Georgia (1-0) will play Tennessee Tech (0-1) in its home opener this Saturday at Sanford Stadium.
Last week, the top-ranked Bulldogs defeated then-No. 14 Clemson 34-3 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Meanwhile, the Golden Eagles fell to Middle Tennessee State 35-22 in the season opener for both teams.
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said his team started preparing for Tennessee Tech on Monday.
“We open with Tennessee Tech, and we’ll start attacking these guys,” Smart said. “They played a hard-fought game with Middle Tennessee the other night. They had a great comeback and got a lot of respect for how they played in that game.”
Middle Tennessee State running back Frank Peasant scored a rushing touchdown with only 16 seconds remaining, giving his team a 30-24 lead. Peasant’s score secured the win for the Blue Raiders.
Middle Tennessee State led 21-5 at the half before Tennessee Tech backup quarterback Jordyn Potts led the charge in the second half. He tossed three second-half touchdowns to give his team a lead.
Potts took over for starter Dylan Laible, who departed in the first quarter with an injury. Two of Potts’ touchdown passes came in the final quarter, one with 1:06 remaining to put Tennessee Tech up 25-24.
However, Middle Tennessee State mounted a comeback that the Golden Eagles’ defense couldn’t stop.
Potts had a solid performance, completing 27 of 38 passes for 256 yards and three touchdowns. He threw a pair of them to wide receiver Ashton Maples, who hauled in three passes for 57 yards.
Tennessee Tech struggled to run the ball, though. The Golden Eagles totaled only 67 yards on the ground. They’ll face a much better defense in Georgia this week, led by safety Malaki Starks.
Starks finished last week with just one tackle but had an interception against Clemson late in the fourth quarter. The junior rotated at the star position with teammate Joenel Aguero, who was injured.
Potts is expected to start for Tennessee Tech this week, and Starks will do his best to shut him down.
“He did a nice job when he played the star, especially for a guy that didn’t rep there but last week a few times. He didn’t get any reps in camp there, so he did a good job jumping in and filling that role,” Smart said of Starks.
“Flexibility depends on the depth at other positions. Malaki can be our best player at five positions, so it’s more a matter of what’s around him and what’s healthy, working, and what we will do defensively. He plays a role at safety. He plays a role at strong safety.”
Defensively, Tennessee Tech struggled against Middle Tennessee State. The Golden Eagles gave up 328 yards to the Blue Raiders, 210 of which came through the air and 118 on the ground.
Overall, Smart just wants his team to improve from week one to week two.
“I can’t pick one thing on improvement. There are so many things that we’ve got to do better,” he said. “There’s just a lot there that we want to improve on, and some of what you’re doing is dictated by who you play. People just think it’s a stat game. It’s not a stat game. It’s who you’re lining up across from and how good that football player is because that does dictate things, the matchups.”
Kickoff is at 2 p.m. Saturday; however, the UGA-Tennessee Tech game will not be broadcast live on TV or cable. It will be shown live via streaming on SEC Network+ or ESPN+ and will be on cable TV next week when replayed on SEC Network.