Bulldogs take control in second half

ATHENS, GA. » Tennessee charged off the field at halftime, seemingly holding all the momentum.

But there were still two quarters to go.

That time belongs to Georgia. Bouncing back from a goal- line stand at the end of the first half, the No. 3 Bulldogs dominated the final 30 minutes to beat the No. 14 Volunteers 44- 21 Saturday.

Stetson Bennett threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score, while the defense forced three turnovers — returning one of them for a TD — and held Tennessee to just 71 yards total offense in the second half.

“We know we’re a second- half team,” said linebacker Azeez Ojulari, who got the turnover ball rolling.

The Bulldogs ( 3- 0) defeated a ranked Southeastern Conference team for the second week in a row, shaking off a 21- 17 deficit to become the first team in 10 years to win two games in a season by at least 20 points after trailing at halftime.

Georgia also trailed midway through the season opener at Arkansas, but romped to a 37- 10 victory. This was essentially a repeat. “We didn’t blink,” coach Kirby Smart said. “We’ve got a very emotional team. In the locker room, a lot of emotions were shown.”

Georgia took out that emotion on Tennessee ( 2- 1), which showed it’s not ready to compete with the league’s top programs.

“They really outplayed us in the second half,” coach Jeremy Pruitt said.

Bennett, the former walk- on making his second straight start for the Bulldogs, completed 16 of 27 for 238 yards.