Georgia Football: Dog Bones Earned vs Auburn
Elijah Holyfield – Junior Running Back
Running Back Elijah Holyfield was once again the hammer for the Bulldogs, grinding out the tough yards between the tackles. Holyfield ran the ball 15 times, gaining 93 yards, an efficient average of 6.2 yards per carry.
Elijah Holyfield came just seven yards away, from giving the Bulldogs two 100 yard rushers for the second consecutive week. Elijah added one pass reception for three yards, putting him just four yards away from 100 total yards on the evening.
Elijah Holyfield was a chain mover for UGA, running for four first downs. This includes a critical four yard run on 3rd and one, that kept the Dawgs from going three and out. This allowed Georgia to chew 8:47 off of the clock and ice the game.
Elijah is enjoying a wonderful breakout season. He’s eclipsed his previous best season rushing total by nearly 500 yards. Holyfield continues to churn out the tough yards in traffic as the thunder portion, of the Bulldogs thunder and lightning duo, he forms with D’Andre Swift.
Elijah Holyfield earns an ATL All Day Dog Bone for his tough running.
The Georgia Bulldogs Offensive Line
The Georgia Bulldogs offensive line was dominant one again. They were particularly imposing in the run game opening holes and wearing down the Auburn Tigers’ vaunted defensive line.
They Dawgs road graders cleared the way for UGA to gain over 300 yards on the ground for the second week in a row. They are one of the biggest lines in all of football, including the professional ranks. Few teams can survive the Dawgs offensive line hitting and leaning on them for 60 minutes.
In the passing game they allowed two sacks against Auburn, which isn’t ideal. However outside of the two sacks, the UGA o-line didn’t allow a single pressure to the Auburn defense.
Ten different Georgia Bulldogs played at least one snap on the offensive line due to injuries. Left guard Solomon Kindley and right tackle Isaiah Wilson played 100 percent of the snaps. Left tackle Andrew Thomas played every snap except one.
Center Lamont Gaillard played 66 of 71 snaps in the win. Right guard Kendall Baker played 46 snaps as an injury replacement, that’s 65 percent of the total snaps.
Cade Mays started at right guard and played 22 snaps, before leaving the game. Mayes was recently named the top rated freshman interior offensive lineman in the NCAA by Pro Football Focus. They graded him a 74.0 out of 99.9. His run blocking grade of 76 is nine points higher than the next closest freshman interior lineman.
The one major criticism of the Bulldogs offensive line, is the fact that the Dawgs were stopped on a short yardage red zone possession, for the third week in a row. This is certainly a concern and something that must be fixed. At the same time it doesn’t take away from a second straight 300+ yard day on the ground.
Andrew Thomas, Solomon Kindley, Lamont Gaillard, Cade Mays, Kendall Baker, and Isaiah Wilson all receive Dog Bones for their work as a unit.