2016 Game Summaries
#11 Tennessee 34, #25 Georgia 31
Oct. 1, 2016 • Sanford Stadium - Athens, Ga. ATHENS, Ga. -- A wild second half led to an even wilder ending, as No. 20 Georgia (3-2, 1-2) led with four seconds remaining, but a lastsecond Hail Mary pass by Tennessee gave the No. 11 Volunteers (5-0, 2-0) a 34-31 win. Tennessee’s Joshua Dobbs launched a 43-yard throw toward the endzone with Jauan Jennings hauling it in for the game winner as time ran out. In the previous drive, Georgia used its own come-from-behind touchdown with Jacob Eason finding Riley Ridley on a 47-yard connection, giving the Bulldogs a 31-28 advantage with 10 seconds left in the contest. Eason completed 17-of-28 passes for 211 yards, targeting Isaac Nauta with five of those throws for 83 yards. Sony Michel led the rushing attack with 91 yards on 16 carries with a touchdown while Brian Herrien added 74 yards on 15 carries. Defensively, Natrez Patrick tallied team-high 10 tackles, including five solo stops. Aaron Davis and Maurice Smith followed with eight and seven tackles, respectively, as Smith also grabbed a late interception. After holding the lead for most of the game, a late fumble by Georgia in its endzone allowed the Vols to recover and score for its first lead at 28-24 with less than three minutes left in the game. Starting at the Georgia 4-yard line, Eason was hit and lost the ball with Tennessee’s Corey Vereen recovering for the touchdown. The Bulldogs came out to a commanding 17-0 lead early but the Volunteers answered with a touchdown in the final minute of play in the first half and then scored on their openings possession of the second half to make it a 17-14 game.
Coach Kirby Smart said… “The kids fought hard and I’m proud of the way they played. We challenged them this week. We practiced physical and we played physical. Bottom line is we’ve got to do better; we’ve got to do better than them. ... We’re a good football team, but we’ve got to improve. We challenged them to play their best game today and a lot of them did that. That’s a response I was proud of. A lot of the kids played hard and physical. Now we’ve got to do it again next week.”
SCORING SUMMARY
Tennessee (5-0, 2-0) Georgia (3-2, 1-2)
0 7
7 10
7 20 = 7 7 =
34 31
GA - Sony Michel, 14-yard run (Blankenship kick), 1:33, 1Q GA - Rodrigo Blankenship, 27-yard field goal, 11:21, 2Q GA - Jacob Eason, 0-yard fumble recovery (Blankenship kick), 2:00, 2Q UT - Joshua Dobbs, 4-yard run (Medley kick), 00:12, 2Q UT - Jalen Hurd, 19-yard pass from Joshua Dobbs (Medley kick), 10:31, 3Q GA - Isaac Nauta, 50-yard pass from Jacob Eason (Blankenship kick), 4:07, 3Q UT - Alvin Kamara, 16-yard pass from Joshua Dobbs, 14:53, 4Q UT - Corey Vereen, 0-yard fumble recovery, (Medley kick) 2:56, 4Q GA - Riley Ridley, 47-yard pass from Jacob Eason, (Blankenship kick) 0:10, 4Q UT - Jauan Jennings, 43-yard pass from Joshua Dobbs, 00:00, 4Q Weather: Sunny, 78 degrees with a variable, 3-mph wind.
GAME STATISTICS
First Downs Rushing: Att.-Yards Passing: Comp.-Att.-Yds.-Int Total Plays-Total Net Yards Fumbles: Number-Lost Penalties: Number-Yards Punts: Number-Yards (Avg.) Kickoff Returns: Number-Yards (Avg.) Time of Possession Third Down Conversions Fourth Down Conversions Sacks By: Number-Yards
UT UGA 18 24 38-127 46-181 16-26-230-1 17-28-211-1 64-357 74-392 3-2 2-1 2-25 8-44 6-215 (35.8) 5-200 (40.0) 5-120 (24.0) 3-60 (20.0) 23:53 36:07 9 of 15 5 of 14 0 of 0 1 of 2 3-21 2-21
individuAL LEADERS Rushing UT - Alvin Kamara UGA - Sony Michel Passing UT - Joshua Dobbs UGA - Jacob Eason Receiving UT - Jauan Jennings UGA - Isaac Nauta Punting UT - Trevor Daniel UGA - Marshall Long Tackles UT - Colton Jumper UGA - Natrez Patrick
Att. Yds. TD Long 16 62 0 13 16 91 1 22 Comp. Att. Yds. TD 16 26 230 3 17 28 211 2 Rec. Yds. TD Long 3 71 1 43 5 83 1 50 No. Yds. Avg. Long 6 215 35.8 47 5 200 40.0 47 UT AT Tot. 6 5 11 5 5 10
Worth Noting…
Freshman Riley Ridley’s 47-yard touchdown catch from Jacob Eason gave the Bulldogs the lead with 10 seconds left on the game clock. The touchdown was the first of Ridley’s career.
26
• With No. 11 Tennessee’s 34-31 comeback on the final play of the game, the Vols extended their lead in the series to 23-21-2. The last five games between the teams have been decided by a TD or less, with one requiring overtime. This was the 14th time both teams came in ranked in the AP top 25, and Georgia is now 5-9 in these games. • Georgia scored 10 points off three Vols turnovers while Tennessee scored 7 points off two Bulldog miscues. Coming into the game, the Bulldogs had scored just 13 points off nine turnovers this season. • In the aerial attack, freshman TE Isaac Nauta had a career day with five grabs for 83 yards. He caught his first career touchdown reception on a career-long 50yard strike from freshman QB Jacob Eason. Nauta came into the game with four catches for 32 yards. • Freshman receiver Riley Ridley’s first career catch was a 10-yard reception in the first quarter and then snatched a 47-yarder for his first career TD with 10 seconds left to give Georgia a lead. • Nick Chubb’s touchdown marked his 24th career rushing score and the 16th game that he has recorded a rushing touchdown in his 22 career games. • Sophomore ILB Natrez Patrick finished with a career-high 10 tackles, including his second career sack and 2.5 tackles for loss. Maurice Smith, who forced and recovered a fumble, also registered a career-high seven tackles and had an interception.