Opponents like Troy aren’t put on the schedule to provide a challenge. They’re put there to provide a rest. Georgia sought rest and tranquility between the South Carolina and Tennessee games, and if there’s one certainty about Sun Belt Conference members, it’s that they’re always happy to take the SEC’s phone calls and morph into a $900,000 chew toy.
So let’s temper the celebration over Georgia’s 66-0 win over Troy on Saturday. Cracking an egg has more drama.
It was a great day for starters, who had a few laughs. It was a great day for backups, who now have a story one day to tell their grandchildren, “Let me tell you about what I did against Troy.” I’m guessing even Uga bought a scratch-off ticket and made $5,000.
But this was the yoga stretch in the Bulldogs’ season. They opened impressively by beating Clemson. They began SEC play by letting one slip away at South Carolina. Things get serious again now. Georgia plays seven consecutive conference games, beginning next week against Tennessee.
“It’s hard to get the feeling after South Carolina out of your system quite frankly,” coach Mark Richt said. “But this helps a little bit.”
The Troy game wasn’t completely devoid of meaning. Freshman Sony Michel reaffirmed he’s a nice safety net for Todd Gurley: 10 carries for 155 yards, including a 75-yarder and three first-half touchdowns. The defense, after some opening-drive hiccups, stuffed Troy into a locker. The Dogs led 21-0 after one quarter and 45-0 at halftime.
Troy might have had a better shot in the Georgia Dome against Tampa Bay.
But if there’s one thing worthy of taking from Saturday’s win, it’s this: There was no letdown one week after the 38-35 loss in Columbia. Georgia often struggles in games like this, at least in the first half. They’re like a slow-starting train, particularly after a loss and when the opponent is deemed a sacrifice. But not Saturday.
“The last couple of years we’ve gotten off to a really slow start in games like this,” quarterback Hutson Mason said. “Guys are tired. You’re playing a less-talented opponent. Guys take it for granted. But there was no lag from the South Carolina game. You definitely worry about it — I know I was worried. You try to move on. You say you’ve pushed it to the back of your mind — but have you really? I thought we did.”
Which doesn’t guarantee anything against Tennessee, Florida or Auburn. But it says something about this team’s maturity, which has been an issue for Georgia in the past.
“You’ve got to have a great mentality to start fast in a game like this,” senior split end Michael Bennett said. “Since I’ve been here, we haven’t done that. So this was a good sign.”
Points won’t be a problem for Georgia this season. They’ve moved the ball and reached the end zone with regularity in all three games, despite a starting quarterback who’s still finding his way and the lineup missing two of the team’s best receivers, Justin Scott-Wesley (who may be close to returning) and Malcolm Mitchell (who’s not).
The defense is young and not great but getting better. It counts for something that this was the first time in 99 games that Troy was shut out. Doesn’t it?
Troy converted three third-down situations on its opening drive: a targeting penalty on J.J. Green on a third-and-6 incompletion, a 25-yard completion on third-and-6 and a 19-yarder on third-and-7. But the Trojans missed a field-goal attempt on that drive and managed only one first down on its next five possessions.
Linebacker Jordan Jenkins said that after Troy’s first drive, defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt “definitely got right on us on the sideline. He used some explicit words. Like, ‘Get you’re expletive out there and start playing.’”
Richt was able to empty the bench early. He used 77 players, including three quarterbacks. Gurley carried on the offense’s first four snaps, including a 48-yarder, but was on the bench after the second possession. Many starters headed to the sideline in the second quarter and never returned.
“You can go into a game like this and be so upset even if you win sometimes,” Richt said. “Even after the score got (one-sided) at the half, sometimes the second half, when you allow other guys into the game, it turns into a mess. But everybody did a good job.”
So Georgia did what it needed to Saturday. The question now is whether it will do what it needs to over the next seven weeks.
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