Georgia roars past Tennessee 31-17 to stay in College Football Playoff race
ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia is still alive in the College Football Playoff hunt after a 31-17 comeback win over Tennessee. The Bulldogs trailed by 10 entering the second quarter and dominated the game the rest of the way. UGA is now 8-2 on the year and it has won eight straight over Tennessee.
Carson Beck completed 25 of 40 passes for 347 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran it three time for 32 yards and a score. Oscar Delp caught both touchdowns and Nate Frazier carried the ball 19 times for 68 yards and a score.
Tennessee drew first blood and got on the board twice before Georgia answered. The Volunteers held the Bulldogs to a three-and-out to start the game and then went on a long touchdown march that ended in a one-yard touchdown run from Miles Kitselman. The PAT gave Tennessee a 7-0 lead and it would grow to 10 points as Max Gilbert hit a career-long 52-yard field goal.
Georgia captured the momentum at the end if the second quarter on a 38-yard gain on the final play. The Bulldogs reached the end zone early in the second period and did so twice, both times on touchdowns to Oscar Delp. One was from 19-yards out to pull Georgia to within three and the other from four yards out to give the Bulldogs a 14-10 lead.
An answer came quickly from Tennessee. The Volunteers leaned on their run game and went 75 yards on 10 plays with Dylan Sampson scoring his 21st touchdown of the season from 27 yards out. That put the visitors back on top 17-14 but it didn’t last long.
Beck got the ball back with a little under two minutes left and took the offense 57 yards in 11 plays, missing on a touchdown but getting Peyton Woodring to hit his only field goal of the night from 36 yards out. That sent the game into halftime tied at 17.
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The Bulldogs owned the second half, holding Tennessee to 69 yards of offense in the third quarter and taking a 24-17 lead on its first possession of the period. Beck finished off the 11-play, 87-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown.
A threat was mounted the next time Tennessee got the ball, moving the ball across midfield. But the Vols were flagged for a false start on 4th and 5 in UGA territory and they were forced to punt. That kick pinned Georgia at it’s own eight yard line.
What came next was Georgia’s longest drive of the season, a 12-play 92-yard drive with Frazier punching it in from two yards out. Woodring’s PAT extended Georgia’s lead to 31-17. The Bulldogs turned Tennessee over on downs when it got the ball back and the offense went into victory formation.
Georgia is back at it next Saturday and it will host UMass inside Sanford Stadium. Kickoff is set for 12:45 p.m. ET on SEC Network.
