The Good, Bad and Ugly: Georgia Football's Brash Statement Win over Oklahoma

ATHENS - There is much to pick over after Georgia Football’s 41-13 destruction of what’s left of the Oklahoma Sooners.

THE GOOD

Georiga Cashes In

“The Dawgs didn't beat the Dawgs today, but the Sooners in a lot of ways beat the Sooners,” Georgia Football coach Kirby Smart said after the game. They gifted us multiple turnovers that could've been touchdowns, and the game would've been different.”

Oklahoma made costly mistakes that the Bulldogs cashed in on - none more than Chris Cole’s 85-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown. Facing a third and goal from the Georgia two-yard line, Sooner QB John Mateer rolled to his left, but was confronted by Georgia defenders.

Receiving pressure, Mateer scrambled away from the line of scrimmage and appeared to throw the ball backwards. The the ball came loose Cole picked it up and glided to the other end of the stadium for a touchdown.

“I'll be honest with you, I don't think Chris gets the credit for that, right? He's Johnny on the spot,” Smart said after the game. “The credit is the pressure, the calls, the effort of the other players. He certainly was in the right spot at the right time, and that's not the guy you want to be chasing because when he picks up a fumble he's hard to catch.”

Dwight Phillips Takes Off

The reserve running back did what teammates and coaches have been saying for weeks that he does during practices - hits a long touchdown run. This time it came in the fourth quarter of the game. Phillips sprung outside and ripped a 54-yard run for a touchdown to put the Dawgs up 38-6 with 12:33 to play in the game.

Georgia Football RB Dwight Phillips Jr. against the Oklahoma Sooners. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

“We’ve got to get (Phillips) more touches and find ways to get him the ball,” Smart said. “That’s what we saw all spring and fall. We just got to get more opportunities. And some of these leads have hurt our opportunities to get him in because you want to protect him too. You don't want him out there taking hits when you're up 30 points on somebody. I was really proud of him today. His ball security, his hitting the hole, but then he also had a special teams tackle on one of the best returners in the country, and that's what we challenged him to do this game.”

THE BAD

Third Down Conversions

It was hard to get a first down today for both teams. The Dawgs ended the day 3 of 12; Oklahoma was 2 of 14.

“We didn't convert a lot of third downs today. I don't know what it was,” Smart said. “What is it? They were 2 of 14, we were 3 of 12. I mean, obviously that's not too good. We have to be better than that, and we can't be in third and longs.”

THE UGLY

Georgia’s 3rd Quarter

Up 28-0 and apparently on cruise control, Georgia played the worst it has all year so far. Gunner Stockton threw his first interception of the season, and the Dawgs were outscored 6-3. After forcing another three and out, Georgia appeared to be on the way to another grind-it-out drive to get everyone home pretty quick.

But two plays into the drive Stockton was intercepted by Omarion Robinson. OU had the ball at the Georgia 24-yard line, and five plays later Rocky Beers scored a 17-yard touchdown on a third-and-six play. In other words, the UGA defense still nearly got off the field without allowing a touchdown.

“There was definitely a lull, and the good teams don't have lulls,” Smart said. “They don't sleep-walk and do things.”

Only another Oklahoma fumble would set up Peyton Woodring’s 45-yard field goal to make it 31-6. All told UGA turned it over twice, and managed only 37 yards of offense on 17 plays.

John Mateer

Yikes. The Oklahoma QB went 25 of 34 for 231 yards with two touchdowns, but he was sacked three times, fumbled with Oklahoma at the UGA two-yard line (which resulted in a 85-yard fumble return for a touchdown) and threw a costly interception. It appeared Mateer was trying to throw to Georgia’s KJ Bolden in the second quarter. It was bizarre.

Mateer managed only seven yards rushing against the Dawgs on 15 attempts. His mistakes could not have been more costly.

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