It was great to have a full Sanford Stadium back for the first time in twenty two months as Georgia hosted the University of Alabama-Birmingham for the first home game of the 2021 season. And they disappoint the crowd dominating the Blazers from first snap to last in a 56-7 rout.
  To be honest, I was wrong about a few things. Let's start by acknowledging the fact that Jacksonville State is a pretty strong team. They consistently are a powerhouse within the lower FCS. The Gamecocks began the season ranked #8 and dropped to #16 after losing to the higher FBS level UAB last week.
  The Blazers aren't ranked very high on the FBS level, this week at #63. But, any team that shuts out Jacksonville State 31-0 should not be taken lightly. And that's not even mentioning the fact that the Gamecocks stunned Florida State 20-17 in Tallahassee on a last second 59 yard touchdown.
I didn't think it would be a blowout expecting instead the game to be close until late when the better athletes on UGA ultimately prevailed.
  Add to that the fact that quarterback J.T. Daniels was not expected to start, recovering from an oblique injury against Clemson. Sources said that redshirt freshman Carson Beck would start in his place. I said that the game should be dominated by defense from both the Dawgs and Blazers with Georgia's run game handling most of the load.
   What actually happened was UGA deciding not to run the ball much up the middle where the Blazers were putting all of their eggs. Instead, they swung for the fences over and over and over again and passed UAB into submission.
   On the second play of the game, Stetson Bennett started at QB and heaved it downfield for a 75 yard TD pass to Jermaine Burton and an early 7-0 lead...just 38 seconds into the game. On their second drive, Kenny McIntosh pulled one down for 12 yards into the end zone to make it 14-0. Next, Bennett immediately hit freshman TE Brock Bowers in stride who took it 89 yards to the end zone and a 21-0 lead, the 9th longest scoring pass in UGA history. Another bomb as Bennett let fly with another for 61 yards, mostly all in the air with Arian Smith pulling it down and across the goal line for a 28-0 lead. Bennett was already 5 for 5 for 245 yards with 4 td and a QB rating of 775.6.
The defense was just as overpowering, not allowing the UAB offense a point all game. Their only points came on a junk defensive pick six very late in the game to spoil the shutout. They got three more sacks and three more interceptions. UGA put up 539 yards to the Blazers' 174. And that was with the second half using mostly backups.
  On a side not, the 1980 National Championship team was honored at halftime since last year they were unable to acknowledge the 40th anniversary. It was somewhat concerning as they were herded off into the northwest corner and packed together like sardines shoulder to shoulder standing that way for over 10 minutes trying to leave the field. With Covid-19 still a real concern, seeing dozens of men in their 60's including an 89 year old Vince Dooley in tight quarters like that was unsettling.
  At any rate, Georgia begins SEC play next Saturday welcoming in South Carolina, who barely held on to beat East Carolina 20-17.