{"id":50171,"date":"2023-09-03T11:00:36","date_gmt":"2023-09-03T15:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=50171"},"modified":"2025-09-13T15:07:22","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T19:07:22","slug":"georgia-battles-complacency-in-win-over-ut-martin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2023\/09\/03\/georgia-battles-complacency-in-win-over-ut-martin\/","title":{"rendered":"Georgia Battles Complacency In Win over UT-Martin"},"content":{"rendered":"

Actions speak louder than words. While the world asked about a three-peat, Kirby Smart<\/strong> quickly dismissed that talk in the offseason. Smart set the tone back in July at SEC Media Days. “I don’t care about the three-peat. I care about complacency<\/a>.” The message for the 2023 season was simple: Better Never Rests<\/a>. Georgia battled complacency in its 48-7 defeat of UT-Martin. While most teams might be happy with a 41-point mean, Smart wanted more.\u00a0 Smart’s assessment of his team’s performance between the third and fourth quarters shows the team still has more work to do. “I don’t know how hungry we are tonight. We still need to show we can compete,” he said in the postgame press conference. Brock Bowers<\/strong><\/a> helped get Georgia started with his first-half performance.<\/p>\n

Brock Bowers Shines in the First Half<\/h3>\n

Georgia scored touchdowns on its first six drives last year in its opening win against Oregon. That wasn’t the case Saturday night. Whether you call it complacency or nerves, Georgia started slowly. After a slow start on their first drive, Bowers kicked things into gear for the Bulldogs on their second possession. First, he caught a screen pass and took it 23 yards helping them avoid another short possession. Facing a 3rd and 2 at the three-yard line later in the possession, Bowers stepped up again and took a hand-off on an end around three yards for Georgia’s first touchdown. Bowers led all Georgia receivers with 5 receptions for 77 yards. Georgia held up relatively well on defense. In the first half, Bowers’ main focus was supporting his young quarterback in finding his footing and confidence on the field.<\/p>\n

Beck’s First Half Performance<\/h3>\n

Carson Beck<\/strong><\/a> looked like he was still learning in his first game as Georgia’s starter. Beck was rushing throws early and throwing behind his receivers. With help from Bowers, Beck started to find his groove and confidence as he went on in the second quarter. Beck then led Georgia again deep into UT-Martin territory, and it looked like he was about to throw his first touchdown of the season when Domic Lovett<\/strong><\/a> was left uncovered. Unfortunately for Beck, Lovett could not hang onto the ball as the defender raced over and knocked it out of his hands.<\/p>\n

Beck pointed out earlier in the week, how one of the biggest lessons he learned<\/a> from Stetson Bennett<\/strong> was his ability to put bad plays behind him. He did that, putting Lovett’s drop behind him and scrambling into the end zone for his first touchdown. The young quarterback led Georgia 75 yards down the field in the final two minutes to set up Peyton Woodring’s<\/strong><\/a> first field goal and extend Georgia’s lead to 17-0 lead going into halftime.<\/p>\n

\n

Beck with a little shimmy to the \ud83c\udfe0<\/p>\n

Watch live on SEC Network+#GoDawgs<\/a> | @carsonbeck01<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/te5qSn1KFR<\/a><\/p>\n

— Georgia Football (@GeorgiaFootball) September 2, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n