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4
Georgia-33, Samford-0 | Sanford Stadium
Issue 4
SAMFORD
2022National
Champions
Edition
Back-To-Back
BY JEFF DANTZLER
The first home game,
and Georgia came in
as undefeated reigning
national champions. Nice
sound to that. Georgia controlled
the game, but got an outstanding
effort from one of the top
programs in Division 1-AA (FCS).
Under the watch of standout head
coach Chris Hatcher, who Kirby
Smart worked for at Valdosta State,
the Samford Bulldogs posted a
10-1 regular season, losing only
to Georgia, won the Southern
Conference and advanced to the
FCS Playoffs.
It was an overcast rainy afternoon,
not too hot for early September
in the deep South. The crowd
was beyond ecstatic, enjoying
the national championship with
hopes for contention for another
buoyed by the season opening
performance against Oregon.
Georgia’s defense was strong the
entire time. The Bulldogs offense
was stopped by Samford in the red
zone on the first two possessions
of the game, and standout kicker
Jack Podlesny delivered a pair of
field goals.
Georgia then got the offense
cooking and tacked on three
touchdowns and another field
goal to build a commanding
30-0 halftime lead. For a second
straight game, Georgia got to
go deep in the depth chart for
snaps and playing time, including
quarterback Carson Beck. The
number 33 certainly rang sweet.
Georgia beat Alabama 33-18 for
the national championship in
Indianapolis, and then won the
home opener 33-0 to make it 2-0
and sharpen up for the ‘Cocks.
BULLDAWGILLUSTRATED 92 2022 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS EDITION