ATHENS, Ga. — A lopsided victory over FCS opponent Austin Peay wasn't enough to convince Georgia coach Kirby Smart his team is ready to defend its Southeastern Conference championship.
Next week's visit to SEC rival South Carolina will teach Smart much more about his Bulldogs.
Jake Fromm threw two scoring passes while sharing time with freshman Justin Fields and No. 3 Georgia showed off some new firepower in rolling past Austin Peay 45-0 on Saturday.
The Bulldogs, playing their first game since losing to Alabama in last season's national championship game, compiled a 508-152 advantage in total yards. Smart wasn't impressed.
"We've got to grow up and we've got to grow up fast, because the team that's ahead of us is not easy," Smart said.
Georgia (1-0) flashed big-play potential, including a 59-yard touchdown pass from Fromm to Mecole Hardman and a 72-yard scoring run by Demetris Robertson, the California transfer. Freshman tailback James Cook had runs of 36 and 26 yards in the second half.
Fromm completed 12 of 16 passes for 157 yards, including a 10-yard scoring pass to Riley Ridley. Fields, one of the headliners in coach Kirby Smart's top-ranked class of signees, made his debut on the Bulldogs' first second-quarter possession and started the second half.
Fields completed 7 of 8 passes for 63 yards, including a 12-yard scoring pass to Isaac Nauta. Fields also had three carries for 33 yards in his first opportunity to flash his dual-threat talents.
"I thought both of us put the team in good situations," Fromm said, adding that sharing playing time didn't affect his rhythm "too much."
Smart said he learned in the 2017 opener, when starter Jacob Eason's injury opened the way for Fromm to claim the job, "the quarterback situation can change with an injury. We want to be prepared."
Walk-on quarterback Matthew Downing played most of the second half.
Georgia led 38-0 at halftime.
Austin Peay (0-1), No. 22 in the STATS FCS Top 25, was held to seven first downs. Logan Birchfield was wide left on a 37-yard field goal attempt in the second quarter, spoiling the Governors' best chance to dodge the shutout.
Governors coach Will Healy said some of his players didn't react well to the challenge of facing Georgia.
"We seemed to have a bit of division," Healy said. "Some guys weren't quite as coachable when some adversity hit. We've got to fix the in-house things much more than we have to fix the schematic things or the ball security things or anything like that."
The lopsided score and 90-degree heat sent about half of the crowd of 92,746 toward the exits at halftime.
