Michael Bennett received a lot of accolades in his years at playing for the Raiders of Alpharetta High School, but somehow he slipped under the radar of Dawgs’ fans. 

That is changing.

The redshirt sophomore hauled in four passes for 110 yards including a sensational 67 yard catch for a score in the 56-21 win by UGA over Florida Atlantic Saturday night at Sanford Stadium. 

“He’s been very steady for us,” said Head Coach Mark Richt after the game.  “In game one Tavarres King got over 100 yards for us, in game two it was Marlon Brown, and now Michael in game three.  It makes difficult for any team to say, we’ve got to stop this one guy.”

It was the first ever 100 yard game for Bennett.  Additionally, the 67 yard scoring catch was the longest of his career, and it put the Dawgs up 28-14 near the end of the first half. 

Bennett says he had only one thing on his mind during the big play, “Better not drop the ball.  Last year I had a few drops and I was really working on that this week at practice.   I’m glad it played off, and I feel like I really stepped up when we really needed it and I’m proud about that.”

Odd that Bennett would talk about his drops in the past because one of the keys to his success as a UGA receiver has been his fundamentals when it comes to catching the ball.  “Whatever coach (Tony) Ball or coach (Mike) Bobo says I try to do while being fundamentally sound,” he says.  “If you catch the ball, good things are going to happen.”

And good things did happen in the win over FAU.  Not only was it a career night for Bennett, but for quarterback Aaron Murray as well.  The junior quarterback threw for a career high 342 yards.   And the team?  713 yards on offense, a school record. 

Bennett is pretty excited to be part of a record setting night, “It’s really cool to be part of history.  I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t.   It shows to the execution that we are doing on offense.  The running backs are doing great, the receivers, quarterback, and offensive line.  It’s just a lot of hard work is paying off.”

Last season, during his redshirt freshman year, Bennett had 32 receptions and five TD’s.  This year, through three games, Bennett has racked up 17 catches and two scores. 

It seems like in his very short career as a UGA receiver that Michael Bennett is putting behind him one of the many accolades that he received as a high school senior.  MaxPreps had named him the one of the most underrated wide receiver prospects in the Georgia. 

He is underrated no more.