Nicholls State defensive back Jeff Hall: With Georgia looking to put the game away, Hall intercepted the aforementioned tipped pass from Eason 91 yards down to the UGA 7-yard line. One thing’s for certain – head coach Kirby Smart still has a lot of work to do in his first season. Eason sparked the Bulldogs after Lambert struggled early, completing 8-of-12 passes for 131 yards and showing no hesitation to throw deep. It took a 66-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah McKenzie followed very quickly by a 24-yard scoop and score in the third quarter to give Georgia that extra boost they needed to escape with a win.
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Saturday’s game may be an audition for Eason, the former #1 ranked high school quarterback recruit in the country, the claim that role before SEC play begins.
Eason’s eventual rise to the starting job was widely expected following a preseason competition with 2015 starter Greyson Lambert and Brice Ramsey. It was the first time in his career that he had double-digit carries without a 100-yard game.
Running back Nick Chubb rushed for 222 yards on 32 carries and scored two touchdowns in his return to the football field from a horrific knee injury.
“It’s important that we understand that our football team has got to get better”, Smart said.
Georgia led 10-7 at the half, its touchdown coming on a six-yard run from Chubb.
Smart said the quarterback position wasn’t settled. Redshirt sophomore PK William Ham also scored eight points on two field goals and two extra points. The interception came at the beginning of the fourth quarter and Eason was benched for the final two series.
“We were trying to get him into some situations where’d he’d get some loose plays, get the ball to the sideline and get some confidence”, Smart said.
“It is always frustrating to lose a close game”, Fourcade said.
“I certainly don’t think they were any bigger or better than the guys from North Carolina”, Smart said”. We won the game because we controlled the line of scrimmage against North Carolina. There were several times today that he didn’t decide the right place to go with the ball and we might have had a better result had he done that.
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Fourcade got the offense rolling on the next possession, hitting Rogers for a 17-yard catch and Damion Jeanpiere for a 10-yarder to move the ball across midfield. Freshman Brian Herrien had 47 yards rushing. All-Southland Conference safety B.T. Sanders finished second on the team in tackles and forced three fumbles a season ago.
