3 Up’s, 3 Down’s from Georgia’s 27-20 win over Auburn

Up – Carson Beck grew up in the 2nd half

It was another slow start and rough first half for Carson Beck. He threw an early interception, missed Oscar Delp deep on what would have been a wide-open touchdown, and missed on a couple other throws. Overall for the first half, Beck was 7/13 for 77 yards and the INT.

A football game is not one half however. Carson Beck grew up and was a completely different QB in the second half. Beck was completely in control down the stretch. He found Bowers often, made some big throws, and was making better reads. In the second half, Beck was 16/20 for 236 yards and a TD.

That TD capped off a big drive for Beck and the Bulldogs. Georgia took over at their own 25, tied 20-20, with 6:21 remaining. Beck (with the help of Bowers) marched Georgia down the field and into the end-zone to eventually give the Dawgs the 27-20 win. If Beck can keep up what he did in the 2nd half, then that should take Georgia’s offense to the next level.

I also want to give an honorable mention Up to Malaki Starks and Kamari Lassiter. Starks is playing like arguably the best safety in the nation right now, and Lassiter is having a great year at corner so far as well.

Down – Another Slow Start

I know you’re probably tired of this being mentioned every week, but it happened once again. Georgia got off to a slow start once again on Saturday. This time around, it was Auburn jumping out to a 10-0 lead by the end of the 1st quarter.

Both teams swapped punts early. Auburn then got the aforementioned long run by Thorne to set up a field goal to go-ahead 3-0. Then came the Beck interception just two plays later. Auburn then used to the short field to score a touchdown and extend their lead to 10-0. Georgia quickly found themselves trailing by two scores at the end of the 1st quarter. Georgia got back in the game in the 2nd quarter, but very similarly to the South Carolina game, Georgia found themselves in a hole in an SEC game.

How rough have Georgia’s 1st quarters been this season? Through five games, Georgia is now tied at a combined 17-17 through those five 1st quarters. Georgia has just two TD’s and a field goal through their five 1st quarters this season.

Georgia also struggled in the 3rd quarter for the first time this season as well on Saturday. Georgia had been dominant in the 3rd quarter on the year, but that changed on Saturday. Georgia fumbled on the first play of the 2nd half which set up an Auburn TD for the Tigers to go up 17-10. Georgia then *almost* fumbled again right after, but eventually punted on that drive.

Again, while Georgia is 5-0 and these slow starts have not costed Georgia a loss yet, the Dawgs cannot keep playing with fire. Especially with how tough Georgia’s schedule is about to get with No. 20 Kentucky coming to town this weekend, and then four games in a row in a couple weeks against Florida, No. 21 Missouri, No. 16 Ole Miss, and No. 22 Tennessee.

The Bulldogs will have arguably their biggest test of the season this week as they take on No. 20 Kentucky at 7:00 pm Eastern in Athens.