Tag: stetson bennett

JT Daniels not starting for UGA football

Georgia Bulldogs quarterback JT Daniels is not expected to start today against the UAB Blazers

Georgia Bulldogs quarterback JT Daniels is not expected to start today against the UAB Blazers. Daniels has been dealing with a core injury.

In his place, Carson Beck has been getting some of the reps with the starting offense. Stetson Bennett is another proven back up the Bulldogs may utilize. Will the Dawgs start Beck or Bennett?

Georgia additionally could still play Daniels, but he is not expected to start. Daniels is suffered from an oblique injury and still got some starting reps this week in practice.

Fortunately for the Dawgs, Georgia is still expected to defeat UAB with relative ease regardless of who starts at quarterback. UAB are the defending Conference USA champions, so they are expected to put up a fight.

Georgia QB Matthew Stafford made his first career start in the last game between the University of Georgia Bulldogs and University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB) Blazers at Sanford Stadium. (Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images)

No. 2-ranked Georgia is coming off a big-time win over the previously No. 3-ranked Clemson Tigers last week. Kirby Smart and Georgia will look to avoid a letdown against UAB.

The Bulldogs could roll with experience in Stetson Bennett if Carson Beck struggles. The UGA quarterback situation should be viewed as fluid for the UAB game. Freshman Brock Vandagriff additionally could make his college debut in the second half.

Georgia will have a more explosive offensive attack against UAB and that will start with the running game. The Blazers will look to stop the Georgia run game. Georgia is returning to a full-capacity Sanford Stadium for the first time since Nov. 2019.

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Reports: Georgia QB JT Daniels dealing with injury

Reports: Georgia QB JT Daniels dealing with injury

According to Dean Legge of DawgPost, Georgia quarterback JT Daniels is dealing with “an upper-body injury.”

It does not appear to be too serious, as DawgPost reports the quarterback has still been practicing with the team.

Daniels has missed some reps with the No. 1 unit this week that he typically would have taken. However, Dawg Post can confirm that Daniels has taken part in practices this week.

247Sports is reporting that Daniels is considered “questionable” for this Saturday’s game against UAB.

247Sports wrote that Daniels’ injury is to his core, and added that it’s likely his ribs or oblique.

When Daniels suffered the injury is unknown, but if it were prior to the Clemson game that would justify the lack of downfield shots Georgia took.

Per 247Sports, former 4-star Carson Beck received a majority of the first team snaps on Tuesday. If Daniels is unable to play against UAB, expect Beck to get the start.

Head coach Kirby Smart has not yet commented on this.

Projecting Georgia’s depth chart at quarterback

JT Daniels is projected to return as Georgia’s starter at quarterback, but what happens if he gets hurt?

The Georgia Bulldogs have a lot of talent in their quarterback room ahead of the upcoming college football season. J.T. Daniels is projected to return as Georgia’s starter, but what happens if he gets hurt?

Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs have several qualified backups. Georgia has experience in Stetson Bennett, talent in former five-star recruit Brock Vandagriff and combination of the two in Carson Beck, who arrived in Athens as a four-star prospect in the class of 2020.

Georgia’s projected quarterback depth chart:

Georgia commit tallies more yards in a half than UGA has in 6 quarters

5-star Georgia Bulldogs QB commit Brock Vandagriff tallied more passing yards and touchdowns in a half than UGA football has in 6 quarters

Five-star Georgia Bulldogs football commitment Brock Vandagriff is putting up some gaudy passing stats at the high school level. In fact, with his first half performance alone against Athens Christian, Brock Vandagriff threw for more passing yards than the entire team of Georgia has thrown for since halftime against the Alabama Crimson Tide on Oct. 17.

Prince Avenue quarterback Brock Vandagriff threw for 346 yards and five touchdowns in the first half alone against Athens Christian. Comparatively, Georgia has thrown for only 335 total yards since halftime of the Alabama game and the Bulldogs have five total touchdown passes since Jalen Carter hauled in a touchdown catch in the fourth quarter against Tennessee.

Vandagriff and JT Daniels, who is expected to start versus Mississippi State, give Georgia Bulldogs fans hope for the future of the quarterback position in Athens. It’s been a tough season for quarterbacks Stetson Bennett and D’Wan Mathis. The duo didn’t get too much support from the defense in key games against Florida and Alabama.

Regardless of the defensive performances, in the era of high-flying passing attacks Georgia must improve on offense. The Bulldogs saw both Mac Jones and Kyle Trask throw for over 400 yards on them. The University of Georgia threw for 112 passing yards against Florida, 131 passing yards against Kentucky, and 92 passing yards in the second half against Alabama. That’s not going to get the job done versus SEC competition.

A game-changing quarterback like Brock Vandagriff will help the UGA offense become more potent. For now, Georgia fans should sit tight and see how JT Daniels does in his first career start. Georgia has a lot of talent coming in with the class of 2021 and should be able to reload once again.

JT Daniels, Stetson Bennett, and D’Wan Mathis still need to prove themselves in the upcoming weeks. Which one of them will be the biggest competitor for Vandagriff next year?

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What UGA football, Kirby Smart must do moving forward

The Georgia Bulldogs suffered their second loss of the season and needs to improve and evaluate talent for the reminder of the year.

The Georgia Bulldogs suffered their second loss of the season on Saturday at the hands of the hated Florida Gators. Florida’s offense overpowered Georgia’s defense and won 44-28.

Now, Georgia must evaluate itself as the Bulldogs no longer have realistic College Football Playoff hopes. This is the first time since 2016 that Georgia hasn’t been in contention for a National Championship until the SEC Championship Game.

Firstly, the Dawgs must get healthier. Georgia is without numerous starters on the defensive side of the ball. Additionally, Stetson Bennett, George Pickens, Kendall Milton, and more are ailing on offense. There’s no reason to rush back players considering there’s no longer a National Championship run to play for.

Kirby Smart must find a way to gain more consistent quarterback play throughout the rest of the season. The Bulldogs must learn what they’ve got presently on the roster. Quarterbacks are the most important position in football and Georgia’s quarterbacks haven’t gotten the job done this season.

The Bulldogs must answer some burning questions: Is D’Wan Mathis or Stetson Bennett better? Is USC Trojans transfer J.T. Daniels healthy? Can Carson Beck be effective? Georgia has to do better with the quarterback position moving forward if it wants to win a championship.

The Dawgs had tough luck with Jamie Newman’s opt out before the season, but they shouldn’t have to count on transfer quarterbacks.

Georgia has a commitment in a five-star quarterback recruit in Brock Vandagriff, who will likely be favored to start the 2021 season. Georgia needs to have a good back-up quarterback next season who can efficiently run the offense should Vandagriff get hurt.

The Bulldogs must have a more effective passing attack to be a serious National Championship contender. Georgia must showcase a more dynamic passing game in the final four games of the season. The Dawgs need to work on their largest weakness.

The Georgia Bulldogs will be favored in all four of their remaining games: at Missouri, Mississippi State, at South Carolina, and a home finale against Vanderbilt.

Kirby Smart and Georgia must send seniors out the right way. Winning out is what these seniors and NFL Draft eligible players deserve. That being said, the staff will want to evaluate some young talent. Additionally, roster management heading into the offseason will be unique this season since seniors can return (they won’t lose a season of eligibility this year, per NCAA rules for this season only).

Georgia’s got to do some serious self evaluation. As for the defensive side of the ball, the Bulldogs need to be able to stop wheel routes and pass-catching running backs. Florida humiliated UGA with this combination. Alabama additionally used wheel routes to burn Georgia several times.

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Kirby Smart, this is getting old. Make the change at QB.

Georgia football HC Kirby Smart needs to make the change.

Before my DMs fill up, let me say that I am a huge Kirby Smart fan. This post is not my way of saying we should fire Kirby. If we fire Kirby, we are screwed. Plain and simple.

But that’s enough being nice on a night like this.

Kirby, what are you doing, dude? Nobody will think any less of you as a man if you admit your mistake and pull Stetson Bennett.

Is that what you’re worried about? Because I honestly cannot think of any reason why Bennett is still the starting quarterback for the University of Georgia.

I get that maybe D’Wan Mathis just isn’t any good. But neither is Bennett.

If it’s true that Mathis really is just a not-great quarterback, Kirby has nothing to lose and everything to gain. We’re already not going to the SEC Championship Game. We already know Bennett isn’t the answer.

So play Mathis; and when he stinks you can say ‘I told you so.’

What about Daniels?

This brings up the JT Daniels question. If he’s healthy enough to play, there’s absolutely no reason he should not be in at quarterback. If he’s not healthy enough, you should probably say that so we stop scratching our head wondering why our coach can’t make the right decision yet again.

You made the wrong decision when it came to Jacob Eason. You were beyond wrong when it came to Justin Fields. And we don’t know if you’re wrong yet about JT Daniels or D’Wan Mathis, but until you prove us wrong, we’re going to wonder what the heck you’re doing.

But you know who else is going to wonder if the Georgia head coach has any clue what to do when it comes to the quarterback position?

Yep. Recruits. Kirby’s done a great job of reeling in these 4 and 5-star quarterback recruits so far, but that will end soon if he does not get it together.

Georgia QB Stetson Bennett goes to locker room. Who’s next?

Georgia football QB Stetson Bennett left for the locker room in the first quarter of UGA vs Florida. Who replaced him?

Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett left for the locker room in the first quarter of the game against Florida.

It looks like an injury to Bennett’s right shoulder. He took a huge shot on his touchdown pass he made to Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint.

Taking his place is D’Wan Mathis, who opened the season as the UGA starter before pulled for Bennett against Arkansas.

Bennett’s start to the game was pretty consistent with his play as of late. No turnovers, but some missed passes and a dropped snap that killed his final drive.

Paul Finebaum on Georgia-Florida: ‘Very dangerous game for Kirby Smart’

Paul Finebaum discusses the Georgia-Florida game and how there is a lot of pressure on UGA football HC Kirby Smart to win it.

It’s Georgia-Florida day, and the No. 5 ranked Dawgs are looking to make it four in a row over the No. 8 Gators in Jacksonville.

For both sides, this is an SEC Championship play-in game. The loser of this matchup will have two losses on its record.

Georgia, though favored and ranked higher, is actually viewed as an underdog in the eyes of many for this one. A lackluster offense and a banged up defense have created a lot of doubt about UGA’s chances of winning.

Related: Five reasons Georgia will win

Related: Five reasons Georgia could lose

While on ESPN’s First Take this week, Paul Finebaum discussed the challenges that UGA and Kirby Smart face for the Cocktail Party, in addition to speaking on Georgia’s unfortunate quarterback situation.

“This is a precarious game for Georgia,” Finebaum said. “They’ve only lost to Alabama, they led at halftime, got blown out in the second half. They had an uninspiring game last week against Kentucky, only scoring 14 points. And if they lose this game, there are going to be a lot of people who go back into the history books of two years ago and start asking the question to Kirby Smart, ‘How did you let Justin Fields get away?’”

We know the story. Fields transferred to Ohio State after one year at Georgia. Now he’s a Heisman contender. Then Jamie Newman transferred to Georgia from Wake Forest, but we never got to see him in red and black as he opted out in the preseason.

Now, it’s all on Stetson Bennett’s shoulders. A former JUCO star, Bennett has struggled during the 2020 season, and he’ll need to clean it up today and limit turnovers if UGA wants to keep with Florida’s offense.

“They’re severely challenged,” Finebaum said. “And as I say that, Florida has one of the best quarterbacks in the country in Kyle Trask. … So this is a very dangerous game for Kirby Smart.”

What will it take on defense for the Gators to beat the Dawgs?

Florida and Georgia face off in a huge matchup this Saturday to decide who is the king of the SEC East. Here are three key defensive points.

It’s been apparent from the season opener what Florida’s limiting factor would be in 2020: its defense.

The unit was solid in the first two seasons under Dan Mullen — perhaps not as elite as those under Jim McElwain and Will Muschamp, but sufficient given the improvements made on the offensive side.

So far this season, though, it’s been far from sufficient. The Gators allowed over 500 yards in two of its first three games, giving inferior teams the opportunity to hang around late and even costing it a loss against Texas A&M.

But UF’s defense looked much stronger last week against Missouri, allowing just 248 yards. It will hope that those improvements are sustainable as it heads into its most important game of the season against Georgia, a contest that will likely decide the SEC East.

Here are three keys to the game on defense of Florida’s going to pull off the win.