Georgia wide receiver Kearis Jackson (10) runs the ball. The University of Georgia football team defeats the University of Oregon 49-3 in the 2022 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game held at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Saturday, Sept. 3.

Georgia football head coach Kirby Smart spoke to the media on Sept. 4, following the team’s 49-3 win over Oregon. Offensive lineman Tate Ratledge, inside linebacker Trezmen Marshall and wide receiver Kearis Jackson also made appearances, each of them discussing the Week 1 matchup. Here were some of the developments from the afternoon as the team prepares for Samford:

Rotation on the line

Georgia controlled the season-opener, leading by multiple possessions for nearly the entire game. The Bulldogs took that as an opportunity to experiment with their lineups, substituting players in and out of the game at various intervals.

One unit that experienced this was the offensive line. Ratledge started the game alongside Broderick Jones, Xavier Truss, Sedrick Van Pran and Warren McClendon, but that group didn’t play the entirety of the game. Amarius Mims and Devin Willock both had a stint on the field, shaking up the Georgia presentation. Smart was reluctant to name a starting five at the availability, labeling it a “continuum.” He described the offensive line as changing day after day based on the performance of the players who make up the group.

“How are they going to do the next day?” Smart said. “How are they going to do in the next matchup? How do they do when things get tight and pressure grows, when things don’t go well? We didn’t see that. We didn’t have a situation where there’s a lot of adversity, or required a lot of composure.”

Ratledge seemed to be more sure about the line’s status, at least when it came to one player. Van Pran had multiple impactful blocks against Oregon, though Ratledge described it as a regular occurrence for Van Pran.

“[Van Pran] works extremely hard,” he said. “He’s the leader of our offensive line right now. He’s the one that makes all our calls, and when he talks, we all listen.”

Offense distinguishing itself

Georgia scored a touchdown on each of its first seven possessions in the season-opener, a remarkable level of efficiency. There are rumblings that the Bulldog offense could be a high-powered passing attack for the remainder of the year, but Jackson wants to quiet those rumors, at least for now.

“We’re still trying to find our identity,” Jackson said. “That was just the first game. A lot of people are trying to dictate, ‘Oh, Georgia’s going to be better than last year,’ it’s just one game. We just have to be able to be consistent. If we can keep being consistent, then maybe that [the passing game] will be our identity.”

Jackson had three catches for 45 yards on Saturday. Ratledge, another impact player on Georgia’s offense, had his own thoughts on what the team’s identity would be.

“Explosive on offense, and physical on both sides of the ball,” he said. “I think that’s gotta be our identity every week. Just going out there and being physical.”

Home away from home

Georgia’s offense was electric in week one, and according to the players, their performance matched the atmosphere inside the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The game was at a neutral field according to the NCAA, but the team mentioned that the Bulldog supporters were raucous in Atlanta. Ratledge said that he noticed the fanbase during the game.

“Looking out there and seeing all that red was huge,” Ratledge said. “I think it gave everybody on our team a big boost. I got told before the game that it was 80% our fans, so just looking out there and seeing that was a big deal.”

Atlanta felt like a home crowd to the Bulldogs, but Georgia’s actual home-opener takes place on Saturday, Sept. 10 against Samford.