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Georgia’s defense sacked Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava five times during Georgia’s win on Saturday in Athens, Ga. (Photo by John Adams/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
ATHENS, Ga. — The Georgia-Tennessee rivalry may not have the juice of, say, Georgia-Auburn or Tennessee-Alabama, but it’s fast becoming a matchup of heavyweights. Four of the last five games have featured both teams ranked in the top 20, and Saturday night was, in many ways, a playoff play-in. At stake: a potential SEC championship berth for Tennessee, a likely playoff berth for Georgia.
Before a delirious Sanford Stadium crowd, the Bulldogs struggled early but gathered themselves late, looking less like the tentative crew that lost to Ole Miss and more like the threatening bruisers that could wreck the CFP. Georgia won 31-17, and put itself right back in the playoff race. Tennessee, meanwhile, falls into the pool of two-loss SEC teams who will be fighting for CFP playoff spots.
Georgia punter Brett Thorson — the only Bulldog who came out of the gate strong — unintentionally set the early mood for Georgia in the first half. The Dawgs had gone three-and-out on their opening series, Thorson punted the ball away, and a Tennessee player knocked him to the ground. Flags flew, and Thorson lay on his back, gloating, expecting a roughing-the-punter call that would give Georgia a fresh set of downs.
It wasn’t to be. The officials picked up the flags, ruling that the Tennessee player had been blocked into Thorson. And Tennessee would proceed to score a touchdown on its ensuing drive.
It was a pretty stark message: If Georgia wanted a victory over a feisty Vols team on Saturday night, the Dawgs would have to earn it.
The status of each team’s starting quarterback dominated pregame talk. Would Nico Iamaleava be available after undergoing a reported…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/no-12-georgia-shuts-out-no-7-tennessee-in-second-half-for-3117-win-042131067.html
Author : Yahoo Sports
Publish date : 2024-11-17 04:21:31
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