Coming into the weekend, the No. 12 Georgia Bulldogs had faced the most scrutiny they’ve had in three years. Fresh off of a blowout 28-10 loss to No. 11 Ole Miss, Kirby Smart’s group faced a lot of doubt, and they had to answer the bell against Tennessee for the College Football Playoff committee to give UGA respect.
Safe to say, they answered convincingly, winning 31-17 versus the No. 7 Tennessee Volunteers. In the first quarter, it was looking bleak when the Volunteers went up 10-0, but quarterback Carson Beck rattled off two dimes in the end zone to Oscar Delp to make it 14-10.
Tennessee countered with a Dylan Sampson rushing touchdown and Georgia was able to get a field goal to deadlock it at 17-17 at halftime. The Georgia defense shutout the Volunteer in the second half and the Georgia offense played in control the rest of the way, with Beck and stud freshman Nate Frazier running in one touchdown each to reach the final score.
Carson Beck was hyper-efficient in this one, passing for 347 yards and two touchdowns on 40 attempts. Most importantly, he had no turnovers, something that has plagued him all season against the SEC. He also ran in a touchdown for good measure.
Beck helped to offset a mediocre Georgia running game. Nate Frazier, who has been filling in as the lead running back with Trevor Etienne out, recorded 68 yards on 19 carries and scored a touchdown. Frazier’s touchdown made the game out of reach for the Vols late in the fourth.
The defense also showed out in the second half. The run-defense looked ugly in the first, letting up big runs to Tennessee RB Dylan Sampson, but by the second half, they took advantage of Georgia’s offense forcing Tennessee to pass more often. The pass rush got five sacks, including a strip sack on Nico Iamaleava to end the game.
Georgia now rises to 8-2 and finishes their SEC schedule with a 6-2 record. They seemingly control their destiny to make the playoff and could have an outside chance of making the SEC championship if they win out and Alabama loses next week. Tennessee, meanwhile, falls to 8-2, and while they are far from out of the playoff, they’re now in the mosh pit of two-loss teams in the SEC (Alabama, Ole Miss, and Georgia).
Here are four key takeaways from Georgia’s win over Tennessee:
Georgia’s offense was insanely efficient
Part of the problem with Mike Bobo’s offense has been turnovers. The Georgia offense had committed 15 turnovers since playing SEC opponents, including 11 in the last four matchups. A lot of those were from Carson Beck Turnovers have been a killer for the Bulldogs for a long time, and the hope was that if Georgia could decrease their turnovers per game, their offense would wake up again.
Mike Bobo’s offensive was super efficient in this regard. The Georgia offense did well in taking what the Tennessee defense gave them, and as a result, Georgia mustered four long, time-consuming drives that spanned over 75 yards, including one touchdown drive that spanned 92 yards.
Carson Beck spread the wealth
In the midst of a disappointing season for Carson Beck, he finally looked like a first-round draft pick. A big part of it was spreading the wealth to Georgia’s playmakers. Tight end Oscar Delp had the best game in his career, totaling 56 receiving yards and two touchdowns on four receptions. Vanderbilt transfer London Humphreys also shined as a deep threat with 63 yards on three receptions.
Overall, Georgia had five players with over 50 receiving yards in this game.
Georgia’s pass rush is the catalyst
The biggest catalyst for Georgia winning games has been their pass rush. The Bulldogs have so many dynamic players on their front seven and it showed against Tennessee.
Chaz Chambliss sacked Nico Iamaleava twice and he now has 4.5 sacks this month, which is outrageous. Smael Mondon Jr. looks fully healthy. He led the team in tackles with eight and picked up both a sack and a tackle for loss. Damon Wilson II had the most notable play of the bunch, strip sacking Iamaleava to end the game.
Overall, when this Georgia pass rush is firing on all cylinders, they’re almost unstoppable, and this week proved it.
Georgia controls its own destiny
With this win, the Bulldogs are more than likely rewarded a playoff spot. They’ll obviously need to win out, but if they do, they’ll be guaranteed a playoff spot, since they’ve already won against two top-10 teams. This win also means that Georgia can make a run at the SEC championship.
It looks like the winner of Texas A&M or Texas will represent the “home team” in the SEC (unless the winner loses their Week 14 matchup), but if Alabama loses to Oklahoma, Georgia would only have to worry about Ole Miss, Texas A&M, and Tennessee. Georgia and Texas A&M would rank above Ole Miss and Tennessee due to conference opponent win percentage, and Georgia would rank above Texas A&M due to a common-games tiebreaker.
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Safe to say, Georgia is still very much alive in the SEC, and rumors of their demise have been greatly exaggerated.