ATHENS, Ga. — The No. 12-ranked Georgia football team got key contributions from veteran starters, freshman backups and everything in between in the Bulldogs’ 31-17 win over No. 7 Tennessee in front of a sellout crowd of 93,033 at Sanford Stadium on Saturday night.
The win was the Bulldogs’ eighth in a row over the Volunteers, who went ahead 10-0 in the first quarter and were outscored 31-7 the rest of the way. Quarterback Carson Beck paced the Bulldogs offense with 347 yards passing, throwing a pair of first-half touchdown passes to tight end Oscar Delp and running for the go-ahead score in the third quarter. Beck completed passes to 10 different receivers, with tight ends Ben Yurosek and Delp combining for nine receptions for 106 yards.
Relying heavily on the passing attack, Georgia (8-2, 6-2 SEC) finished with 453 yards of offense — seven Bulldogs had at least two receptions — while holding Tennessee (8-2, 5-2) to 313 yards, more than 150 below the Vols’ average coming into the game. Linebackers Jalon Walkerand Smael Mondon Jr. and defensive back KJ Bolden all had eight stops to lead the defense.
The Volunteers forced Georgia into a three-and-out on the Bulldogs’ opening drive and then quickly moved the ball deep into Georgia territory. On third-and-goal at the 1, tight end Miles Kitselman lined up in the backfield, took the handoff and dove over the pile into the end zone for a 7-0 Tennessee lead with 10:09 left in the first quarter.
After Georgia’s offense was forced to punt again, the defense came up with the Bulldogs’ first big play, A 6-yard sack by Chambliss followed by a QB pressure from Chambliss on the next play killed Tennessee’s next drive and forced a punt.
Georgia was forced to punt on its next drive, and punter Brett Thorson saved a touchdown with an open-field tackle after a 26-yard return by Boo Carter. The Vols started their next drive at the Georgia 37, but they didn’t get much closer. Another Chambliss sack and a Warren Brinson tackle behind the line of scrimmage forced Tennessee to settle for a 52-yard Max Gilbert field goal and a 10-0 lead with 43 seconds left in the opening quarter.
The Bulldogs ended the quarter on a high note, with Beck connecting with wideout Dominic Lovett for a 38-yard gain to the UT 35 on the final play. On the second play of the second quarter, Beck scrambled for 14 yards to the 21. Two plays later, he found Delp in the back of the end zone for a touchdown, cutting the UT lead to 10-7 with 13:30 until halftime.
Georgia’s defense got a second straight stop and then the Bulldog offense embarked on one of the more unusual drives of the season. There was a 23-yard completion to tight end Lawson Luckie, followed by what looked like a Dillon Bell fumble on a rush that UT recovered, only for the officials after review to rule it an incomplete pass. On the next play, Beck hit wideout Arian Smith on the left side, and Smith fumbled after the catch but then recovered the ball about 10 yards down field, making it a 23-yard gain.
Later, on second-and-goal at the 4, Beck again found Delp in the back of the end zone for a touchdown. And a drive that looked like it might end with a turnover a couple of times instead ended with a score and a 14-10 Georgia lead with 6:36 left in the half.
Tennessee answered with a touchdown drive of its own. The Vols converted a fourth-and-2 at the Georgia 37 and later went ahead 17-14 with 1:54 to play in the half on Dylan Sampson’s 27-yard run. Georgia was able to drive into Tennessee territory and tie the game 17-17 on Peyton Woodring’s 36-yard field goal with 5 seconds to play in the half. At the break, UGA had a 238-189 advantage in total offense.
Georgia went on a long drive to take the lead in the third quarter, covering 87 yards in 12 plays and 7 minutes, 22 seconds. A 16-yard run by Nate Frazier got the drive started, Beck later hit Smith for 16 yards, and on third-and-7 at the UT 10, Beck ran through a big hole in the middle for the touchdown and a 24-17 lead — it’s the first time the Vols have yielded more than 18 points all season — with 5:32 remaining in the period.
Frazier scored on a 2-yard run with 2:26 remaining to put the Bulldogs ahead 31-17, capping a clock-bleeding drive that covered 92 yards in 12 plays and lasted 6 minutes, 21 seconds. It was Georgia’s longest scoring drive by yards of the season. Yurosek had catches of 21, 5 and 16 yards on the drive, the latter down to the 2 to set up Frazier’s win-sealing score.
The Bulldogs are back on Dooley Field next Saturday when they host UMass (2-8) at 12:45 p.m.
