Senior Class Ties Win Mark: With tonight’s 26-14 victory, the 2019 class ties the mark for most wins by a Dawg senior class with 44. They matched the 2005 group that went 44-9 with a pair of SEC titles. The 2019 class finishes with a 44-12 record, one SEC title, three consecutive SEC Eastern Division crowns and was the 2018 CFP Runner-Up. Also, Georgia notched its 12th win, making it only the fifth team to have at least 12 wins in a season in school history and the first since 2017 (13-2). The 2019 Dawgs finish the season 12-2 while Baylor dropped to 11-3.
Strong Effort By The Defense: Fifth-ranked Georgia held #7 Baylor to a season low 14 points in a 26-14 victory tonight. Georgia blanked the Bears in the first half, holding them to 97 yards of total offense (22-pass, 75-pass). Coming in tonight, the Bears were averaging 35.2 points a game and 431.2 yards a game. It was the fifth time this year that Georgia blanked an opponent in the first half and the first time since the road win over Auburn. The last first half shutout in a bowl game by the Dawgs was against Alabama in the 2018 CFP National Championship game when it led 13-0. The Bears finished with 295 yards of offense.
Baylor opened the second half with an eight play, 75-yard scoring drive to cut it to 19-7. On their possession, the Bears went for it on 4th down and 4 from the UGA 46 and Charlie Brewer was sacked and fumbled as it was forced by RS-freshman Azzez Ojulari and recovered by Travon Walker. It led to a touchdown and a 26-7 Dawg lead. The Bears second TD came on another eight play, 75-yard drive with 4:10 left in the 3rd quarter to cut it to 26-14. Georgia’s leading tacklers tonight were DJ Daniel with a career-high eight while Ojulari and Lewis Cine had six. Ojulari finished with five stops, one sack and one forced fumble.
Georgia held 13 of its 14 opponents under 20 points this season.Before the 2019 SEC Championship Game, Georgia and Clemson were the only two teams in the FBS not to allow more than 20 points in a game. In the SEC Championship Game, top-ranked LSU registered a 37-10 win over the Dawgs as the Tigers came in ranked second nationally in Scoring Offense (48.7 ppg). In the CFP semifinal, Clemson beat #2 Ohio State 29-23.
A Look At The Offense: Junior QB Jake Fromm finished 20-for-30 for 250 yards and two TDs to lead the Dawgs to a 26-14 win over No. 7 Baylor, their 12th of the year. Georgia’s first scoring drive that resulted in a 24-yard field goal was setup by a flea-flicker as Fromm handed off to junior D’Andre Swift who tossed it back to Fromm, and it went for a 46-yard completion to George Pickens. The Dawgs tallied 380 yards of total offense (130-rush, 250 pass). The leading rusher was redshirt freshman Zamir White who had 92 yards on 18 carries, both career highs in his first start.
Georgia held 13 of its 14 opponents under 20 points this season.Before the 2019 SEC Championship Game, Georgia and Clemson were the only two teams in the FBS not to allow more than 20 points in a game. In the SEC Championship Game, top-ranked LSU registered a 37-10 win over the Dawgs as the Tigers came in ranked second nationally in Scoring Offense (48.7 ppg). In the CFP semifinal, Clemson beat #2 Ohio State 29-23.
A Look At The Offense: Junior QB Jake Fromm finished 20-for-30 for 250 yards and two TDs to lead the Dawgs to a 26-14 win over No. 7 Baylor, their 12th of the year. Georgia’s first scoring drive that resulted in a 24-yard field goal was setup by a flea-flicker as Fromm handed off to junior D’Andre Swift who tossed it back to Fromm, and it went for a 46-yard completion to George Pickens. The Dawgs tallied 380 yards of total offense (130-rush, 250 pass). The leading rusher was redshirt freshman Zamir White who had 92 yards on 18 carries, both career highs in his first start.
Bowl Record Night For Pickens: Freshman George Pickens, who was named the Sugar Bowl Most Outstanding Player, registered a career-high 12 catches (tying a UGA bowl record) for 175 yards and 1 TD and that was most receptions by a Dawg since Michael Johnson had 13 versus Auburn in 2002 for 141 yards. In the first half, Pickens had 11 for 165 yards and one TD. Pickens’ 175 yards was the most by a Dawg in a game since 2012 when Tavarres King had 188 versus Kentucky. Pickens’ team-leading eighth TD catch, the most by a true freshman in the country, covered 27 yards with 12:28 left in the half for a 10-0 edge. Pickens previous career bests came versus South Carolina when he had seven catches for 98 yards. Pickens shares Georgia’s bowl record for catches with Hines Ward (154 yards in the 1998 Outback Bowl win over Wisconsin) Also, redshirt sophomore Matt Landers got his first career TD, a 16-yarder to make it 19-0 with 1:51 left in the first half. He had three catches for 25 yards.
Another Sugar Bowl Appearance: Georgia made its 11th all-time appearance in the Sugar Bowl, and the Dawgs are now 5-6). Georgia made its 23rd consecutive appearance in a bowl game, the second longest active streak in the country. Overall, Georgia improved to 32-21-3 in bowls.
Series History With The Bears: With tonight’s win, Georgia improves to 5-0 all-time against Baylor, winning in 1972, 1978, 1985 and 1989 in Athens plus now in New Orleans in the 2020 Sugar Bowl.
Another Win Over Top 10 Foe: With tonight’s win, Kirby Smart improved to 7-4 against top 10 teams during his tenure including 3-1 this season. His overall mark is 44-12 in this is fourth year at the helm.
Blankenship Tallies 8 Points: Graduate PK Rodrigo Blankenship finished with 8 points (2-FGs, 2-PAT) to give him 127 for this year (ranks 3rd best in single season at UGA) and already a school record 440 for his career. He made a 24-yarder for a 3-0 edge with 49 seconds left in the 1st quarter and then a 31-yarder for a 13-0 lead with 8:08 left in the first half. He already owns the school record for career points and ranks second in SEC history. In the first half, he finished 2-for-2 in field goals. He is now 27-for-33 on the season in field goals. Also of note, he set the SEC record for consecutive PATs made on his first PAT tonight and added one more as he now has 200.
Sophomore punter/holder Jake Camarda converted a fake field goal on 4th-and-2, rushing four yards for a first down. On the next play, Zamir White scored from 13 yards out to make it 26-7 following the PAT. It was Georgia’s first successful fake field goal since the 2016 Liberty Bowl win over TCU when holder Brice Ramsey scampered 11 yards for a first down.
Points off Turnovers: Georgia forced three turnovers and it led to seven points. The first one was an interception by junior Richard LeCounte. He returned it to the UGA 26. It did not lead to any points. In the 3rd quarter, Azeez Ojulari had a strip sack and it was recovered by Travon Walker. It led to a TD. LeCounte notched his second pick late in the 4th quarter to tie a Georgia bowl record and allow the Dawgs to go into the victory formation. LeCounte has five picks for his career and four this year. The Bears came in tonight +14 in turnover margin this year while Georgia was even.
For Starters & Game Captains: Junior QB Jake Fromm leads the team now with 42 consecutive starts. Redshirt freshman right guard Warren Ericson and redshirt freshman tailback Zamir White made their first career starts. On defense junior DT Devonte Wyatt made his first career start. Fromm, D’Andre Swift along with junior Monty Rice and graduate Charlie Woerner served as the game captains.
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