If I live long enough to see another football game as exciting as this one, I'll die a very, very lucky man.
First of all and most importantly, the Dawgs won and start their SEC season 1-0 (3-0 overall). Just as importantly, there are flaws with this team on both sides of the ball, but fortunately flaws that can be dealt with and improved upon. Coach Kirby Smart is one of the all-time greats, probably the best in college football at this time, and he will fix that which needs fixing.
Let me recap the game itself, though: Tennessee scored first, a four-yard running TD by Tennessee QB Joey Aguilar. But Georgia came right back, and Bulldog QB Gunner Stockton scored a running TD of his own for six yards to tie the game up.
Then the troubles started. Tennessee scored two unanswered TDs, including a 72-yard score on only the second play after the Georgia TD. By the end of the first quarter, the Vols led, 21-7. The Rocky-Top fans were deafeningly loud, and it wasn't looking good for Georgia.
The Bulldogs scored first in the second quarter, and settled for a FG two possessions later. Late in the first half, Georgia's Joenel Aguero intercepted an Aguilar pass at the Tennessee 30 with a minute left, and it looked like Georgia might take a lead before halftime. Unfortunately, backup QB Ryan Puglisi, brought into the game for just for this one play for some reason, threw an interception and gave the ball right back to Tennessee. At the half, the score was Tennessee 21, Georgia 17.
In the second half, Georgia got a pair of field goals and took a two-point lead, but Tennessee took the lead right back with a TD. Things started looking grim when Georgia exchanged another FG for a Volunteer TD, and the Vols took a 38-30 lead with a FG with six minutes left to play. Georgia entered this game on an eight-game win streak over Tennessee, and it was looking like the Vols were about to break that curse.
On their likely last possession of the game, the Dawgs drove down the field, and it looked like it was all over for Georgia when the drive stalled out on the Tennessee 28. Down by eight with two and half minutes to go, it was no time for FGs, so on fourth and six, Stockton pulled out all the stops and threw a spectacular 28-yard pass to London Humphreys for a touchdown. Georgia completed the conversion and tied the game up at 38-38.
But that wasn't the end of regulation. Tennessee got the ball back with 2:32 to go, and drove back down the field to within easy field goal range on 14 plays, using up all the available clock. But as time expired, the Volunteers' kicker missed, and what seemed like a sure-thing, game-winning FG from the 26 went wide right.
Overtime. Georgia won the toss and Tennessee went on offense first, but had to settle for a FG. On Georgia's first play in OT, Nate Frazier ran the ball 21 yards to the Tennessee four, and two plays after that Josh McCray got the game-winning TD. But even that wasn't without its own drama - the play was originally called second down, inches short of the line, but the call got overturned on video review to a Georgia TD.
The Dawgs head back to Athens with a perfect, 3-0 record, 1-0 in the SEC (I know I basically said the same thing up above, but it feels so good to repeat it).
Tennessee's a good team, but unfortunately for them, Georgia's their kryptonite team. Every team has a kryptonite opponent, a team they can never seem to beat no matter how good they get. But the Vols' Aguilar is a good QB and the Vols could well be contenders this year. Yes, but . . . Georgia's now won nine straight over Tennessee.
The Dawgs are off next weekend for an early bye week, and they'll need it before their next opponent - the Alabama Crimson Tide, Georgia's own kryptonite team. Smart needs to work on the Georgia defense, which seemed so impressive the first two games this season, but got pushed around in conference play today. Stockton was impressive at times, but too many drives petered out and we had to settle for too many FGs. Give Kirby Smart two weeks to tune this team up, and we'll be as ready to host Bama as we'll ever be.
Incredible game. No telling how the win will affect the AP rankings tomorrow.
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