Athens---In the biggest game (rankings-wise) in Sanford Stadium history, third ranked Georgia used a smothering defense and an efficient offense to take out top-ranked Tennessee 27-13 on Saturday.
Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker saw his Heisman hopes take a hit as he finished the game 23-33 for 195 yards and no touchdowns. Hooker had thrown a touchdown pass in a Tennessee record 20 straight games.
Hooker was sacked six times and also threw just his second interception of the season when Kelee Ringo picked him off in the end zone midway thru the second quarter.
“The players. Coach Schumann, Muschamp, Scott, every defensive coach sold the plan individually to their players,” said Georgia head coach Kirby Smart. “The players had to unselfishly buy into the plan because the plan included not rushing up the field, not running past the quarterback’s level, pushing the pocket. When you have guys like Jalen Carter that bought into the plan. We wanted him to be uncomfortable in the pocket and our kids did that.”
Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett out-performed Hooker and had another clutch big-game performance completing 17 of 25 passes for 257 yards and two touchdowns.
The game didn’t start well for the Bulldogs, though, as Daijun Edwards fumbled on Georgia’s first possession. But Tennessee could only move the ball 17 yards and had to settle for a 47-yard field goal.
After that, Georgia scored touchdowns on three of its next four possessions as Bennett punched the pylon on a 13-yard run, and then threw TD passes to Ladd McConkey and Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint to give the Bulldogs a 21-3 lead early in the second quarter.
Those three touchdowns essentially won the game for Georgia as Tennessee would get no closer than the final 14-point margin after scoring on a Jaylen Wright 5 yard run with 4:15 remaining.
The Sanford Stadium crowd of 92,746 stayed loud and raucous from start to finish.
“In the third quarter, there were a couple of things that we didn’t communicate very well,” said Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel. “I didn’t think all in all we handled the noise very well. That’s false starts. Getting safety. Getting communication upfront. At the end of the day, that hurt us at times throughout the course of tonight.”
Georgia improves to 9-0 on the year and 6-0 in the SEC. The Bulldogs have now won 24 straight regular season games including 17 straight conference games.
Smart is now 6-1 against the Volunteers and 75-15 overall in his seventh season at the helm.
Tennessee falls to 8-1 on the season and 4-1 in the conference.
Georgia gets back in action next Saturday night at Mississippi State. Kickoff is set for 7:00 pm E.T. A Georgia win would clinch no worse than a tie for first in the SEC East and send the Bulldogs to the SEC Championship game for the fifth time in six years.
Rankings Check
Tennessee is currently number one in the CFP ranking, tied for second with Ohio State in the AP poll, and third in the Coaches poll. Georgia is third in the CFP ranking and number one in both the AP and the Coaches polls.
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