Georgia 28, Austin Peay 6: Sheesh.

There’s been a good bit of discussion this offseason about the fact that this is one of Kirby Smart’s youngest teams of his tenure in Athens. And today they played the kind of game young teams play, allowing an inferior opponent to hang around, threaten, and cast grave doubts on whether this UGA team is ready to compete in the SEC.

It wouldn’t be accurate to say that the Governors were ever a real threat to win this one. Sure, they were knocking on the door early in the 4th down 21-6, with a chance to make it a one score game. But at no point did it really feel like they were a play away from shocking the home team.

On the other hand, it also never felt like the Athenians were in danger of effectively and efficiently putting this one away, and that’s what will be haunting Bulldog fans for the remainder of the week. The raw numbers don’t look that bad. Georgia rolled up 421 yards of total offense and 26 first downs. They converted 54% of third down attempts (7 of 13), and once again were uber-balanced on offense, with 231 yards through the air and a solid 190 on the ground.

In the process they exposed a plethora of questions that won’t be answered prior to a showdown of top fifteen teams next Saturday in Knoxville. One question-can Gunner Stockton make the reads he needs to beat elite defenses? The evidence thus far points to “no” as Stockton repeatedly missed open downfield receivers, instead dumping the ball off for short gains. At times it almost appeared that Stockton was reading the field in reverse, looking to check down receivers within ten yards before ever even looking at the primary downfield routes.

Another question: can the patchwork Bulldog offensive line protect Stockton well enough for him to work through those reads without constantly hearing g foot steps? The Red and Black played this one without Juan Gaston or Ernest Greene, and big Jah Jackson, who replaced Greene at right tackle, went down early with an injury. At one point the ‘Dawgs were playing a true freshman and a redshirt freshman in place of the true freshman and redshirt freshman who had been starting up front alongside Drew Bobo, Micah Morris and Monroe Freeling, none of whom was that darned proven to begin with.

To call the Dawgs’ situation up front dire may actually be understating things. And frankly I think it’s probably fair to ask exactly how Coach Stacy Searels’ unit finds itself in such dire straights before the meat of the season even starts. I reiterate my offseason observation that, as much as Mike Bobo is under constant scrutiny from fans, it’s Searels who is truly coaching for his job this season. So far, I haven’t seen anything that makes me think this unit wouldn’t be better if it were being coached by someone else.

A key talking point during the summer was that Stockton would be able to use his legs in a way Carson Beck wasn’t. Observation so far bears that out. Stockton had 5 rushes for only 13 yards, but his legs got him out of trouble the offensive line got him into on a couple of occasions. But I remain very nervous that Stockton is already taking a fair number of hits, hits that will add up as the season progresses. The wrong hit could easily lead to this team relying on

Yet another burning question— are turnovers going to burn this team? Nate Frazier and London Humphrey each had a fumble on the day that stymied offensive momentum. If the Bulldogs score on the first quarter series on which Frazier coughed it up and the third quarter possession in which Humphrey forgot to bring the ball with him this game actually looks like a bit less of a clunker. While those were mere speed bumps this week, next week on the road against an upset-minded Volunteer squad either could have proven fatal.

Again, you could be forgiven for seeing that Gunner Stockton finished 26 of 34 passing for 227 yards and think he had a fantastic day. But you’d be mistaken. It’s a live question at this point whether Mike Bobo doesn’t trust his young quarterback to throw passes over 15 yards downfield, whether Stockton’s not capable of seeing those routes, or whether Stockton is t capable of getting the ball downfield reliably. None of these is appealing.

You will be tempted to rationalize these numbers by saying that Bobo is simply keeping the offense vanilla until the games really matter. I’ve given in to that delusion before. Trust me, that isn’t what’s happening here. We have an offense of limited capability from which Bobo is trying to squeeze as many points as possible. And while things may get better if the guys up front get healed up and Stockton gets more comfortable, it’s likely going to be a rough road.

On the bright side, the Bulldog defense remains as salty as advertised. The Governors managed only 196 yards of total offense, and an anemic 45 on the ground. Also, when the Bulldogs needed a stop on the goal line in the 4th quarter they got it. The veterans (CJ Allen, Christen Miller) have been consistent and some younger players (Chris Cole, Elijah Griffin) look as good as advertised in the preseason if not better.

That being said, Tennessee will offer a challenge qualitatively different from what Austin Peay presented. The Vols put up 717 yards of offense and 72 points on East Tennessee State today. And while we’re accustomed to watching Josh Heupel offenses feast on FCS competition only to fall flat against physically equal competition, this unit may be a little different.

Appalachian State transfer QB Joey Aguilar is a veteran signal caller who’s played against elite competition and he has a ton of weapons at his disposal. I don’t relish the thought of this defense being forced to bow up against the Vol offense if the UGA offense can’t hold onto the ball and hold serve in a scoring battle.

Is it too early to panic about this team? Absolutely. There’s a real chance that Kirby Smart was just given tape he need s to put boot to butt and get this team in gear. But it’s not too early to worry. These first two cupcakes were supposed to be Georgia’s chance to answer questions