Bulldogs storm back for 8th straight win over Vols

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. Linebacker Jalon Walker led the Georgia defense with nine tackles, including two sacks. Linebacker Chaz Chambliss also had a pair of sacks.

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.

POST-GAME NOTES

*Home Winning Streak & Dawgs After Dark: With the 31-17 victory over #7 Tennessee, 12th-ranked Georgia (8-2, 6-2 SEC) has won 29 consecutive home games dating to 2019, which leads in FBS and improves on its school record. In the Kirby Smart era, the Bulldogs are 48-4 at home including 13-0 in home night games. Georgia extended its current Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium winning streak in night games to 21 games.

*Bulldog Senior Class Gets 50th Win: With tonight’s victory, the 2024 Senior Class is an FBS-leading 50-4 which ties the school mark set by the 2023 Bulldog seniors who finished with a 50-4 mark.

*Georgia Extends Winning Streak In UT Series: The Bulldogs have won eight straight over UT, all by double digits, which is the longest winning streak for the Bulldogs in the series which dates to 1899. The Bulldogs are 8-1 against the Vols in the Smart era. Following last week’s contest, Georgia rebounded once again following a loss during a season. The Bulldogs are now 15-3 after a loss in the Smart era including winning nine straight after a loss.

*Summary Of The Offense: The Bulldogs became the first team to score more than 19 points on the Vols this season as they were holding opponents to just 12.6 ppg which was 5th nationally. UT had allowed just three TDs in the first half all year. The Bulldogs posted a pair of TDs in the first half. Overall tonight, Georgia tallied 453 yards of offense on 71 plays.

*In the Red Zone tonight, Georgia finished 5-for-5 with (4 TDs, FG). The TD drives covered 75, 84, 87 and a season-long 92 yards.

*With the game tied at 17, Georgia’s first possession of the 2nd half began at the UGA 13. The Bulldogs went 87 yards on 12 plays in 7:27 as Carson Beck

finished the drive with a 10-yard TD scamper on a 3rd-and-7 as Georgia went up 24-17 with 5:32 left in the 3rd quarter.

*Georgia drove a season-long 92 yards on 12 plays in 6:21 for a TD capped by a Nate Frazier two-yard score for a 31-17 with 2:26 left in the game.

*At the half, Georgia and UT were tied at 17. The Bulldogs had 238 yards of offense on 41 plays.

*Senior QB Carson Beck finished 25-for-40 for 347 yards and 2 TDs as he improved to 21-3 as a starter and 8-3 against top 20 teams. He directed a 75-yard TD drive on seven plays in 2:13 to make it a 10-7 contest with 13:30 left in the 2nd quarter. On the next possession, he led an 84-yard drive on 10 plays in 4:26 to take a 14-10 lead with 6:36 left. The TD drives also featured a season-long 92-yarder on the final score of the night.

*The final possession of the first half led to a game-tying field goal after going 57 yards on 12 plays over the final 1:49

*Junior TE Oscar Delp was the top target in the first half with 4 catches for 56 yards and 2 TDs, all career-highs. He notched a 19-yard TD catch to cut the deficit to 10-7. It was his first TD of the year. Then, he added a 4-yard TD catch in the 2nd quarter to give him his first career game with a pair of TD receptions. In the second half, it was graduate Ben Yurosek who had a team-leading five catches for 51 yards.

*Ten different Bulldogs caught a pass tonight. Senior Dominic Lovett’s lone catch in the first half was the longest by a Bulldog, covering 38 yards on 3rd-and-8. Freshman Nitro Tuggle had two catches for 25 yards. Coming in tonight, he had one catch for 9 yards against Tennessee Tech on the year and had appeared in three games.

*Frazier Gets A Start: With junior TB Trevor Etienne sidelined due to injury, Nate Frazier (19 rushes, 68 yards, 1 TD) became the first freshman tailback to start for the Bulldogs since 2014 when Nick Chubb and Sony Michel did it. Prior to Frazier, Michel was the last one to do it as he got the nod in the 2014 Belk Bowl rout of No. 20 Louisville. In that contest, Chubb earned MVP honors after setting an SEC and Georgia bowl record with 269 rushing yards and two TDs on 33 carries. In 2014, Chubb made eight starts.

*Defensive Review: UT came in averaging 37.6 points a game and finished with 17 including getting shut out in the 2nd half for the second straight year.

UT had 313 yards of offense on 72 plays. At the half, UT had 17 points on 189 yards of total offense on 41 plays.

*UT took a 7-0 lead on its first possession, driving 78 yards on 12 plays in 3:47. The drive followed a three-and-out to start the game by the Bulldogs.

*Trailing 14-10, UT went 75 yards on 10 plays to reclaim a 17-10 advantage capped by a 27-yard TD by Dylan Sampson with 1:54 left in the first half.

*Tonight, Georgia’s top tacklers were Smael Mondon (8 plus a sack), KJ Bolden with a career-high eight and Jalon Walker with eight and a sack.

*Georgia finished with five sacks. Senior Chaz Chambliss notched two sacks to give him a team-leading 5.5 for the year. Senior Smael Mondon Jr., had his first sack of the year and Damon Wilson II picked up his second on the year.

*Special Teams In Action: Junior P Brett Thorson averaged 44.3 yards on four punts. Also, he made a tackle after a 26-yard return.

*Sophomore PK Peyton Woodring tallied seven points on a 36-yard field goal and four PATs plus handled kickoffs. He is now 16-for-17 this year on FGs.

*Bulldogs Cash Jones and Michael Jackson III served as the KORs while PR Anthony Evans returned after missing the past two games due to injury.

*Captains, Coin Toss And For Starters: Georgia’s captains were CJ Allen, Chaz Chambliss, Dominic Lovett and Tate Ratledge.

*Tennessee won the toss and deferred the ball until the second half.

*Two Bulldogs made their first career starts in freshman Nate Frazier (TB) and sophomore Monroe Freeling (LT).

*Up Next: The Bulldogs (8-2, 6-2 SEC) play host to UMass Saturday in Athens at 12:45 pm (SECN). UMass (2-8) lost to Liberty 35-34 in OT Saturday.

POST-GAME QUOTES

Head Coach Kirby Smart

On the atmosphere of the game…
“Unbelievable. It was probably the best atmosphere that I’ve ever been a part of for a game like this. It was better than Notre Dame to me. It was a more meaningful game, a conference game at the end of the year. The crowd was electric. The only thing that would have made it better is if we had black jerseys on.”

On the offense and Carson Beck’s performance…
“He’s 25 of 40, he throws two balls that should probably be caught. He throws one over the middle to (Oscar) Delp that should be caught and he had a couple of intentional throw aways. I’m saying he should really be 31 or 32 of 40. The guy was accurate tonight, played well, had a couple of drops but it never flustered him. He played with three true freshman backs beside him. Those backs, outside of Nate (Frazier), really hadn’t played. We had a freshman receiver step up. He lost one of his receivers in the middle of game. And he never flinched. I’m so proud of him.”

On the defensive performance and slowing down the Tennessee offense…
“Well first off, give them kudos. They ran the ball well and were really stubborn with the run. Great back. I don’t know that we’ve given up 152 yards to a back in a while but he’s good and they were stubborn with it. But what we didn’t do was give up many explosives. I don’t think they had many passes over 20 yards, which that’s what they do well. I thought we played well out on the perimeter. When you do that well against these guys it’s hard for them to score.”

#15 Carson Beck | RSr. | QB

On the impact of dropped passes…
“Yeah, I mean, it is what it is. It’s part of the game. What can I do about that? They’re going to continue to practice. I’m going to continue to have faith and confidence in them. I’m going to continue to throw the ball to them. I have to. And they have so much talent. I think as time goes and we start really rolling this thing, they’re going to make plays. They made plays tonight. It’s not always going to look perfect. They’re not going to make it in a single play. Some of it is my fault on ball placement and stuff like that. I have so much belief in them, and I really think that it’s really about to start exploding.”

On his conversations with Offensive Coordinator Mike Bobo this week…
“Yeah, obviously, going into the week, just discussing the type of plays that he wanted to run and how we were going to attack them. Throughout the meetings on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday we’re changing stuff. We’re dicing stuff up all the way up until, shoot, this morning. There’s stuff we’re still going over, especially with the night game, we have a little bit more time. Those types of conversations are really good, and I think our relationship has really grown over the past two years. I’m happy that he has faith in me and confidence in me to lead this offense.”

#11 Jalon Walkee | Jr. | ILB

On the impact of the defense’s five sacks…
“Big, us executing the rush plan. Chaz [Chambliss] with two, I had one, Smael [Mondon Jr.] had one, and I’m missing somebody else, but we executed the rush plan tonight. And, that’s what we worked on all year long. Nico [Iamaleava] is a great quarterback and able to use his legs as well. Limiting his legs and making him play quarterback in the pocket, and when he escapes we know when to counter back and where he wants to escape.”

On coming back from down 10-0…
“We are a resilient team. We didn’t flinch. We know how to take punches. We take punches and we also give punches as well. So, us going out there and having a defensive stop, having to shutout the whole second half, that’s big for us. That’s a big reason why we won that football game.”