ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia took care of business.
There’s not much else to say about it. The No. 12-ranked Bulldogs faced No. 7 Tennessee in a must-win situation Saturday night at Sanford Stadium, and they won, 31-17.
Other than the fourth-quarter fireworks — a new home-game wrinkle — there hardly were any other explosives involved. Georgia’s offense simply moved the football methodically, made sure not to turn the ball over and used a pair of long, second-half possessions to bleed the clock and put the points on the scoreboard they needed for a victory.
Georgia quarterback Carson Beck completed 25 of 40 passes for 347 yards and two touchdowns, was 8 of 14 on third-down conversions and for the first time in six games did not turn the ball over. Along with a blue-collar defensive effort, that was all the Bulldogs needed to extend their win streak to eight over the Volunteers and keep their College Football Playoff hopes alive.
With the win, the Bulldogs improved to 8-2 and completed one of the toughest SEC schedules in school history with a 6-2 record. The Vols fall to 8-2, 5-2.
With the Texas Longhorns’ win over Arkansas on Saturday, Georgia’s hopes for a fourth consecutive appearance in the SEC championship game effectively is over. However, if the Bulldogs can take care of business in their final two games against Massachusetts on Saturday and Georgia Tech on Nov. 29, they should be one of the teams to make the first 12-team playoff.
In the second half, Georgia used up 13:43 of game clock — nearly an entire quarter — on only two offensive possessions. Both of them ended in touchdowns as the Bulldogs pulled away in what was a 17-17 score at the half.
Georgia put the game away on a 12-play, 92-yard drive that consumed 6:21 of the fourth quarter and ended in a 2-yard touchdown run by freshman Nate Frazier with 2:26 remaining. Two third-down conversions kept the drive alive, including a 28-yard pass from Beck to London Humphreys
The Bulldogs kept the ball for half the third quarter on the way to a touchdown that gave them a 24-17 lead. A pair of defensive penalties and two third-down conversions allowed Georgia to possess the football for 7:22.
Keying the drive was a facemask penalty on Tennessee’s Ricky Gibson on a 17-yard reception by Georgia freshman Nitro Tuggle. That turned a second-and-24 situation at the Bulldogs’ 15-yard line into a first down at the 47.
Five Georgia receivers would end up with 50 or more yards. Tight end Ben Yurosek led the way with five receptions for 51 yards, Humphreys had three for 63, Oscar Delp had four for 56, Arian Smith had three for 50 and Dominic Lovett hauled in three for 59, including the long play of night at 38 yards.
After trailing time of possession significantly at halftime, Georgia ended up edging the Vols 30:29 to 29:31 by keeping the ball for most of the second half.
Defensively, linebackers Jalon Walker and Smael Mondon and safety KJ Bolden each finished with each tackles.
Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava came off concussion protocol to start the game and play the whole way. But he finished with only 167 yards on 23-of-33 passing, 18 yards rushing and was sacked five times. Running back Dylan Sampson managed 101 yards rushing on 19 carries and a touchdown.
Beck would connect with Humphreys for a 16-yard completion on third-and-10, and Beck scored seven plays later to give Georgia 24-17 lead at the 5:32 mark of the third quarter. Beck’s TD run also was a third-down conversion, giving him three on that possession. He’d end up with eight on the night.
As the teams played to a 17-17 tie in the first half, the Bulldogs got a 36-yard field goal from Peyton Woodring with five seconds remaining in the second quarter to knot the score. The kick capped a 12-play, 57-yard drive in which Beck threw the ball away on third-and-15 from the 18-yard line. The Bulldogs were called for the delay-of-game penalty on the previous play.
Georgia outgained the Vols 239 to 189 in the opening half, but were outrushed 96 to 55. Sampson’s 27-yard touchdown on the previous possession staked Tennessee to a 17-14 lead. Tennessee’s star running back had 68 yards at that point.
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