UGA Football: Just Us Doing What We Love to Do

Saturday’s mega-matchup of the top two college football teams in the country, Georgia versus Tennessee, had all of the makings of an instant classic between the hedges. But the Bulldogs’ defense wouldn’t allow it.

“I feel like the way we prepared through the week, man, the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday practices, those days we get after it — we practice hard, we really practice hard. I feel like the game isn’t won on Saturday, the game is won throughout the week,” said defensive back Javon Bullard, who had two sacks in Georgia’s 27-13 takedown of the Volunteers at Sanford Stadium.

It was a battle of unbeatens, a battle between the defending national champions and a resurgent Tennessee squad fresh off impressive wins against Alabama and Kentucky. It was a battle between the Volunteers’ turbo-charged offense and the Bulldogs’ super-stout defense.

“I didn’t know what to expect. We knew it was going to be a good game, and they’re a great team, so we went out and did what we had to do,” said wideout Ladd McConkey, who led the offense with five catches for 94 yards and caught a 37-yard touchdown pass that put the Bulldogs up 14-3 late in the first quarter.

Georgia came in ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press and AFCA Coaches polls and No. 3 in the debut this week of the 2022 College Football Playoff rankings. The Vols were No. 1 in the CFP rankings, tied for second in the AP poll and third, behind Ohio State, in the coaches poll. It was, clearly, a high-profile heavyweight bout.

ESPN and SEC Network’s marquee pregame shows were here. The press box was jammed with writers from every major sports outlet. Athens was packed like it hasn’t been since Notre Dame visited in 2019, with way more fans in town than could ever fit in Sanford Stadium.

None of that stuff mattered to the Bulldogs.

“No, not really,” said wideout Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint, whose 5-yard touchdown catch early in the second quarter put the Bulldogs in front 21-3. “Like I said, it was just another game for us. We didn’t change anything that we do on a weekly basis. … It was just another week for us.”

One thing that was different, at least did its part to a different level, was the Georgia crowd. Starting well before kickoff and going strong all the way through the end, the Bulldog faithful in Sanford Stadium were louder and more disruptive and impactful than they’ve ever been.

“Shoutout to the UGA fans, the fan base, they came out and they really showed up,” Rosemy-Jacksaint said. “They were loud and they were a big part of this game.”

Tennessee came in with an offense that led the nation in scoring (49.4 points per game) and total offense (553.0 ypg), having scored at least 34 points in every game. The Vols’ quarterback, Hendon Hooker, was deemed the frontrunner for the Heisman Trophy. But the Georgia defense and the crowd had the Vols off their game from the beginning.

The Vols wound up with just 289 yards of offense and the Tennessee offensive line was called for seven false starts.

“You said seven? That’s great,” defensive lineman Nazir Stackhouse said with a smile. “We went out there and we stayed composed. We were calling all week, ‘Don’t jump offsides, don’t jump offsides,’ because the crowd’s going to be electric.”

It was electric. The defense, it was dominant, stifling, aggressive, persistent. Georgia sacked Hooker six times and finished with eight tackles for loss. The defense also forced two fumbles, recovering one, and cornerback Kelee Ringo intercepted a pass on a deep ball to the goal line. It was just the second time Hooker has been picked off all season.

“We wanted him (Hooker) to be uncomfortable in the pocket, and our kids did that,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said.

As for Bullard, who blitzed off the edge and sacked Hooker twice on the same fourth-quarter drive, where do those plays rank among the best plays of his football career?

“They’re definitely up there,” he said. “I’ve never played in an environment like this. I came to Georgia to play in an atmosphere like this. I’m extremely grateful for this — it’s an extreme blessing and I’m so grateful.”

While Tennessee’s offense understandably came in with plenty of hype, it wasn’t like Georgia’s offense was scraping by with 10 points a game. The Bulldogs came in averaging 41.8 points, sixth-best in the country, and Georgia ranked second, just behind the Vols, with 530.1 yards per game.

With quarterback Stetson Bennett leading the way — 17 of 25 passing for 257 yards and a 13-yard TD run that put Georgia up 7-3 — the offense finished with 387 yards. It wasn’t always flashy, but it was effective. Never more so than in the third quarter, when the Bulldogs went on a 15-play, 67-yard drive that chewed up nearly nine minutes on the clock. The drive ended with a 38-yard Jack Podlesny field goal that made it 27-6 with 1:09 left in the quarter.

Georgia has played in a lot of big games over the past two seasons, and though the Bulldogs lost a lot of guys off of last season’s title team, there are still a lot of veterans — like Bennett, like Ringo, like Rosemy-Jacksaint — for whom Saturday’s monster matchup wasn’t anything out of the ordinary.

“You could say that, that it’s the sign of a veteran team,” Rosemy-Jacksaint said, “but at the end of the day, it’s just us doing what we love to do: playing football.”

Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men’s Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He’s also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.