Bulldogs edge Volunteers in overtime

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — At the end of a back-and-forth game Saturday afternoon at Neyland Stadium, Georgia running back Josh McCray scored on a 1-yard run in overtime to lift No. 6 Georgia to a 44-41 win over No. 15 Tennessee.

The crowd of 101,915 saw both teams have the lead in the fourth quarter, and in overtime, after the Bulldog defense held the Volunteers to a field goal, Georgia was able to get into the end zone and beat UT for the ninth straight time.

The SEC opener for both teams featured nearly 1,000 yards of offense, with Georgia (3-0,1-0 SEC) gaining 502 and Tennessee 496. Bulldog quarterback Gunner Stockton finished 23 of 31 passing for 304 yards and two touchdowns, and the Georgia rushing attack piled up 198 yards on the ground. Nate Frazier, who had a 21-yard rush on the first play of overtime for Georgia, led the way with 14 carries for 73 yards.

Defensively, linebacker CJ had a team-high 11 tackles, with safety Kyron Jones adding 10. Defensive backs Joenel Aguero and KJ Bolden each had interceptions.

Tennessee (2-1, 0-1) took the opening kickoff and wasted no time driving down the field for the game’s first score. Quarterback Joey Aguilar was 5-for-5 passing for 62 yards on the drive, and capped it with a four-yard touchdown run, putting the Vols up 7-0 with 12:30 to go in the first quarter.

The Bulldogs answered with their own impressive drive, beginning with a 45-yard completion from Stockton to wide receiver Colbie Young. Stockton later hit Zachariah Branch for 10 yards, and capped the drive with a six-yard touchdown run. Stockton ran three times for 16 yards on the drive, tying the game 7-7 with 9:58 to go in the first.

The fast-paced offensive play continued on the Vols’ next drive, which ended after two plays on a 72-yard touchdown pass from Aguilar to Chris Brazzell II, making it 14-7 Tennessee 29 seconds after Georgia’s score. Tennessee later took a 21-7 lead on Aguilar’s 14-yard touchdown pass to Brazzell with 3:37 left in the first.

Georgia responded with a nine-play, 72-yard drive that included a Stockton pass to Branch for a first down on fourth-and-3 at the Bulldog 48. Three plays later, Stockton threw a screen pass left to Branch that the wideout turned into a 36-yard touchdown, cutting the UT lead to 21-14 with 14:52 to play in the half.

Both defenses forced punts on the next two possessions, and Georgia got the ball back at its 10 with 7:57 left in the half. The Bulldogs then drove all the way down to the Tennessee 2-yard line before having to settle for a Peyton Woodring 20-yard field goal, cutting the Vols’ lead to 21-17 with 1:42 to go in the half.

The Bulldogs stopped the Vols’ next drive on Aguero’s first career interception, at the Georgia 30. On the final play of the half, Tennessee intercepted a Ryan Puglisi Hail Mary pass near the goal line, and the teams headed to the locker room with the Vols up 21-17. At the break, Tennessee had a slight advantage in total offense, 259-255.

Georgia got the ball to start the second half and went on a 14-play drive to take a 24-21 lead, scoring on a 1-yard McCray touchdown with 7:19 to go in the third. Thirteen of the 14 plays on the drive were runs, including a 14-yarder by Stockton on third-and-4 at the Georgia 48. It was the first touchdown as a Bulldog for McCray, the Illinois transfer who had 15 career TDs with the Illini.

Late in the third, Georgia’s defense produced another interception, this time by Bolden, giving the offense the ball at the UT 37 with 3:48 left in the quarter. Woodring connected on a 48-yard field goal to make it 27-21 Bulldogs with 1:45 on the clock.

The Vols answered with their first big play since the opening quarter, a 56-yard touchdown pass from Aguilar to Brazzell, putting Tennessee back in front, 28-27, with 7 seconds left in the third.

Georgia opened its next drive with a 15-yard rush by Dwight Phillips Jr., and two plays later, Stockton hit wideout London Humphreys on the right side for 31 yards to the Tennessee 8. The Bulldogs weren’t able to get into the end zone, settling for a Woodring 24-yard field goal to regain the lead, 30-28, with 12:20 remaining in the game.

Tennessee responded with another touchdown drive, this one capped by a 32-yard pass from Aguilar to Braylon Staley for a 35-30 Volunteer lead with 11:01 to play. The Volunteers then sacked and stripped Stockton on third down of the ensuing drive, recovering the ball at the Georgia 34. Tennessee turned the turnover into 3 points on Gilbert’s 48-yard field goal, pushing its lead to 38-30 with 6:40 to play.

Georgia tied the game with 2:32 to go when, facing fourth-and-6, Stockton hit Humphreys for a 28-yard touchdown on the right side of the end zone. On the 2-point conversion attempt, Stockton found Branch on the left side, making it 38-38. Tennessee had enough time to drive down to the Georgia 25 and set Gilbert up for the game-winning score on the final play of the game, but he missed from 43 yards out, sending the game to overtime.

Tennessee got the ball first in overtime and had to settle for a 42-yard Gilbert field goal and a 41-38 lead. Frazier ran left for 21 yards down to the 4 on the Bulldogs’ first play of overtime, and McCray moved the ball to the 1 on the next. On second-and-goal at the 1, McCray was ruled short of the goal line, but the replay review showed that he extended the ball into the end zone for the game-winning score.

The Bulldogs are off next Saturday and return to action on Sept. 27, when they host No. 19 Alabama at Sanford Stadium.

POST-GAME NOTES

*Another Win In Overtime: The sixth-ranked Bulldogs (3-0,1-0 SEC) rallied past No. 15 Tennessee with a 44-41 win in overtime. Georgia improved to 11-7 in overtime games including 5-2 in true road games and 4-2 overall under Kirby Smart. This was Georgia’s first OT game since a 44-42 win in a school-record eight OTs against Ga. Tech last year in Athens.

Series Winnning Streak Goes To Nine: With today’s win, Georgia extended its school best winning streak against the Vols to nine straight dating to 2017. Also, the Bulldogs improved to 10-0 in SEC openers in the Kirby Smart era. Georgia leads the all-time series 30-23-2 dating to 1899. Today marked the fourth straight ranked meeting between the teams, all wins by the Bulldogs. It was the first OT game in the series since 2013 here,  a 34-31 win by the Bulldogs.

*Summary Of The Offense: In overtime, Georgia trailed 41-38. Then, Nate Frazier rushed for 21 yards, Josh McCray took it three yards and then McCray plunged in from the one for the game-winning TD and a 44-41 victory. McCray (7-for-17 yards) had a pair of TDs today.

*Georgia tallied 502 yards (198-rushing, 304-passing) on 87 plays.

*Georgia trailed 38-30 with 6:40 left in the contest, Georgia eventually converted a 4th-and-6 witha 28-yard TD pass to London Humphreys with 2:38 left. Then, the game was tied on a successful two-point conversion on a pass to Zachariah Branch.It capped a nine play, 75-yard drive in 4:08. Georgia has three TDs on 4th Down conversions this year, and under Smart they are 5-for-5 in converstion this year.

*Down 21-17 to start the second half, Georgia got the ball first and marched 75 yards in 14 plays with three 3rd down conversions to take its first lead (24-21) with 7:19 left in the 3rd quarter as Josh McCray’s notched his first score as a Bulldog from one yard. The drive featured 13 rushes (68 yards) and one completion (7 yards). Georgia took a 27-21 lead with 1:45 left in the 3rd after a 48-yard field goal.

At halftime, Georgia tallied 17 points on 255 yards of offense (77-rushing, 178-passing) on 41 plays and trailed 21-17.

*Down 7-0 with 12:30 left in the first quarter, Georgia’s first possession answered the TD, going six plays in 75 yards in 2:32. The drive began with a 45-yard completion to Colbie Young and was capped by a six-yard run by Gunner Stockton.

*Down 21-7 in the 1st quarter Georgia compiled a 72-yard TD drive that ended with Zachariah Branch catching a 36-yard TD on 3rd-and-7 to cut it to 21-14 with 14:52 left in the half.

*In his first road start, redshirt junior QB Gunner Stockton earned a victory and was 23-for-31 for a career-high 304 yards and 2 TDs. In the first half, he was 12-for-17 for 178 yards and one TD.

Sophomore Nate Frazier had a team-high 73 yards on 14 carries. Junior Zachariah Branch had a team-high five catches for 69 yards and a TD while senior Colbie Young had four catches for 73 yards.

*Defensive Review: In the first Overtime, Georgia forced UT to a 42-yard field goal for just a 41-38 deficit.

*Georgia was down 35-30 with 8:21 left and the Bulldogs turned it over at the UGA 34. The turnover led to a 48-yard FG and a 38-30 game. With the game tied at 38 with 2:32 left, UT eventually missed a 43-yard field goal with seven seconds and the game went to OT.

*On UT’s second drive of the 2nd half, sophomore KJ Bolden collected his first interception of they year at the UT38 and second of his career. It led to a 48-yard field goal by Peyton Woodring and a 27-21 lead with 1:45 left in the third quarter.

*UT’s third drive gave the Vols a 28-27 lead as Chris Brazzel II snagged his third TD of the game, this one a 56-yard pass.

*With 12:17 left in the game, UT had a quick answer of a Georgia score, taking a 35-30 lead with a 75-yard TD drive in 1:16.

*The Vols finished the first half with 21 points, tallying 259 yards on 35 plays (30-rush, 229-passing). They scored all 21 points in the first quarter on their first three possession and were blanked in the second quarter on their final two possessions.

*UT scored on its second possession too, needing just two plays and 29 seconds, ending on a 72-yard TD pass to Chris Brazell II. It was the longest completion allowed by Georgia this season.

*UT went up 21-7 on its third possession, going 83 yards on 12 plays with 3:37 left in the first quarter. UT was stopped on its 4th drive. *UT allowed its first sack of the year when Joey Aguilar was called for intentional grounding, credit Chris Cole with the sack.

*Junior Joenel Aguero notched his first career interception with 1:02 left in the first half at the UGA 30. It led to no points after the final play of the half was a heave towards the end zone by Ryan Puglisi that was picked off Ty Redmond. It was the first INT for both teams.

*The leading tacklers were juniors CJ Allen (11),Raylen Wilson (10) and redshirt sophomore Kyron Jones (9) each with career-highs.

*Checking In On Special Teams: Junior PK Peyton Woodring tallied 12 points (3 PATs, three Field Goals covering 20, 24 and 48 yards) plus took care of the kickoffs. Woodring 4-for-4 on the year in field goals and 46-for-52 in his career.

*All-America punter Brett Thorson had three punts for a 47.7 average with one return for zero yards.

*Junior Zachariah Branch had one kickoff return for 28 yards and RFr. Sacovie White-Helton had one punt return for 12 yards.

*Captains, Coin Toss And For Starters: Georgia’s captains were CJ Allen, Christen Miller, Drew Bobo, and Oscar Delp.

*Georgia won the toss and elected to defer the ball until the second half. They won the toss in Overtime and choose defense too. There were no first-time starters on defense as the same 11 Bulldogs started for the second straight week. On offense, true freshman Dontrell Glover got his first career start at right guard. He is the third true freshman to start this season including second offensive lineman, joining Juan Gaston Jr. (RG) who started the opener.  After missing last week’s game, Gaston returned to action Saturday.

*Up Next: No. 6 Georgia (3-0, 1-0 SEC) has an open date and will be back in action, Sept. 27 in Athens versus Alabama (2-1, 0-0 SEC) at 7:30 p.m. (ABC).

POST-GAME QUOTES

Coming soon.