Until Saturday afternoon, No. 14 Tennessee had yet to turn the ball over this season.
Then No. 3 Georgia’s defense forced three turnovers in the second half, including two strip sacks — one returned for a touchdown — and an interception as the Bulldogs came back from a halftime deficit to win 44-21 at Sanford Stadium.
Though the Volunteers led 21-17 at the half, the score didn’t tell the full story. One of Tennessee’s touchdowns came on a high snap that was recovered in the end zone, and the two others were simply good plays from quarterback Jarrett Guarantano. Despite the quality of Georgia’s defense, sometimes the opposing team is going to make a good play.
“It wasn’t like they were dominating the first half,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “... Sometimes you give them credit for what they threw, and it was not a lack of execution. It wasn’t a lack of toughness. It wasn’t a lack of pressure. It was a good throw (and) a good catch.”
After the Vols (2-1, 2-1 SEC) stuffed the Bulldogs (3-0, 3-0) on a goal-line stand to end the first half, the defense took things to another level in the second half. Tennessee had only 14 yards of offense in third quarter, and all of the Volunteers' 57 yards in the fourth quarter came in garbage time, after Georgia was up 44-21.
“At halftime, we just talked and said, ‘Hey, let’s do something different. Let’s maybe not let take that risk and throw it over our head because that may be their only chance to win,'” Smart said. “And we did a better job in the second half.”
The Vols' first two drives of the half ended in turnovers, and the Bulldogs scored a combined six points off those turnovers. Senior linebacker Monty Rice put the exclamation point on the win with his strip sack, fumble recovery and touchdown in the fourth quarter.
“I ain’t scored a touchdown since I was a senior in high school,” Rice said. “It was a surreal feeling. I kind of cried a little bit because it was just crazy. It felt like a movie or something.”
Through the first three games of the season, the Bulldogs' defense largely has been dominant, allowing an average of 12.33 points and 236.7 yards.
That success, Smart said, comes from having everyone contribute on defense. Saturday’s victory over Tennessee proved no different.
“They take pride in being good,” Smart said. “They don’t have a bunch of prima donnas. Everybody puts sweat in the bucket. There’s a lot of guys contributing on defense.
"The atmosphere that’s created on defense here is just, ‘We’re not letting them score. We’re not gonna let them in,’ and they hold everybody accountable.”
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