Samford o-linemen had their hands full with Georgia pass rushers Jonathan Ledbetter (13) and Lorenzo Carter (7) – UGA vs. Samford – Athens, GA, Saturday, Sept. 16, 2017
Here are the final stats and the participation report for Georgia’s 42-14 victory over Samford on Saturday night, September 16th between the hedges in Sanford Stadium.
The Georgia defense was again the star of the show as the No. 1s and No. 2s held Samford to 174 yards of total offense through three-quarters of play. The Georgia coaching staff were able to get in a lot of freshmen and walk-ons in the waining moments of the third quarter and throughout the fourth. In the end, UGA’s defense held Samford to 249 yards for the game and 14 points. The run defense was once again stout, only allowing Samford to gain 22 yards on the ground. Junior ILB Roquan Smith led the team in tackles with 6 and senior OLB Lorenzo Carter once again pressured and got after the QB, getting 2 of Georgia’s 3 sacks on the night.
On offense, UGA’s first drive did not fair well, but afterward, Fromm and company got things rolling. Georgia leaned on their ground attack once again amassing 284 yards rushing. Senior Nick Chubb led the way with 16 carries for 132 yards and 2 touchdowns and freshman tailback D’Andre Swift followed with 9 carries for 58 yards and a touchdown. While freshman QB Jake Fromm did not air it out all that much, he was efficient, going 8-of-13 for 165 yards and 3 touchdowns. While Fromm did not throw an interception, he did fumble the ball again and almost had another fumble on a handoff to a running back. The offense was methodical converting 9-of-15 third downs and keeping the ball for 35:11 to Samford’s 24:49 while generating 459 total yards.
Georgia’s special teams were solid again. Redshirt sophomore kicker Rodrigo Blankenship continued to launch kickoffs through or to the back of the endzone and all 7 went for touchbacks. Blankenship was perfect on PATs on the night as well. Punter Cameron Nizialek only had to punt twice, but when he did he flipped the field for UGA. C. Nizialek’s second punt of the night late in the second-quarter, just before halftime, was a 57-yarder from UGA’s 27. It wasn’t only long but hung in the air, seeming to defy gravity, allowing the coverage unit to get down the field and not allow Samford to return the punt. For the year, Georgia’s punt coverage units are allowing negative one yard per return on average.
Here are the full stats along with the participation report:
