Georgia battles back to take down Tennessee 44-41 in overtime

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Georgia has its ninth straight win over Tennessee and it needed overtime to make it happen. The Bulldogs trailed by 14 points in the first quarter and then by eight in the fourth before tying it late and winning it in the first overtime by a score of 44-41.

Gunner Stockton, in his first road start, completed 23 of 31 passes for 304 yards and two scores. Nate Frazier led all rushers with 14 carries for 73 yards while Zachariah Branch caught five passes for 69 yards and a score.

Tennessee went right through Georgia’s defense on the opening drive, traveling 75 yards on eight plays as Joey Aguilar capped it off with a four-yard touchdown run. It was a sign of things to come for the first quarter.

Stockton and company responded quickly as he hit Colbie Young for a 45-yard pass on the first play from scrimmage. The Bulldogs punched it in five plays later with Stockton running it in from six yards out and the PAT evened the score at seven.

The Bulldog defense didn’t have any success stopping the Volunteers the next two times they had the ball. Tennessee needed just two plays to score its second touchdown with Aguilar hitting Chris Brazzell for a 72-yard touchdown. He caught the pass over Ellis Robinson, who was flagged for pass interference on the play. The PAT staked Tennessee to a 14-7 lead and it build on it.

After Georgia failed to answer on the ensuing possession, the Volunteers stayed hot on offense. Another pass interference penalty on Robinson extended the Tennessee drive as Aguilar capped off a 12-play 83-yard march with his second touchdown connection with Brazzell. This one was from 14 yards out and the PAT put the Vols up 21-7.

Georgia answered the next time it had the ball, using nine plays to go 72 yards as Stockton found Zachariah Branch on a screen pass for a 36-yard touchdown. Dillon Bell and Lawson Luckie threw key blocks on the play and Georgia converted the point after to make it 21-14.

The Bulldogs had another golden opportunity to get into the end zone in the second quarter with a 1st and goal from the five-yard line but a second-down sack got the offense off schedule. Georgia settled for a short field goal to make it 21-17 in favor of Tennessee and that’s how the first half would end.

The second half opened with the ball in Georgia’s possession and it played bully ball. It went on a march that took up over half the quarter, rushing for 78 yards. Josh McCray, a transfer from Illinois, punched it in from one-yard out to give UGA its first lead of the game and the PAT put the Bulldogs up 24-21.

Georgia tacked on three more points the next time it got the ball, but in disappointing fashion. A KJ Bolden interception set the Bulldogs up with the football at the Tennessee 37-yard line, but UGA managed just seven yards. Peyton Woodring came on and hit a 48-yard field goal to extend the Bulldog lead to 27-21.

Aguilar, Brazzell and company bounced right back. Aguilar launched a deep ball to the 6-foot-5 wideout and he caught it over Daniel Harris for a 56-yard touchdown. The PAT gave Tennessee the lead back at 28-27.

It didn’t take long for Georgia to answer back but it was another possession that traveled inside the 10-yard line that did not end in a touchdown. The Bulldogs used eight plays to go 69 yards but another lost-yardage play on second down knocked them behind the sticks and Woodring was called to hit another short field goal. He hit it, giving UGA the lead back at 30-28.

That lead lasted almost no time. Tennessee needed just four plays and 76 seconds to retake the lead as Aguilar hit a wide-open Braylon Stanley for a 32-yard touchdown. The PAT put Georgia in a five-point deficit at 35-30.

Stockton was under attack the next time Georgia got the ball, getting hit on three consecutive drop backs and sacked twice. The second sack forced a fumble that Tennessee recovered at the UGA 34-yard line. Tennessee only picked up four yards on the next three plays but it was enough to set Max Gilbert up for a 48-yard field goal. He connected, extending the Tennessee lead to 38-30.

Georgia found a way to answer again on the ensuing possession. Stockton found London Humphreys for a 28-yard touchdown pass to cut the Tennessee lead to 38-36. The Bulldogs went for two and Stockton hit Branch to convert it and tie the game at 38.

The Vols got the ball back with a little over two and a half minutes left in the game, they got themselves in position to win it. A false start penalty pushed Tennessee from the 20 to the 25-yard line and Josh Heupel elected to attempt the go-ahead field goal with seven seconds left. Gilbert, however, pushed it wide right. Georgia kneeled on the football to take the game into overtime.

UGA won the overtime coin toss and elected to defend first. Tennessee gained just one yard on three plays with Gilbert coming on to hit a 42-yard field goal to give the Vols a 41-38 lead.

Nate Frazier got the ball on Georgia’s first play of overtime and took it off right tackle for 21-yards to the four-yard line. McCray ran it in two plays later to give Georgia the 44-41 victory.

The Bulldogs are off next weekend, their first bye week of the season. They’ll be back in Athens in two weeks to take on Alabama.