Georgia football enters the locker room against Tennessee in their SEC opener trailing the Vols 21-17. But anyone who watched that half knew it could have been a lot worse and the Bulldogs atually played extremely well in the second quarter.
While the teams make their halftime adjustments, here are three things that stood out from the first half against Tennessee.
Georgia's defense bounces back after horrific first quarter
Tennessee got off and running in the first drive of the game with a dominant 75-yard touchdown drive in just two minutes and 30 seconds. That was only one drive though, so there wasn't a need to panic yet. But then Tennessee got the ball back two more times and turned that into two more touchdowns to put UGA down 21-7 after just 11 minutes.
A big reason for this success was because of the poor play from Georgia's secondary. There was always a Tennessee receiver wide open, and when there wasn't UGA was being flagged for pass interference.
Georgia's defense however was able to respond in the second quarter with three stops, an interception and giving up zero points. This should give UGA some hope that they can keep this momentum up for the rest of the game.
Gunner Stockton shows good control of UGA offense
The biggest complaint about Gunner Stockton this past week was his refusal to throw the deep ball against Austin Peay. It turns out though that this may have been by design because Georgia's first offensive play of the game turned into a huge completion for over 40 yards.
Not only did Stockton show he can in fact throw the deep ball, but he also stayed true to himself as a dangerous runner as well. He even was able to get the ball out fast to Zachariah Branch on the first play of the second quarter which Branch turned into their second touchdown of the game.
Then the Bulldogs had a long drive of nearly 90 yards that may have only resulted in three points, but Georgia was in control the entire drive and chewed up a lot of clock.
Stockton is going to have to complete some more deep balls if Georgia is going to win this game, but thankfully he has already proven in this game that he is more than capable of leading the Bulldogs offense down the field.
Georgia needs to quiet the Tennessee crowd
Georgia may trail at the half, but they have a chance to take the lead as they get the ball to begin the second half. And if UGA wants to take complete control of this game, they need to score a touchdown and get a stop on defense right after.
This would give Georgia a great chance to win this game, but potentially even more importantly it would quiet the Tennessee crowd. The Volunteer fans were loud from the start of the game thanks to the quick start from Tennessee, so an equally fast start for Georgia in the second half is needed to keep the crowd noise at a manageable level.