ATHENS — The question was bound to come, especially after a better-than-expected effort in Georgia’s win last week against North Carolina.
Just how good are these Bulldogs, who jumped nine spots in the Associated Press poll to the No. 9 position?
We may be a little closer to getting a true answer after Georgia looked sloppy and had to hang on for dear life for a 26-24 victory over FCS Nicholls State Saturday at Sanford Stadium.
Probably not nearly as much as they, and some in Bulldog Nation, had been touting this week. The Colonels last two games against FBS teams resulted in being outscored 95-0 in gruesome fashion.
These Dogs had three turnovers and never looked totally comfortable on offense in Jacob Eason’s first-ever start at quarterback.
Georgia coach Kirby Smart said he thinks the close call could be a wake-up call for all concerned.
“I hope it is (for the team). It was for me,” he said. “I think it’s important to understand that this team has to get a lot better. A lot of guys didn't execute, didn't play well, and that's on me."
After torching North Carolina for 222 yards, Nick Chubb failed to reach the century mark (20 carries, 80 yards, 1 TD, 1 fumble) against the Colonels, who stacked the box and dared Eason and the Georgia passing game to beat them.
"Those guys played hard and they out-hit us for the entire game -- almost," Chubb said."We've never had any tape on those guys, so coming into this game we didn't know what to expect. But we still have to do what we are supposed to do."
Eason was 11-for-20 for 204 yards and one touchdown but also had a disaster interception that set up a Nicholls field goal. Isaiah McKenzie muffed a punt that Nicholls turned into a touchdown to cut the lead to 26-24 with 3:42 left in the game. McKenzie then fumbled the ensuing kickoff out of bounds at the Dogs 7.
"I could have done better in the kicking game. I'm just hoping to improve and get better as a team," McKenzie said.
Certainly there were some bright spots, like Eason’s 36-yard strike to Terry Godwin on their opening drive that helped set up a 6-yard touchdown run by Chubb just 2:06 into the game for a 7-0 lead.
"When you start a true freshman at quarterback, it's always challenging," Smart said. "He's got to continue to improve, manage the huddle and make good decisions. He's a freshman, but he's a talented freshman who can make plays. It's a balancing act."
In the second half, McKenzie returned a punt 55-yards to the Nicholls 14 to set up a William Ham 26-yard field goal.
Eason and McKenzie also connected on a 66-yard touchdown pass, aided by a bone-crunching block from Javon Wims to spring McKenzie the final 40 yards, for a 20-14 lead. Just 53 seconds later Lorenzo Carter scooped up a fumble caused on a vicious sack of Nicholls quarterback Devin Powell by Aaron Davis to give Georgia a 26-14 lead that looked to finally put the Colonels away.
"I was (really) trying to get an interception, but (the ball) just rolled to me so I guess I had to run it in," Carter said. "I was just happy to get points on the board."
But that sequence came after the Georgia defense allowed third down and fourth down conversions and two big Chase Fourcade passes, the second a 20-yard touchdown strike to Jarrell Rogers to give the Colonels (0-1) a 14-13 lead with 6:48 left in the third quarter.
After the Colonels’ Jeff Hall intercepted Eason’s errant throw, which was doomed when two Georgia receivers were called for a pick play and never saw the pass, the defense forced the field goal after Nicholls had a 1st-and-goal at the Georgia 7.
After Eason’s interception, Greyson Lambert came on to finish the game for Georgia. He helped run out the clock on the Dogs’ final drive with a key 9-yard pass to Michael Chigbu with 2:45 left facing a crucial 3rd-and-7 at the Georgia 10.
It looked early like the Bulldogs were ready to send the Colonels back to Louisiana as fast as they possibly could. Georgia needed just five plays, including Eason's big pass Godwin to the Nicholls 6, and then Chubb capped it one play later with his only scoring run of the day for a 7-0 lead just 2:06 into the game.
But little else went right for the Georgia offense the rest of the first half. The next six Georgia possessions -- punt, missed field goal, field goal made (William Ham 23-yards), punt, fumble, end of half -- produced as many punts and turnovers as points.
The Georgia defense was doing its part early forcing two interceptions and a pair of punts on the Colonels’ first five drives, which amounted to just 82 total yards.
But Nicholls got the break it was waiting on when an Eason pass to Chubb late in the second quarter resulted in Chubb coughing up the ball at the Dogs 30. The Colonels recovered and needed just six plays, capped by a Dontrell Taylor 4-yard run with 45 seconds left in the half to cut the lead to 10-7.
Georgia had a 2:1 yardage advantage in the first half (198 to 97) and forced two turnovers to just one for Nicholls. But Georgia was just 2-of-7 on third down, which included three overthrows by Eason that would have kept drives alive.
Eason was 9-of-14 for 123 yards in the first half but Chubb, who torched North Carolina for over 100 yards by halftime, was held to just 24 yards on 9 carries by the Colonels. Brian Herrien was the leading rusher for the Dogs in the first half with 37 yards on 6 carries.
Georgia's second half possessions yielded a field goal and touchdown to start. But after the fumble recovery by Carter, which should have given them a spark, the offense went interception, punt, and fumble, before seaing the ugly win by running out the clock on their final possession of the game.
Georgia finished the game with 373 yards of offense while the Colonels had 236 yards of offense. Nicholls was efficient when it had its chances going 4-for-4 in the red zone while Georgia was just 3-of-4 in the red zone.
Nicholls head coach Tim Rebowe knows they were close to shocking to the world.
"Get a turnover here and there and we had a chance to win it at the end," Rebowe said. "If we could've gotten a stop (on Georgia's last drive) who knows what could've happened. It was a tough game. I'm just so proud of our players. They fought hard against a great football team."
Smart said they will have little time to correct the many mistakes they know they can't make next week when they travel to Missouri for their SEC opener.
"(The kids) have to understand we need to practice really good to be really good. We need to practice this week with efficiency," he said. "Missouri is a tough place to play. Every SEC team can beat another SEC team any week. We have to go to the drawing board, get to work, get more physical, and show improvement from Week 2 to Week 3."
They will need a big box of chalk on hand once they watch film of this one.
SCORING SUMMARY
Nicholls....0....7......7....10 -- 24
Georgia.....7....3....16.....0 -- 26
First Quarter
G -- Chubb 6 run (Ham kick) 7-0, 12:54
Second Quarter
G -- Ham 23 FG 10-0, 7:57
N -- Taylor 4 run (McKey kick) 10-7, 0:45
Third Quarter
G -- Ham 26 FG 13-7, 12:22
N -- Rogers 20 pass from Fourcade (McKey kick) 14-13, 6:48
G -- McKenzie 66 pass from Eason (Ham kick) 20-14, 5:43
G -- Carter 24 fumble return (run failed) 26-14, 4:50
Fourth Quarter
N -- McKey 26 FG 26-17, 7:50
N -- Bates 6 pass from Fourcade (McKey kick) 26-24, 3:42
