ATHENS – The pressure is on Stetson Bennett. It’s ramping up with every passing minute as kickoff for Georgia’s home opener against Samford on Saturday (4 p.m., SEC Network) draws ever closer.
“The Streak” is on the line.
The Bulldogs’ starting quarterback enters Saturday’s game 6-for-6. That’s not passing, mind you, or even third downs (he’s actually 8-for-8 in that category).
Bennett is 6-for-6 in touchdown-scoring drives. Georgia has not failed to reach the end zone on a single offensive possession that Bennett has overseen this season.
Imagine his consternation as the Bulldogs line up against their FCS visitors Saturday. Imagine if Georgia has to settle for a field goal. Imagine the shame he’d feel if the Bulldogs — gulp! — have to punt.
Silly as that is, that’s where the No. 2-ranked Bulldogs offense is behind their beloved sixth-year senior, so far. There’s no such thing as a “perfect game” in football, but Bennett came as close as a quarterback could in Saturday’s opener against then-No. 11 Oregon.
That said, Bennett said he’s not feeling pressure to stay perfect. Just as he did with his performance against Alabama in the SEC Championship game in December, Bennett has “flushed” what happened against Oregon.
“We had a good one, but it’s over now,” Bennett said in the aftermath of Saturday’s annihilation. “We’ve got the next opponent. But I think our guys are mature, and we attack it like a business. It is our job. So, we’re going to go out and work on the tiny things that make a good offense a good offense.”
To review: Bennett completed 25 of 31 passes for a career-best 368 yards and two touchdowns against Oregon. As for those six incompletions, two came in the first half when Bennett found no receivers open and chucked the ball out of bounds. Another was a perfectly thrown ball that was dropped by tight end Darnell Washington on Georgia’s fifth offensive possession.
No biggie. Kendall Milton scored on a 12-yard run two plays later to give the Bulldogs a 35-3 lead.
But shame on Bennett for overthrowing Ladd McConkey deep, right? The kid was wide open. And what was Bennett thinking trying to underarm that ball to tight Brock Bowers? Even Bennett criticized himself for the decisions he made on the 4-yard TD pass he made to McConkey.
“He made some mistakes, and he knows that,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “But we did execute at a high level. When you have an experienced quarterback and experienced players, you can do that.”
Indeed, Bennett has established quite the standard for himself in 2022. The day he finally throws an interception – and it’s coming, folks – Georgia fans are going to want to run him out of town on a rail.
You might recall such a reaction after the Bulldogs lost 41-24 to Alabama in the SEC Championship game in December. Not only were fans pleading for a quarterback change on social media in the second half of that game, the outcry continued well into the postseason as the Bulldogs prepared for the second College Football Playoff appearance in school history.
All Bennett did was turn in MVP performances against Michigan in the Orange Bowl semifinal and the Crimson Tide in their second meeting in the national championship game. His numbers in Georgia’s past three games: 71.2% completion percentage (62-of-87) for 905 yards and seven touchdowns with zero interceptions. He also has a rushing touchdown.
And, no, neither Smart nor the Bulldogs’ offensive brain trust considered a quarterback change.
“You guys don’t see every single practice, every single rep that led up to the Alabama game and all the reps from South Carolina to the time he played UAB, all the way through,” Smart said. “There are a million things you don’t see (in practice) against a pretty elite defense. So, there was enough of that to convince me that we were going with the right guy.”
It all seems so laughable now. Bennett was named the Walter Camp Foundation’s national offensive player of the week for his Oregon performance. He also made the Manning Award’s list of national stars of the week. Remarkably, Bennett wasn’t named the SEC’s offensive player of the week. That honor went instead to Florida’s Anthony Richardson.
The Bulldogs don’t care. They like their guy.
“He just looks, sounds and acts more comfortable now,” sophomore receiver A.D. Mitchell said. “You know, he’s just in control in the huddle. When he talks, everybody else stops, and we listen to him. That’s our leader.”
As for Bennett’s performance Saturday, Mitchell added: “I mean, I kind of expected it. You know, we’re going into his third year with (offensive coordinator Todd) Monken. So, he looked extremely comfortable. He looked like he was in full control, and it felt like it. It was something!”
Bennett himself marveled at the Bulldogs’ work.
“That’s what I’m most proud of, the third downs,” Bennett said. “That’s what we were harping on -- third downs and red zone -- this whole offseason. And we executed.”
They certainly did. And if the Bulldogs do anything similar Saturday, Bennett’s not likely to stay in the game long.
That will mean more work for Carson Beck. A sophomore quarterback, Beck finished for the Bulldogs on Saturday and was equally impressive in doing so. In fact, after going 5-of-6 passing for 71 yards and throwing an 18-yard touchdown pass to Milton, Beck’s efficiency rating of 237.73 actually was higher than Bennett’s (201.65).
“Carson was very calm, cool, and collected,” Smart said. “His disposition is such that the moment’s not too big for him. I thought he did a good job (against Oregon). He made some good decisions and had a couple poor decisions, and I think he’ll be the first to tell you that he would like to improve on some of those. But the good thing is he got to come in and have an opportunity and run the offense just where it wasn’t a run-oriented system just to end the game.”
As for Bennett, his perfection didn’t end with his quarterbacking duties. He actually served as Georgia’s holder on placement kicks. Unbeknownst to many, Bennett was the backup to Jake Camarda the past couple of years. So, naturally, he took over after Camarda graduated.
Bennett, kicker Jack Podlesny and snapper Payne Walker were a perfect 7-for-7 on point-after attempts as well.
“It wasn’t a new thing,” Smart said of the decision to use his star QB as holder. “We lost the guy that held before, so we go to the next best holder or the guy that’s next up. And we’re training a guy for when Stetson isn’t here. So, it’s one of those things that I think it’s important to the kicker to have who they’re comfortable with.”
More pressure to stay perfect. But Bennett has been up for it so far.
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