KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – After a first half that saw No. 3 Georgia struggle against Tennessee, falling behind 14-10 before going into the locker room with a 26-14 lead, one might have expected head coach Kirby Smart to go on a tirade during halftime.
However, according to linebacker Azeez Ojulari, that wasn’t the case.
“Not at all,” Ojulari said. “We just talked about the mistakes, talked about the ways we needed to fix them, and came out ready to play the second half.”
And they did. It was certainly a case of night and day.
In the first half, Tennessee finished with 239 total yards, 205 of which came courtesy of quarterback Brian Maurer, who completed 10 of 21 passes for 205 yards and two touchdowns to Jauan Jennings and Marquez Callaway.
The second half was a different story though, as Tennessee only managed 104 yards, 70 of which came on the Vols’ final drive of the game.
All three of Georgia’s sacks—two by Ojulari—came in the second half, along with an interception by Richard LeCounte to stop another would-be drive.
The Bulldogs finished with 11 tackles for losses of 36 yards, and held an opponent without a rushing touchdown for the fifth time this year. So after an opening flurry fro Tennessee, Georgia settled in and just ground the Vols down with a smothering defense.
“They had a nice plan to get the ball out of [Maurer's] hands before we got there, quickly, and they executed that well. We didn’t get pressure on one of their max protections; they protected seven guys, and we had four guys rushing. Those are not good odds you’re going to get there on the double-move that they hit for the big touchdown,” Smart said. “It was a good play call into a good defense. We’ll continue to work on it. I thought our kids got better pressure in the second half; we play a lot of guys defensively, and try to wear people down.”
Linebacker Tae Crowder who would have the game’s biggest play when he picked up a fumble caused by a sack of Maurer by cornerback Eric Stokes and ran it in for a 60-yard score.
"That play in particular was a great call by Dan Lanning,” Smart said. “It was a situation where something stopped the play, and he changed the call. It was a great call against what they had, everybody executed, and the quarterback didn’t see the corner coming. It was scoop and score. That’s the kind of havoc we’re trying to create.”
Smart was just as pleased with the stand made by his second team defense during Tennessee’s final possession.
The Vols drove 70 yards over the game’s final four minutes and had a 1st-and-goal at the 5, but held as four straight passes from Jarrett Guarantano fell incomplete.
“It was great to see a red zone stop; we really pride ourselves in the red zone. I don’t know how we did it tonight. One of the scores was outside the red zone,” Smart said. “I certainly feel like we put a lot of effort and work into that area, and to finish with that with those kids, it was great, because those guys practice just as hard as anybody else. And hey, they don’t always get an opportunity, and there are some good young players in that group that got to go in and play. I was happy they finished the way they did."
