EARLY SPARK DIES OUT
Vols take a lead, but No. 3 Georgia pulls away
KNOXVILLE — In quarterback Brian Maurer’s first career start for Tennessee, the Volunteers had moments as a team Saturday to show some optimism.
But Georgia had moments that proved it was a far better team.
Maurer threw for 259 yards and two touchdowns but turned the ball over twice. The Tennessee defense gave up 526 yards and the third-ranked Bulldogs won 43-14 in front of 92,709 at Neyland Stadium.
The Vols (1-4, 0-2 Southeastern Conference) host Mississippi State (3-2, 1-1) this Saturday at noon at Neyland Stadium.
The Bulldogs showed the sort of balance that has made them one of the best offenses in the country. Quarterback Jake Fromm threw for 288 yards and a pair of scores. Georgia rushed for 238 yards, led by Brian Herrien’s 88 and a score. D’Andre Swift had 72 and Zamir White had 57 as the Bulldogs averaged 5.8 yards per carry against the Vols.
“Against a good team, you’ve got to make them earn it. And tonight we didn’t always make them earn it,” Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt said. “They’ve got a good quarterback. If you make a mistake, he’s going to take advantage of it.”
Maurer completed 14 of 28 passes but had an interception
and a fumble after being sacked by Eric Stokes that resulted in a 60-yard touchdown by Tae Crowder for the game’s final points.
“I thought Brian did a really nice job in the first half, and we did a good job protecting him,” Pruitt said. “Skill players made some nice plays for him.”
The freshman did provide an early spark, although it took a possession. Ty Chandler had a 16-yard run on the first play from scrimmage, but Maurer had a pair of incompletions and Chandler was bottled up for a 1-yard loss and the Vols had to punt.
Georgia responded with a 12-play, 84-yard drive with three running backs combining for 35 yards on eight carries. D’Andre Swift scored from a yard out to put the Bulldogs up 7-0.
The Vols responded on the second play of the second possession with a 73-yard pass from Maurer to Marquez Callaway to tie the game. Maurer’s first career touchdown throw was the program’s longest since a 75-yard completion from Josh Dobbs to Josh Malone in a 52-21 win over Kentucky on Oct. 31, 2015.
After holding the Bulldogs to a 50-yard Rodrigo Blankenship field goal, Maurer led a 10-play, 75-yard drive that ended in a 12-yard touchdown pass to Jauan Jennings to put the Vols up 14-10. He was 5-for8 on the drive, with the completions covering 66 yards.
The Bulldogs scored the final 33 points. Blankenship had two more field goals, while quarterback Jake Fromm threw touchdown passes covering 3 yards to Lawrence Cager and 7 to George Pickens. The scoring throws came in the final 1:59 of the second quarter, giving the Bulldogs a 26-14 lead at the break.
After Cager’s touchdown catch put Georgia up 20-14, the Vols had a chance to stay close, with Maurer leading the Vols down the field, but a 47-yard Brent Cimaglia field-goal try went left for his first miss of the season, and the Bulldogs responded by going 70 yards in five plays to take the twoscore lead into the break.
Jarrett Guarantano, whom Maurer replaced in the starting lineup, came in on a couple of occasions in the second half and completed his first pass, a 14-yarder to Dominick Wood-Anderson for a first down.
Nigel Warrior had 10 tackles to lead the Vols defense. Theo Jackson added nine.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.