Georgia football delivers an early knock out blow in rout of Tennessee
No. 7 Georgia football marched into Knoxville and obliterated Tennessee 41-0 to improve to 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the SEC on the year.
This Georgia football team just feels different. To this point it’s been hard to convince some fans, it may have even been hard to convince yourself. But after today, there’s no doubt, we have a great team in Athens.
Georgia dominated Tennessee for four quarters and in every facet of the game. The defense only allowed 142 yards of total offense to go with the goose-egg they allowed on the scoreboard. Offensively, the Bulldogs rushed for nearly 300 yards with four total touchdowns. And special teams featured a pair of great returns by Mecole Hardman, with great kickoffs and kickoff coverage.
Sure, Tennessee’s football program is in shambles. Butch Jones will likely be fired by November at this rate and they are playing horribly despite their 3-2 record. But many terrible teams in the past have pulled off upsets or just played good games against top-10 teams.
This was different. This is a case of one defense not missing tackles, covering receivers, and controlling the line of scrimmage. It’s the case of an offense making necessary adjustments to put a game away early. And it’s a case of a special teams unit not allowing any opportunities to the other team.
More from Dawn of the Dawg
- Georgia Football: Top 5 Nick Chubb Moments at Georgia
- Georgia Football: Know the enemy UAB Blazers
- Nick Chubb is America’s running back, and he will return
- Georgia Football: Should laundry list of injuries be a cause to panic?
- Georgia Football: Report cards for Week 3 game against South Carolina
This game was effectively over from the first snap. Tennessee has a proud fan base so despite their poor performances, the Volunteer Navy and the rest of the 102,000 in attendance arrived with a lot of energy.
And then Tyrique McGhee intercepted the first pass. The Bulldogs followed with a field goal. A couple of big completions by Javon Wims and Terry Godwin eventually led to a highlight film touchdown catch by Wims. Bulldogs led at that point 10-0.
Tennessee’s defense had some success early in the second quarter, but the offensive line woke up and began to dominate the line of scrimmage. They were helped by Jake Fromm’s two scrambles for a touchdown to plant the momentum firmly in Georgia’s favor. Fromm ended the first half with another touchdown run, this time on a read option. 24-0 was the halftime score.
Obviously, the Bulldogs didn’t let up, they don’t know how to. Sony broke off a big run late in the third quarter, Brian Herrien turned a one-yard stop into a three-yard score with a good second effort in the fourth quarter. The rout was so drastic, Georgia even used a back-up kicker when David Marvin scored the last three points with a 19-yard field goal.
This is the team we’ve been waiting on. In fact, this is the team every team who has fired and hired new coaches in the last seven years have wanted. The goal in the SEC is to win national titles, but one team has stood in that way for eight years. Some have taken their shots at Alabama, no one has dethroned them for an extended period of time.
Next: Georgia may have actually helped Tennessee
But no team has looked as good as Georgia does right now. With performances like today and last week against Mississippi State, why doubt Georgia’s ability to compete with Tennessee? With their depth at every position, why doubt their ability to compete next season?
I think it’s time Georgia fans to start believing that this is the team to strangle the SEC East and give Alabama the punch in the mouth in Atlanta that everyone has whiffed on so far.