'We've got better players': Georgia Bulldogs begin title defense with easy victory over Oregon Ducks

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The Georgia team that won the title last year lost 15 players to the draft, but they still played well in the opener.

Georgia's defense was too fast and physical even after losing five defensive players in the first round.

After losing the most players ever drafted from one school in NFL draft history, Georgia looked like it would be back in the hunt for a College Football Playoff spot.

The young team still has a long way to go to get back there, even after a big victory.

Smart said that expectations are in check. You don't have to be concerned about that.

Georgia's offense, which played second fiddle to its record-setting defense last season, was much more effective against the Oregon. Bennett, a former walk-on who led the team to their first national title in 41 years, completed 25 of 31 passes for a career-high 368 yards with two touchdown passes.

With 21 seconds left in the first half, Bennett spun away from four Oregon defenders and found a wide-open Ladd McConkey in the end zone for a 4-yard touchdown that gave Georgia a 28-3 halftime lead.

Bennett is the undisputed starter this year after being thrust into the lineup only after Daniels was injured.

Smart said that Stetson doesn't get affected by anything he does. He does a good job of blocking out all the noise in his own world. He had a flip phone. He doesn't like all that.

I think he has an edge because he made some plays that he didn't make the right decisions. He knows when he made a mistake. He has to be aware of his surroundings. He might do things that we don't want him to do. He made some plays with his feet, and I think you take the good, and I'm not going to call it bad, but you take the good with his bad decisions.

Georgia converted its first nine third-down plays and went 6-for-8 in the red zone. The freshman kicker hit a 53-yarder in the fourth quarter.

Georgia's rebuilt defense was too strong for the Oregon's offense. The Oregon offense averaged 4.5 yards per play compared to 9.2 for the other team. The Georgia defense stopped the Oregon offense at the 3-yard line with 1:22 left to play.

Christopher Smith had one of Georgia's two picks. We would like to hunt.

Dan Lanning was the new coach of the Oregon team and he was in charge of the defense. It wasn't a good debut for Lanning.

He is going to do a great job at Oregon. He's always on top of things. He knows they will bounce back from this. He won't say that but he knows we have better players.