Georgia’s defense is really good.

It’s the kind of good that allows the Bulldogs' offense to spot Tennessee a score (arguably two) and still win the contest by 23 points.

Also, Monty Rice and the linebacking core as a whole are, you guessed it, really good. Rice led the team in tackles once again with eight. Within those eight were a sack, two tackles for loss, a forced fumble, and a touchdown off the fumble he forced.

“It was a surreal feeling,” Rice said about his first touchdown since high school. “I cried a little bit. It felt like a movie or something. It’s just a blessing to be in this position.”

Rice’s linebacking group as a whole dominated the game. Quay Walker finished with five tackles. Nakobe Dean and Channing Tindall also tallied four tackles apiece. Azeez Ojulari registered five tackles, with two coming in the form of a sack, as well as two forced fumbles. Tindall, in particular, caught the eye of Rice and earned extremely high praise.

“Nobody in our room sucks,” Rice said. “Everybody in our room can go somewhere else and start. You saw Channing (Tindall) at the end of that game. That’s the closest thing I’ve seen to Roquan Smith since he left. We have guys all over the field. We've got a bunch of versatile guys. Quay (Walker) can pass-rush like Azeez (Ojulari). They’re all good. Nobody sucks. Probably all of them, if they’re fortunate enough not to have major injuries, will be playing on Sundays.”

Rice continued to talk about the importance his unit plays in the Bulldogs’ success.

“For a defense to be successful, I feel like the linebackers have to spearhead that,” he said. “Me, Quay, Channing and Nate (McBride) have to take control of the group, because composure is contagious. If we freak out, next thing you know, the defensive line is freaking out. It’s always important for us to have control and composure.”

Head coach Kirby Smart was happy with the way the defense played in the second half after the Volunteers won some 50/50 plays in the first 30 minutes.

“We executed better. We made some changes at halftime,” Smart said. “Coach (Jim) Chaney was doing a good job. I mean, look, guys, it wasn’t like they were dominating the first half, OK? I look at it play-by-play. We snap one over the head and give them seven. All right? They’re not running the ball really well, they throw a deep touchdown pass after a bad call by me on fourth-and-one. So they get another touchdown. Then they beat a guy and were one-on-one out there on the outside, and it was a 50-50 ball that we lost. The receiver made a hell of a play, and the quarterback made a hell of a throw. Sometimes you give them credit for what they threw, and it wasn't a lack of execution. It wasn’t a lack of toughness. It wasn’t a lack of pressure. It was a good throw, a good catch. And halftime, we just talked and said, 'Hey, let’s do something different. Let’s maybe not let them take that risk, and throw it over our head, because that may be their only chance to win. And we did a better job in the second half.”

To say Georgia did better in the second half would be an understatement. The team held Tennessee to 71 total yards (1.8 per play) in the final two quarters. On third downs attempts in the second half, Tennessee was held to 2-of-11. Georgia also forced five turnovers in the game, with all five coming in the second half.

Perhaps the "tale of two halves" trend that has been present for Georgia in every game this season will end at some point. But, if it works, it works.

Georgia travels to Tuscaloosa next weekend for what will presumably be the biggest game of the year for both teams.