Bulldogs dominate second half vs. Vols
Bennett throws a pair of TD passes in final 30 minutes
Stetson Bennett threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score, and No. 3 Georgia bounced back from Tennessee’s goal-line stand on the final play of the first half, dominating the final 30 minutes to beat the 14th-ranked Volunteers 44-21 Saturday.
The Bulldogs (3-0) knocked off a ranked Southeastern Conference team for the second week in a row, shaking off a 21-17 deficit to completely wipe out the Volunteers over the final two quarters.
Showing it’s still not ready to compete with the league’s top programs, Tennessee (2-1) turned it over three times and managed just 71 yards total offense in the second half.
Fittingly, Justin Guarantano was sacked on the final play of the game.
Bennett ran for a 10yard touchdown in the first half, hooked up with Kearis Jackson on a 21yard scoring pass in the final minute of the third quarter, and sealed the victory with a 1-yard TD flip to 305-pound nose tackle Jalen Carter, who was supposedly in the game as an extra blocker.
For good measure, Monty Rice stripped away the ball from Guarantano, scooped up the loose ball and ran 20 yards for a fitting epitaph to Georgia’s defensive dominance as darkness fell over Athens.
Bennett, the former walk-on making his second straight start, completed 16 of 27 for 238 yards. Jackson hauled in four passes for 91 yards. Zamir White added a 1-yard scoring run.
Tennessee seemed to have all the momentum at the end of the first half. The Bulldogs drove inside the Vols’ 1 and had two shots to ram it into the end zone, inserting Carter to provide another massive blocker at fullback.
But Tennessee stopped White short of the goal line on two straight runs, charging off the field in celebration after the second stop ended the half.
All those good feelings evaporated when Tennessee turned it over on its first two possessions of the second half.