ATHENS, Ga. _Georgia was seeing red for its "pink out" against Arkansas State on Saturday.
The No. 3-ranked Bulldogs weren't very kind on the field of play to their Sun Belt Conference guests, jumping out to a 34-0 lead in the first half and utilizing reserves most of the second half on the way to a 55-0 victory.
But it was a day that started with a lot of good will on UGA's part. More than half of the near-capacity crowd inside Sanford Stadium for the noon kickoff was adorned in pink. That was the UGA fans' response to a grass-roots initiative to "Wear Pink for Wendy." Wendy, the wife of Arkansas State coach Blake Anderson, died Aug. 19 after a two-year battle with breast cancer. This was the coach's first full week back with the team since her passing.
But the Bulldogs were all business after the opening whistle. They scored on their first five possessions of the day before punting for the first time with just over four minutes remaining left until halftime. And they managed to record several explosive plays before the starters retired for the day, including a 48-yard touchdown reception by running back D'Andre Swift and a 60-yard TD catch by freshman receiver Dominick Blaylock.
That led to an efficiently short day for Georgia quarterback Jake Fromm, who finished with 279 yards and three touchdowns on 17-of-22 passing. Blaylock had a big day in his third game with the Bulldogs with 112 yards on four catches. Fellow freshman George Pickens added 84 yards on five coaches, including a couple of more to add to his growing highlight reel.
Swift left the game with 76 yards on seven rushes and added two catches for 64 yards. James Cook had a 37-yard TD run. The Bulldogs rolled up a season-best 656 yards offense, the fifth most in a game in school history.
However, the real story was Georgia's defense, which recorded its first since the first game of last season, a 45-0 win over Austin Peay. In the first half, the Bulldogs were relentlessly adding to their havoc-rate numbers, recording two sacks and four tackles for loss in the first quarter alone.
It didn't get any better for the Red Wolves, who Kirby Smart warned might be the best offensive team Georgia has faced so far. They never sniffed the red zone until facing the defensive backups late in the fourth quarter. Then freshman Lewis Cine picked off Arkansas State's fourth-down pass in the end zone to preserve the shutout.
In their two games against FBS competition, the Bulldogs have allowed red-zone possessions only three times in 23 opposing-team possessions, with just one of those resulting in a score, which was a field goal to Vanderbilt.
