the ball really well, disruptive inside. They understand their job and their gap.
“It’s not as simple as just walking out there and saying, ‘You’ve got bigger and supposedly better players than these guys, just go run all over them,’” Smart said. “It’s not that simple. These guys are disruptive in what they do. They’re tied together. They play really hard, and effort counts twice. If you play with great effort, you can see it’s worth double the value.”
Here’s a look at this week’s Georgia game against Austin Peay.
Things to know about Saturday’s Georgia-Austin Peay game
Kickoff: 3:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Sanford Stadium (cap. 93,033)
Rankings and records: Austin Peay (1-0); No. 4 Georgia (1-0)
TV/radio: ESPN+ livestreaming/Georgia Bulldog Sports Network and SiriusXM 84
Weather: Sunny with a high of 88 degrees; a temperature in the mid-80s is expected at kickoff
Series: Georgia leads 1-0. The Bulldogs opened the 2018 season with a 45-0 win over Austin Peay.
Key injuries: Georgia preseason All-American punter Brett Thorson (knee) is questionable, guard Juan Gaston (ankle) is questionable, tailback Roderick Robinson (hamstring) is questionable.
Last meeting: Former Georgia quarterback Jake Fromm threw touchdown passes to Riley Ridley, Mecole Hardman and D’Andre Swift; Demetris Robertson and Elijah Holyfield scored on touchdown runs as UGA built a 38-0 halftime lead over the Govs. The only score of the second half came when Isaac Nauta caught a touchdown pass from Justin Fields. The coaches agreed to shorten the fourth quarter to 10 minutes. UGA held Austin Peay to 152 total yards.
Tickets: The game is sold out. Tickets on the secondary market are selling under face value, as low as $37 in the upper level and $69 each in the lower deck.
Storylines for Saturday’s Austin Peay-Georgia game
Quarterback progress: Stockton accounted for four touchdowns in Georgia’s season-opening 45-7 win over Marshall with two rushing scores and two passing touchdowns, but Smart wants to see more progress in the passing game against Austin Peay.
“Next step is to continue to gain confidence, (that’s) in trusting his offensive line for play-action shot plays, and the two-minute (offense) for the half,” Smart said.
To Smart’s point, Stockton’s longest completion traveled only 24 yards from the line of scrimmage, and UGA’s only explosive play of more than 25 yards was a screen behind the line of scrimmage to Zachariah Branch that the speedy receiver took 47 yards up the field for a touchdown.
Offensive continuity: Smart said one of his favorite aspects of coaching is team building, putting the pieces of the so-called puzzle together, and that certainly applies this season with a new starting quarterback and offensive scheme.
Stockton’s mobility is an asset to the offense, but UGA still is establishing its playmaker hierarchy, in terms of identifying its most explosive players and the most effective use of them.
Georgia emptied the bench in the win over Marshall, with nine players rushing the ball and 17 players targeted for passes.
Georgia soon must pare down that distribution to maximize execution.
The Streak: Georgia enters the Saturday game riding a school-record 32-game home win streak that dates to a loss to South Carolina in 2019.
The Bulldogs have beaten 10 Top 25 teams within the streak, including five teams ranked in the top 10. It’s the longest active home win streak in the FBS ranks. The Washington Huskies have the second-longest active home win streak at 20 games.
Georgia’s home win streak is the longest since Marshall won 33 consecutive home games between 1995-2000.
Miami holds the college football FBS record for longest home win streak (58) from 1985-94.
Final warmup: Georgia’s schedule will feature eight consecutive games against SEC competition following the Austin Peay game on Saturday.
The Governors, whose 34-14 win over Middle Tennessee State last Saturday represented that program’s first victory over an FBS opponent since 1987, do not face any other FBS-level programs in the regular season.
The Bulldogs finish their regular season with nonconference games against Charlotte on Nov. 22 in Athens and Georgia Tech in Atlanta on Nov. 28.
New faces: Georgia played 21 freshmen in its opening game against Marshall on Saturday, including starting tight end Ethan Barbour and guard Juan Gaston Jr. They are only two of 13 freshmen to start in a season-opening game under Smart, who is in his 10th season as head coach.
The Bulldogs only started one new transfer, with USC transfer receiver Branch making his Georgia debut at receiver with a team-leading three catches for 95 yards and a touchdown.
About the Author
Mike is in his eighth season covering SEC and Georgia athletics for AJC-DawgNation and has 30 years of collegiate sports multimedia experience, 25 of them in the SEC including beat writer stops at Auburn, Alabama, Tennessee and now Georgia. Mike was named the National FWAA Beat Writer of the Year in January, 2018.
