Georgia football: what went right and wrong against Tennessee

Georgia football defeated the Tennessee Volunteers 38-12 Saturday to improve to 5-0 in 2018. The Dawgs withstood a fourth quarter rally to finish with a blowout victory.

Georgia football trampled Tennessee Saturday afternoon 38-12. The Dawgs improved to 5-0 on the year and 3-0 in the SEC. Just seven games left in the regular season, five of those being SEC games.

Georgia failed to score 40 points for the first time all year, but they improved their scoring defense average from 13.25 points per game, to 13 points. Offensively, Georgia still averages over 43 points. But not all was well Saturday. The Dawgs struggled in many facets of the game. Here are the biggest areas where Georgia succeeded, and the areas where they at times failed.

Run defense

Last week, all anyone wanted to talk about was how bad Georgia’s run defense was. Missouri supposedly ran all over Georgia’s defense and made the Dawgs look weak. How could the Dawgs stop Tennessee’s talented running backs if they couldn’t stop Missouri’s.

That’s why I called run defense the biggest overreaction of last week. Besides one 17-yard run to start the game, Tennessee’s starting tail back Ty Chandler only had 27 yards on the ground. As a team, the Vols only rushed for 66 yards on 25 carries. A putrid amount if you’re a Tennessee fan.

But if you’re a Georgia fan, 66 allowed yards on the ground looks fantastic. Besides just two possessions, the Dawgs really dominated Tennessee’s offense. They only had 11 first downs, four of which happened on the Vols two touchdown drives.

No offense on our regular season schedule is as good as Missouri’s. At least at this point of the year. Who else is going to challenge Georgia’s defense? Missouri needed a change in philosophy just to score 29 points in a losing effort.