Georgia Postgame Notes Versus ULM
September 05, 2015 | Football
Recap | Final Stats | Quotes | Photo Gallery 
Opening With A Win:
With today's 51-14 win, Georgia improves to 92-27-3 in season openers, including 12-3 under Mark Richt. The Bulldogs are now 57-11 against non-conference teams, including 40-2 at home under Richt. The game was halted twice due to lightning (the first delay lasted one hour), and on the second stoppage with 9:54 left in the contest, the game was declared a final.
Stingy 'D':
Georgia's defense held ULM to 14 points and 251 yards of total offense on 55 plays. In the first half, ULM managed seven points on 134 total yards and 17 plays. Thanks in part to the Bulldog special teams, the Warhawks started at their own 26-yard line or worse in the first two quarters. Bulldog senior punter Collin Barber dropped two punts inside the 20-yard line and averaged 43.8 yards on four punts for the game.
Senior OLB Jordan Jenkins had a sack and seven stops. Jenkins is the SEC's active leader with 16 career sacks and a league-leading 30.5 tackles for loss.
Group Effort In Backfield:
Georgia rushed for 243 yards on 38 carries for a 6.4 average. Sophomore TB Nick Chubb scored the season's first points on a 14-yard run in the opening period. He returned with a 23-yard score in the second quarter, giving him 16 career rushing touchdowns. Chubb finished with 120 yards on 16 carries (7.5 avg.). He now has nine 100-yard rushing games in a row. Sophomore TB Sony Michel, snagged a career-long 48-yard reception from QB Greyson Lambert and then scored on a 31-yard touchdown catch from QB Brice Ramsey to finish with 79 receiving yards. Michel also had 41 yards on six carries. Ramsey finished 2-for-2 for 51 yards and a touchdown. A third tailback, junior Keith Marshall also scored once in the first half and once in the second half, giving him his first rushing touchdown runs since the season-opening Clemson game in 2013. Marshall sustained an ACL injury later in 2013 and battled injuries last season.
New Signal Caller:
Junior QB Greyson Lambert finished 8-for-12 for 141 yards and two touchdowns in his Bulldog debut. Lambert had nine starts for Virginia last year, graduated from UVA and transferred to UGA in the summer. The Cavalier transfer completed his first touchdown pass as a Bulldog to sophomore TE Jeb Blazevich on a 15-yard strike. This was Blazevich's third touchdown catch of his career. Lambert's second TD pass was to senior Malcolm Mitchell. Mitchell has 12 TD catches in his career and finished with 52 yards receiving on three catches.
Two Blocked Punts:
Saturday's game marked the fifth time in school history that Georgia has blocked two kicks in a game, but the first time it has been two punts. Sophomore OLB Lorenzo Carter blocked ULM's first punt attempt in the first quarter. Carter's block was the first of his career and the first for the Bulldogs since current Cincinnati Bengal Shawn Williams had one versus Nebraska in the 2012 Capital One Bowl. In the third quarter, freshman ILB D'Andre Walker blocked a ULM punt that went out of the back of the end zone for a safety. Williams' aforementioned block was also the last safety the Bulldogs have gotten on a blocked punt.
PAT School Record:
With seven PATs today, senior PK Marshall Morgan tied the school record for Career PATs made with 184 with Blair Walsh. That tally ranks third in SEC history.
Points off Turnovers:
Georgia scored seven points off of one ULM turnover. Redshirt sophomore DB Aaron Davis snagged the second interception of his career in the first quarter. This put the ball on the ULM 15-yard line. One play later, sophomore TE Jeb Blazevich caught a touchdown to put Georgia up 14-0. Last year, the Bulldogs finished with a +16 turnover margin, which was fourth nationally.
Tackles:
Junior OLB Leonard Floyd and senior safety Quincy Mauger led the Bulldogs with eight apiece. Floyd had 1.5 tackles for loss and half a sack too.
For Starters:
Georgia had three first-time starters on Saturday. Two of the first-time starters were transfers in Lambert and senior ILB Jake Ganus (UAB). The third was true freshman DB Rico McGraw. Senior LT John Theus is the active leader with 36 career starts, including 21 in a row. On defense, Jordan Jenkins started his 33rd straight game, including the last 27.
Twenty-three Bulldogs played for the first time for Georgia against ULM. Nineteen true freshmen played against the Warhawks, marking the most freshmen to play in a season opener in the Richt era (previous high was 13 in 2012 against Buffalo).
Today's Captains:
John Theus, senior RT Kolton Houston, Jordan Jenkins and Leonard Floyd served as the Bulldog captains.
Up Next:
The Bulldogs (1-0, 0-0 SEC) travel to Nashville, Tenn., to take on Vanderbilt (0-1, 0-0 SEC) on Saturday, Sept. 12. CBS will televise the game at 3:30 p.m. ET.
