Field Street Forum

ATHENS, Ga. — The offense piled up the points, the defense forced a lot of turnovers and punts, and top-ranked Georgia even got a special teams touchdown in Saturdays’ 45-3 win over Ball State at Sanford Stadium. After a quiet first quarter, the Bulldogs put 31 on the scoreboard in the second to blow open the game.

By the end, six different Georgia players scored touchdowns, the defense had three interceptions, and the Bulldogs (2-0) had outgained the Cardinals 387-224. Quarterback Carson Beck was sharp in his second start, completing 23 of 30 passes for 283 yards, with two touchdowns and an interception on a bobbled pass.

The win was the Bulldogs’ 19th in a row overall, 20th in a row on Dooley Field, and Georgia set a new school record for regular-season wins in a row with its 29th, passing the 1981-83 teams. The Bulldogs kick off Southeastern Conference play next Saturday, Sept. 16, when South Carolina returns to Dooley Field for the 3:30 p.m. game on CBS.

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Chaz Chambliss almost looked embarrassed by the fuss being made all around him.

 

The Georgia linebacker was being mobbed by his teammates after his first career interception, which came amid a flurry of big plays by the top-ranked Bulldogs in the second quarter of Saturday’s 45-3 win over Ball State. Chambliss’ interception was one of three by Georgia against the Cardinals.

 

Soon after Chambliss, a junior, got to the sideline, the team’s “SAVAGE” shoulder pads — brought out every time a defender gets a turnover — were draped on top of his own, and then he was standing up on the bench hearing it from the 92,746 inside Sanford Stadium.

 

And through it all, Chambliss, who speaks softly but is a tough, physical player who does mixed martial arts training in the offseason, looked like he’d rather someone else be getting all the attention.

 

“I’m not a big hype guy, so I didn’t know really what to do,” Chambliss said of celebrating his interception. “I’m not a big hype guy; I just like to play football.”

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Defense Posts Another Shutout For Three Quarters: For the second straight week, top-ranked Georgia blanked its opponent until the fourth quarter as it improved to 2-0. Today, Ball State was limited to 68 yards on 26 plays in the first half and finished with 224 yards on 65 plays. The Cardinals avoided a shoutout when they made a 27-yard field goal with 9:05 left in the game to make it 45-3. It capped a 15 play, 55-yard drive in 6:41 Last week, Georgia shut out UT Martin until 6:39 left in the contest when they scored a TD as the Bulldogs won 48-7.

Today, Georgia’s leading tacklers were junior Smael Mondon and freshman AJ Harris with four stops apiece. Sophomore Malaki Starks notched his first INT of the season and third of his career. He gave the Bulldogs the football at their own 22 with 12:41 left in the 2nd quarter with Georgia leading 7-0. It led to TD. Later in the quarter, junior LB Chaz Chambliss notched his first career INT.  That led to a TD (two plays, 30 yards in 51 seconds)) and a 21-0 advantage. Senior Tykee Smith notched his first INT (on a PBU by Daylen Everette) as a Bulldog and fifth of his career. He took it to the BSU 20, and it led to a TD. Georgia scored 21 points off three INTs. The last time Georgia had three picks in a game was last season in a 48-7 road win over South Carolina.

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