Georgia still seeks No. 1 vote from AP pollsters after 63-3 win
ATHENS — Georgia left a strong first impression with most of its fans in beating Tennessee State 63-3 on Saturday, but not all the AP Top 25 voters were as impressed.
The Bulldogs moved up a spot from No. 3 to No. 2 in the AP Top 25 rankings, but curiously enough, Georgia is the only team among the top eight not to have a first-place vote.
“The message was, you know, first impression, and first impression of this team would be judged by how they handled the opponent and how well they played to our standard or not,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said after Georgia pulled starting quarterback Gunner Stockton with a 35-0 lead in the second quarter and emptied the bench en route to the 63-3 win over the FCS-opponent.
“I thought, you know, for three quarters there — first, third, and fourth — we did that,” Smart said. “Second, we had some sloppiness, didn’t do some things well. But I thought the guys played really hard. I thought they beat the heat.”
Georgia was ranked No. 2 on 23 of the 69 pollsters’ ballots — up from seven that voted the Bulldogs No. 2 in the preseason poll.
But the Bulldogs were also ranked No. 9 on three ballots — this, after their lowest vote on the preseason ballot was No. 8, according to two voters.
Neither of those voters moved UGA down on their ballots: Javon Edmond of the Syracuse Post-Standard and Koki Riley of The Baton Rouge Advocate kept the Bulldogs at No. 8.
Dylan Sinn of The Journal Gazette (Fort Wayne, Ind.), Pat Welter of WRAL-TV (Raleigh, N.C.) and Stephen Means of Cleveland.com (Ohio State coverage) were the three voters who had UGA ranked at No. 9.
Sinn, Welter and Means are three of the five voters who have LSU ranked No. 1 on their ballots this week.
Sinn dropped UGA from No. 7 to No. 9, Welter dropped the Bulldogs from No. 5 to No. 9 and Means dropped Georgia from No. 7 to No. 9 after its 63-3 win.
Smart, while asked to assess his offensive line play, indicated it was hard to tell much about his football team against Tennessee State because of the difference in the teams’ talent and depth.
“Played hard, played well against an overmatched opponent size and speed-wise,” Smart said, “so tough evaluation, to be honest.”
Still, it is hard to imagine Georgia winning more decisively or using more reserves while outgaining the Tigers 660 yards to 109. They played four quarterbacks and had 11 players carry the ball. Fifteen players were credited with a reception on offense and 31 players made a tackle on defense.