No one ever needed to worry.
On Tennessee’s first play from scrimmage, running back Jaylen Wright found a large open hole and sprinted for a 75-yard touchdown.
Neyland Stadium erupted, possibly thinking that this signaled a tough dogfight to come for the back-to-back national champions.
As Lee Corso likes to say, not so fast.
Georgia’s offense answered and its defense adjusted en route to a 38-10 victory. After the Volunteers’ early score, the Bulldogs reeled off 24 unanswered points and quieted the crowd in the process.
Quarterback Carson Beck furthered his Heisman Trophy candidacy with 298 yards and three touchdowns. In his second game back from an ankle injury, Brock Bowers caught seven passes for 60 yards and a touchdown.
What it means
Georgia just went unbeaten in regular season conference play for the third consecutive season. That is so incredibly difficult to accomplish. Continue to enjoy this folks and don’t ever take this run for granted.
The Bulldogs now have one final regular season game against Georgia Tech. Georgia will look to continue progressing in the right direction with a looming SEC title meeting with Alabama in two weeks.
A question that needs answering
How serious is Tate Ratledge’s injury?
Georgia’s standout guard went down in the first quarter with a knee injury—something that seems to happen at Tennessee regularly for the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs will certainly hope Ratledge avoided a serious injury and that it’s just a sprain. This injury came just when Georgia’s offensive line was at full strength again.
Three important plays
Setup run: On Georgia’s third offensive play of the game, Dillon Bell ran for a 4-yard gain. In the moment this didn’t seem too significant, even though it was his first carry since Georgia defeated Florida. However, Mike Bobo was tactful with how he utilized Bell in this situation. On Georgia’s second drive, Bobo turned back to Bell on a halfback toss at the Tennessee 18-yard line. The entire Tennessee defense sucked in on the run and Bell lofted an easy touchdown pass to Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint.
Ringing the bell again: Bell had one of his better games in a Georgia uniform. After throwing a touchdown, Beck looked his way for a 9-yard touchdown two possessions later that put Georgia up 17-7 in the second quarter.
Third-down overthrow: After forcing Georgia into a three-and-out to start the third quarter, and trailing by two touchdowns, Tennessee needed a score in the worst way. Instead, the Vols quickly got into a third-and-11 situation. Quarterback Joe Milton had an open Squirrel White but overshot him. This proved critical as Georgia scored on its ensuing possession to go up 31-10.
Other important games to note
No. 3 Michigan 31, Maryland 24: The Wolverines won for a second consecutive week without Jim Harbaugh on the sideline. But it was a tough one on the road. Next week is The Game, which will be very personal given the sign stealing scandal.
No. 8 Alabama 66, Chattanooga 10: The Crimson Tide increasingly look like the second best team in the nation, with just one more game to go before the SEC Championship showdown against Georgia.
Grading Georgia
Offense: A
Beck deserves better than 35-to-1 odds for the Heisman Trophy. You have to wonder if this game shoots him up the list and puts his name alongside Bo Nix, Michael Penix Jr. and Jayden Daniels.
Defense: A-
Even though Georgia did a good job for most of the game, the 75-yard run keeps the unit from receiving a perfect score. But the Bulldogs adjusted well and prevented big plays for much of the game.
Special teams: A-
Brett Thorson and the punt team prevented a return once again. Peyton Woodring hit a key field goal to cut Tennessee’s early lead to 7-3. It was another solid outing for the special teams group.
Season grades to date
Offense: A-
Defense: A-
Special teams: A-
