UGA stellar in mauling of UMass
ATHENS, Ga. — The Georgia Bulldogs are all tuned up and ready to try to repeat as state and Southeastern Conference football champions.
Quarterbacks Justin Fields and Jake Fromm combined on 10-of-13 passing for 227 yards and three touchdowns while leading No. 5 Georgia to a 66-27 demolition of the University of Massachusetts on Saturday before an announced sellout audience of 92,746 at Sanford Stadium.
It was the highest points total for the Bulldogs under third-year coach Kirby Smart, topping the 54 they tallied in the double-overtime Rose Bowl victory over Oklahoma this past New Year’s Day.
The Bulldogs (10-1) amassed a staggering 701 total yards, second only in program history to the 713 Georgia racked up against Florida Atlantic in 2012.
“It’s fun for everybody on offense, because everybody gets to feel a part of it,” Fromm said. “We weren’t worried about anything ahead. We were just worried about getting better right now. We wanted to be more physical running the football, and we wanted to be clean throwing it.”
Fromm went 5-for-5 passing for 106 yards and connected with Tyler Simmons for a 71-yard touchdown at the 10:30 mark of the second quarter, putting Georgia up 28-7 with Rodrigo Blankenship’s extrapoint kick. When told afterward that he wasn’t even sweating, Fromm said, “I still will be taking a shower.”
Fields was 5-of-8 for 121 yards and led the team in rushing with 100 yards on seven carries, including a 3-yard touchdown midway through the second quarter to help Georgia go ahead 35-10. He set up his short touchdown run with a 54-yard pass to tight end Isaac Nauta, and he added a 57-yard scoring strike to Mecole Hardman as Georgia’s lead grew to 42-10 with 2:22 left before halftime.
The Bulldogs will close their regular season this Saturday against visiting Georgia Tech (7-4) before facing No. 1 Alabama (11-0) inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Dec. 1. Georgia gave each of those foes something to think about after a first half in which the Bulldogs amassed 431 yards on 29 plays, an average of 14.9
yards a snap.
“Anybody can step up at any time and play,” Simmons said. “Everybody gets an equal opportunity throughout the week, and we gave everybody an opportunity today.”
UMass, admittedly, was not the fiercest of foes. A former power at the Football Championship Subdivision level — the Minutemen earned the 1998 national title over Georgia Southern and lost in 2006 to Appalachian State, with each of those contests at Chattanooga’s Finley Stadium — it closed out a 4-8 season that included lopsided losses to Ohio University and Florida International.
“The plan was to shorten the game when they got up by 28, but even that was tough,” Minutemen coach Mark Whipple said. “They’re going to play for an SEC championship with a chance to win the national championship. They’ve got talent, and they’re deep.”
The Bulldogs dominated early, holding UMass to 7 yards on its first two possessions while moving 134 yards on their first two drives and reaching the end zone twice. Simmons opened the scoring with a 49-yard run less than two minutes into the game, and an Elijah Holyfield 5-yard run capped a 10-play, 68-yard drive on Georgia’s second possession that made it 14-0.
“I challenged our players to start really fast, because I thought it was important to come out and set a tone when you play these kinds of games,” Smart said. “Our offense executed well and overpowered a team that’s smaller than us.”
After the Minutemen’s third possession ended quickly, Bulldogs receiver Terry Godwin fumbled a punt at Georgia’s 16-yard line, and UMass recovered. That set up a 5-yard touchdown run by Marquis Young that cut the Bulldogs’ lead in half, but Georgia responded with a seven-play, 80-yard drive that culminated with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Fields to Riley Ridley, and Georgia led 21-7 a little more than a minute into the second quarter.
Fields played that entire possession for the Bulldogs, completing two passes for 13 yards and rushing three times for 59 yards, including a 47-yard keeper around left end on the final play of the opening quarter.
UMass entered with the nation’s leading receiver, and he didn’t disappoint, as Andy Isabella racked up 219 yards and two touchdowns on 15 catches. Isabella had 124 of those yards after the Bulldogs grabbed a 59-13 lead thanks to a Brian Herrien run with one second remaining in the third quarter.
The Minutemen finished with 390 yards.
“That’s not acceptable,” Georgia senior inside linebacker Natrez Patrick said. “We all hold each other to the same standard, whether it’s the ones or the twos. No matter who it is, we hold ourselves to the same standard.
“At the end of the day, it’s about wins and losses, and we got the win, but obviously there is room for improvement.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423757-6524.