Senior quarterback Stetson Bennett threw a school-record-tying five touchdowns passes in place of the injured JT Daniels to lead No. 2 Georgia to a 56-7 victory over Alabama-Birmingham on Saturday in Athens, Ga.
Bennett, who started five games last season for Georgia before suffering a shoulder injury and was replaced by Daniels, threw a 73-yard touchdown pass to Jermaine Burton on Georgia’s second play. The Bulldogs (2-0) never looked back.
While Daniels was sidelined with a strained oblique, Bennett threw touchdown passes of 73, 12, 89, 61 yards and nine yards in the first half. He exited midway through the third quarter with the Bulldogs leading 42-0. He went 9-for-11 passing for 279 yards.
His five touchdown passes tied a school record for a game set on six other occasions, including most recently by Aaron Murray against Nebraska in the Capital One Bowl in 2013.
Tight end Brock Bowers (three catches, 107 yards, 2 TDs) and Burton (three catches, 92 yards, TD) were among nine receivers with at least one catch. Zamir White led the Bulldogs’ rushing attack with 34 yards on seven carries.
Bennett threw a 12-yard touchdown to Kenny McIntosh to cap a five-play, 40-yard drive on Georgia’s second possession, giving the Bulldogs a 14-0 lead less than five minutes into the game.
Though he wasn’t injured, Bennett was replaced on Georgia’s next series by redshirt freshman Carson Beck, who handed the ball off three times before the Bulldogs punted.
Bennett returned on the next series and on first down threw an 89-yard touchdown pass to Bowers streaking down the sideline for a 21-0 lead with 1:14 left in the first quarter.
On the first play of Georgia’s next series, Bennett threw a 61-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Arian Smith for a 28-0 lead less than a minute into the second quarter.
Bennett capped the first-half scoring with a nine-yard touchdown pass to Bowers for a 35-0 lead.
James Cook extended the lead to 42-0 with a 14-yard run with 8:42 left in the third quarter and Beck threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Justin Robinson to make it 49-0 less than two minutes later.
Jamon Dumas-Johnson added a 20-yard interception return for a touchdown that pushed Georgia’s lead to 56-0 with 10:14 left in the game.
Alabama-Birmingham quarterback Tyler Johnston III went 6-of-14 passing for 39 yards and three interceptions. DeWayne McBride rushed for 61 yards on 13 carries as the Blazers mustered just 174 yards of total offense. Georgia rolled up 539 yards.
The Blazers (1-1) avoided the shutout when Keondre Swoopes returned an interception 61 yards for a touchdown with just over five minutes remaining.
–Field Level Media