Georgia No. 1 defeated Georgia Tech 37-14 on Saturday, ending its second straight year with a 12-0 regular season. While the Dawgs missed marking and the game was closer at halftime than many expected, the win still ranks in the record books. Even in a game of ups and downs, Georgia put in some strong performances to put the Yellow Jackets out of the way, and below we’re celebrating the best of the best by handing out cue balls.
-RB Kenny McIntosh: A week after rushing for 143 yards and a touchdown, McIntosh had his most prolific game yet as he rushed for 86 yards and a touchdown with 12 carries and catching two passes for 96 yards. McIntosh might not set fire to the combine next spring, but he will have no shortage of films showing off his hands, his vision and his ability to make defenders miss in the open field.
-RG Tate Ratledge: After missing last week through injury, Ratledge returned to the starting lineup against Georgia Tech and looked much closer to 100 percent than earlier in the year. He routinely got a nudge at attack point and opened up some big properties for Georgia’s back to make plays. His presence will be important against a strong red zone defense next week.
-TE Brock Bowers: Speaking of red zones, Georgia’s goalline adventure continued on Saturday, with some support from the umpires, who opted not to call for multiple touchdowns for the Dawgs. This resulted in another jumbo package being called for fourth, with Stetson rolling out Bennett and sending Bowers a bounce pass. The ball got as close to the ground as possible before Bowers pulled out his shovel and dug the ball up, saving the umpires from missing another call and Georgia from having to turn the ball over just 17 yards out of the end zone.
-LB Little Mondon: Jamon Dumas-Johnson is a Butkus Award finalist in his freshman year as a starter for Georgia, but Mondon is beginning to show that he has the highest ceiling in the positional space. While it was Kendall Milton who joined Trezmen Marshall and Marvin Jones Jr. to defeat the Georgia Tech player, Mondon flew to soccer on Saturday, continuing his upward trend of playing fast and confident. He made life very difficult for Georgia Tech and is beginning to build a reputation for his finishing speed. He led Georgia with six tackles, with a solo tackle for loss and an assisted tackle for loss that cost the Yellow Jackets 16 yards.
-DT Jalen Carter: When Carter is on the field, the blocking scheme for the opponents changes dramatically. Typically, the change is unable to block #88. The stat sheet shows three tackles and 1.5 tackles for the loss. But the reality is Carter was in the backfield all day, collapsing the bag and preventing runways from opening. He’s just different.
-PK Jack Podlesny: Kirby Smart He might not want to get out of a red zone (or red area as he’s called it over the years) with a field goal, but he can take comfort in knowing he’s got one of the most accurate kickers in the country this season . Podlesney went 3-for-3 on tries on Saturday, including a season of 50 yards to improve to 23-25 on the year. That should keep him in the top 6 in the country before breaking into the SEC championship. Four of his eight kickoffs went for touchbacks.