Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
New QB mix scores for Georgia
ATHENS, Ga. — There wasn’t much offensive flair in what Georgia quarterback Jake Fromm described as a “ground and pound” game against Tennessee.
There was, however, a new mix at quarterback and that may have been the most notable action in No. 2 Georgia’s 38-12 victory over the Vols on Saturday.
Fromm’s backup, freshman Justin Fields, played a bigger role, coming onto the field in each of the final three quarters. After Fields had scoring runs of 12 and 15 yards, Coach Kirby Smart was asked about his plans at quarterback the remainder of the season.
“The plan is there is no plan,” Smart said. He repeated the “no plan” line when asked a follow-up question.
The real plan may be to run the ball. Georgia outrushed Tennessee 251-66.
D’Andre Swift ran for two touchdowns, including a late 14-yarder to ice the game. Otherwise, the Bulldogs leaned on their defense.
Georgia (5-0, 3-0 SEC) scored touchdowns on its last drive of the first half and the opening possession after halftime but otherwise couldn’t maintain momentum.
Tennessee (2-3, 0-2) was held to 209 yards. The Vols finally scored on Jarrett Guarantano’s 37-yard pass to Josh Palmer late in the third quarter. Guarantano’s 35-yard scoring pass to Ty Chandler about four minutes into the final quarter cut Georgia’s lead to 24-12.
Pruitt was encouraged even though the loss extended Tennessee’s school-record losing streak in conference games to 11 since a 63-37 victory over Missouri on Nov. 19, 2016.
“I learned we’ve got fight in us, that we’re not going to quit,” Pruitt said. “It kind of gets me excited. I’m proud of them and the way they fought. Our guys kept fighting, which means we’re headed in the right direction and that excites me. That’s why I’m getting a little bit emotional.”
Fromm completed 16 of 22 passes for 185 yards. Fields, the dual-threat quarterback who
was a headliner in Smart’s 2018 signing class, did more running than passing. Fields had 5 carries for 45 yards and the 2 touchdowns, and completed 1 of 2 passes for 5 yards.
“I thought both guys did some good things,” Smart said, adding Fields “provided us a spark we needed at times.”
Fromm had two fumbles and each was recovered by Georgia, including one returned 31 yards by tight end Isaac Nauta for a touchdown on the Bulldogs’ opening drive.
Guarantano, who left last week’s loss to Florida after taking a hit to the left knee, wore a brace on the knee while completing 13 of 21 passes for 143 yards and 2 touchdowns.
The Vols failed on 2-point conversions after each touchdown.
“We just have to sustain jobs and execute and we just weren’t able to do that in the first half,” said Ty Chandler, who led the Vols with 27 yards rushing. “Credit to them.”
Swift had 50 yards rushing in Georgia’s balanced running attack led by Elijah Holyfield’s 16 carries for 78 yards. Brian Herrien had 9 carries for 56 yards.
NO. 1 ALABAMA 56, LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 14
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Jaylen Waddle returned a punt for a touchdown and caught two scoring passes, including a 94-yarder, in No. 1 Alabama’s victory over Louisiana-Lafayette.
Quarterbacks Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts staked the Crimson Tide (5-0) to a 49-0 halftime lead over the Ragin’ Cajuns (1-3) en route to the defending national champions’ latest blowout.
NO. 10 AUBURN 24, SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI 13
AUBURN, Ala. — Jarrett Stidham threw for 245 yards and two touchdowns and No. 10 Auburn beat Southern Miss in a game disrupted for nearly three hours by lightning.
Playing behind a shuffled offensive line, Stidham completed 19 of 33 attempts, including touchdowns of 46 yards to Seth Williams and 2 yards to Chandler Cox, while enduring four sacks.
FLORIDA 13, NO. 23 MISSISSIPPI STATE 6
STARKVILLE, Miss. — Feleipe Franks threw for 219 yards and Florida’s defense dominated in the Gators’ victory over No. 23 Mississippi State.
Florida wasn’t great offensively, but it didn’t matter. The Gators (4-1, 2-1) broke through in the third quarter when Franks threw a lateral to Kadarius Toney, who then threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Moral Stephens for a 10-6 lead.
VANDERBILT 31, TENNESSEE STATE 27
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt survived a scare from crosstown foe Tennessee State, squeezing out a home victory against the FBS Tigers.
The Commodores (3-2) sputtered offensively out of the gate with quarterback Kyle Shurmur throwing two interceptions, as many as he had in Vanderbilt’s first four games, in the game’s first 15 minutes.