The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
2. Daniels still questionable
and I decided to stay.”
For that the Bulldogs are truly thankful.
Smart said folks can go ahead and dispel the notion that Daniels is soft and can’t play through a minor injury. He said the redshirt junior desperately wants to get back under center for the Bulldogs. “JT is frustrated,” Smart said. “He wants to play quarterback and he doesn’t get to when he has an injury.”
Daniels is dealing with a “grade 1 sprain” of the latissimus dorsi muscle, according to Smart. That’s the mildest on a scale to three. The “lat,” as its commonly called, is the largest muscle in the body and stretches across the back. Previously, Daniels was dealing with an oblique strain, which is also in the back, but lower, toward the hip. Smart said UGA is not sure whether they’re related. But, in both cases, rest is the best treatment.
Therefore, it’s the dreaded “week-toweek” proposition.
3. Yet another goose egg
Georgia’s defense is piling up goose eggs like they want to scramble them for breakfast. The Bulldogs’ 37-0 shutout of Arkansas on Saturday represented:
■ Only the third shutout of a Top 10 team since 1976 by Georgia. The Bulldogs, then ranked No. 6, shut out No. 10 Alabama 21-0 that year.
■ The first time since 1980 that the Bulldogs posted back-to-back shutouts of SEC opponents. Georgia beat Vanderbilt 62-0 on Sept. 25. Georgia blanked Vanderbilt (41-0) and Kentucky (27-0) in the way to the national title 41 years ago.
■ The seventh shutout in the Kirby Smart era at Georgia and the fifth in an SEC game. “Every time we get on the field, we’re pushing for a three-and-out,” junior linebacker Nakobe Dean said. “That’s just the standard. If they don’t score, they can’t win.”
4. Running the rock
It’s just what had to be done. Effectively, thatwas the Bulldogs’ answer to the many questions after the game Saturday aboutthe dedication to and success with running the ball. Georgia tallied 345 yards of offense, 273 on the ground. The Bulldogs rushed a season-high 57 times, the most ever under Smart.
“It’s called scheme,” Smart said. “It’s not reinvigorated run game; it’s take what they give us. We felt it was important to play the game patient, but aggressive. I definitely thought there would be 53 runs, 57 runs, whatever there was, because that was the game plan we needed to approach it with. You know what? It might be different next week.”
Cominginto the game, Georgia had run the ball on 56% of its offensive plays. Saturday, the Bulldogs called runs on 84% of their 67 offensive plays. They averaged 4.9 yards per carry.
“I think it was great,” Bennett said. “It reminded me of old-time Georgia when we ran the ball a lot.”
5. Scholarship may be coming
If you enjoy watching Smart be passionate about something, bring up Dan Jackson.
Jackson, a third-year walk-on from Gainesville, had arguably the biggest play in Saturday’s game when he blocked an Arkansas punt in the first quarter. Zamir White recovered the ball in the end zone to give the Bulldogs a 21-0 lead with 2:17 to play in the quarter.
“Daniel Jackson is the most untold story on our team,” Smart said, lighting up when asked about him. “The guy came from I don’t know where, walk-on. He runs a 4.5 his freshman year and I’m like, ‘Where did we get this guy from? He’s a good football player.’
“All he does is give everything he’s got every single day. I love the kid, he’s done a great job, the kid deserves a dang scholarship and soon as we can get one for him, we’re going to try and do that.”