KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The final totals weren’t pretty as Tennessee receivers Jauan Jennings and Marquez Callaway combined for 10 catches and 100 yards apiece against Georgia’s secondary in the Bulldogs 43-14 win.

So, is that reason for concern?

Safety Richard LeCounte doesn’t believe so.

“I’ll take our secondary over any secondary in the country, man. The guys I know, the players in this DB room, every day we're in with our hardhat on to work, because we know we’re going to play the best competition in the nation,” LeCounte said. “That’s something we prepare for. I don’t think that we should be concerned, because when Saturday gets here, it’s going to be time to grind.”

Head coach Kirby Smart wasn’t quite so complimentary, especially after what he saw in the first half, when Maurer completed 10 of 21 passes for 205 yards, including a 73-yarder to Callaway, who burned cornerback DJ Daniel and LeCounte on the way to the end zone, to tie the game at 7.

“It worries me, the tackling—that’s what bothers me, when they throw and catch the ball. With some of the things we’re playing, they’re going to throw and catch the ball, because we’re really aggressive. But we have to tackle them when they catch it, we’ve got to get them down right then. We’ve got to force the turnover; we’ve got to pick the ball off when they throw one to us and get an interception,” Smart said. “There’s a lot of things we’ve got to do better from that perspective. We’re really down one player in the secondary, and we hope to get him back soon. But at the end of the day, we have to do a better job getting some balls defended and knocked down. But we put a lot of pressure on our secondary."

The Bulldogs, who were without sophomore Tyson Campbell for the second straight game, did do a much better job in the second half, when they held the Vols to just 4 of 12 passing for 78 yards.

“He (quarterback Brian Maurer) just got off to a hot start. He’s a great quarterback. Coach (Tennessee offensive coordinator Jim) Chaney had it dialed up, but we came back, but settled down and played more ball,” said LeCounte, who made amends for the bust with a third-quarter interception. “There was no dynamic change that we made; we just played better.”

Smart admitted he and defensive coordinator Dan Lanning ask a lot from their secondary.

"We bring people, we blitz, we’re attacking. We’re aggressive, we’re trying to create havoc, so to do that, we’re not always out there dropping eight guys and nine guys to cover,” Smart said. “We’re putting pressure on them to cover one-on-one."

Georgia suffered a big defensive blow early in the game when sophomore nose guard Jordan Davis went out of the game with an injured ankle.

He did not return.

According to a UGASports source, Davis was scheduled to undergo further tests once the team returns to Athens, and after the game Smart confirmed that the injury did not initially look that bad.

“Sprained ankle,” Smart said when asked. “They felt like it wasn’t as bad as other guys.”

…Wide receiver Lawrence Cager was bothered by a shoulder stinger for much of the game. At one point, the graduate transfer came out for three plays, before he ultimately returned.

…Defensive back Divaad Wilson also appeared to get banged up midway through the game, before returning late in the contest.

Senior defensive lineman Julian Rochester saw his first action of the year, coming in at nose guard late in the first quarter.

Rochester, who suffered a torn ACL in the Sugar Bowl, has been practicing since the start of fall camp, but had yet to play until Saturday night’s contest against the Vols.

He finished with two tackles, including one for a loss of 1 yard.

"You know, I thought our kids played really hard tonight. We didn't start the way you'd like to, at least not defensively, but offensively, I thought Jake and them did a really good job. I thought Coley called a really nice game, changed things up, did some good things with Jake, had a good play, and executed the plan. We played physical. I still think we've got a lot of areas to improve on, some stupid, undisciplined penalties. I was proud of our fans tonight for coming and showing up. I saw a lot of them at the finish. Defensively, I thought our guys fought through some tough times. That's the first road game. Where a lot of people will think about Vanderbilt, it just wasn't that kind of atmosphere. When you are resilient on the road, and you play hard, and you keep coming back, and you play a lot of players, and you're able to run for 238 yards and they rush for 70, it helps you. We've got a big, physical football team. We've got to keep getting better. We've got to get rid of some of the errors." – Kirby Smart

...Smart on the running backs:

“I thought all of our guys ran hard. You can’t not mention Zamir White. You can’t not mention Brian and Swift as well. Those guys, they fight for their carries.” – Kirby Smart

...On the come-from-behind win:

“It tells me we need to start better. I don’t know that I’m concerned, but when you start a game, you’re going to get new plays and new scripts. We started pretty well offensively. We didn’t start very well on defense. We started really well defensively last time, but we didn’t start really well offensively. We just have to put that together. They punched us in the face with the big play, and we responded. That’s what you’re looking for in your team. It’s the first time some of our defensive players have taken that punch.” – Kirby Smart

…Kearis Jackson made his first appearance since breaking two bones in his left hand in the opener at Vanderbilt.

… Junior Justin Shaffer made his first career start for the injured Solomon Kindley, getting the nod at left guard. Junior QB Jake Fromm started his 33rd straight to lead the offense, while graduate J.R. Reed (S) now leads the defense with 34. Junior DJ Daniel made his second straight start at RCB while junior Walter Grant made his first of the year at LB and ninth of his career.

… Senior Tyrique McGhee (RS), junior Andrew Thomas (LT), and redshirt freshman Azeez Ojulari (LB) served as the game captains. Ojulari is the first freshman to be named a team captain in the Kirby Smart era that began in 2016.

… With Georgia’s 43-14 victory, the Bulldogs now lead the all-time series 24-23-2 as it dates back to 1899. It marks the first time they broke a tie to take a series lead over UT since 1981, when they went up 9-8-2. Also, the Bulldogs now have won 15 straight games over teams from the SEC’s Eastern Division, dating back to 2016.

… Rodrigo Blankenship made four PATs, nailed a 50-yard field goal in the first quarter, a 34-yarder in the 2nd quarter, and a 27-yarder in the 3rd quarter for a total of 13 points. He is 11-for-11 in field goals this season. In his career, Blankenship is 5-for-6 from at least 50 yards, including 2-for-2 this year. He made a 50-yarder at Vanderbilt this year, too. For his career, Blankenship now has tallied 371 points, including 64 field goals.

…Georgia finished the game with 11 tackles for loss.