Hail to the Volunteers
Georgia’s Bulldogs thought they had the game won, but Tennessee wasn’t done
ATHENS, Ga. — Jauan Jennings hauled in a 43-yard Hail Mary from Joshua Dobbs on the final play, giving No. 11 Tennessee a stunning 34-31 victory over No. 25 Georgia after the Bulldogs appeared to win the game on a long TD pass of their own with 10 seconds remaining Saturday.
The Vols (5-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) rallied from a double-digit deficit for the fourth time in five games, but this was their most remarkable comeback to date.
The SEC East rivals packed a whole game’s worth of action into the closing minutes as Tennessee went ahead for the first time all afternoon by recovering a fumble by Georgia (3-2, 1-2) in the end zone with 2:56 to go.
Then, after the Bulldogs threw an interception but got the ball back one more time, Jacob Eason tossed a 47-yard touchdown pass to fellow freshman Riley Ridley. With the Sanford Stadium crowd in a frenzy, Tennessee took the kickoff into position to take one shot at the end zone.
Dobbs hurled a towering pass that the 6-foot-3 Jennings didn’t really have that much trouble bringing down. He leaped above the scrum to make the catch, and then landed on his back for the score that sent the Tennessee bench charging on the field to celebrate.
“I just know to go get it,” Jennings said. “I just grabbed the ball and brought it in.”
Georgia built a 17-0 lead in the first half but was clinging to a 24-21 edge when it got the ball deep in its own territory late in the fourth quarter.
Risking a pass from his own end zone, Eason tried to pull the ball down and was crushed by two Tennessee defenders, Derek Barnett and Cortez McDowell. The ball came loose and Corey Vereen fell on it for a touchdown.
It turns out that these teams were just getting warmed up.
Eason had another turnover, this one an interception by Malik Foreman. But Georgia used a couple of its timeouts, held defensively and got the ball back again. This time, the young quarterback came through, quickly driving the Bulldogs past midfield. After their final timeout, Eason found Ridley streaking behind two defenders down the left sideline, delivering a pass that the young receiver took in stride, seemingly giving Georgia the win. Not so fast. An excessive celebration penalty forced the Bulldogs to kick off from their 20, and Evan Berry’s 20-yard return got the Vols in range to throw one up. When Jennings brought it down, Tennessee coach Butch Davis sank to his knees, overcome with emotion, while Vols running back Alvin Kamara sprawled out on his back, seemingly in disbelief.
“It was a crazy play, stuff you dream about,” Dobbs said.