Georgia football let nearly four hours of emotions spill out onto the Neyland Stadium field after coming back again and again against Tennessee to pull out a 44-41 overtime victory in Knoxville.
Kirby Smart threw off his headset and players jumped all over with wide receiver Zachariah Branch chest bumping tight end Elyissa Williams after the road win on Sept. 13.
The No. 3 Bulldogs get two weeks between games before No. 14 Alabama comes to Athens for a much-anticipated matchup.
That’s time to dive into fixing the issues on the back end of the Bulldogs’ defense, which became more of an afterthought after surviving a game when Joey Aguilar and Chris Brazzell hit big play after big play.
“They are not things that aren’t correctable,” Smart said on Tuesday, Sept. 16. “There’s some eye control things. We’ve played Tennessee with the motto of, ‘We’re not going to give up explosives and get the ball thrown over our head.’ We’ve played well and then you get the ball thrown over your head and give up explosives and don’t play well.”
Sophomore cornerback Ellis Robinson fell down in one-on-one coverage on a 72-yard touchdown to Brazzell when it appeared that he should have had safety help in the middle of the field from Kyron Jones. Smart, defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann and defensive backs coach Donte Williams were there on the sideline to chat with the Robinson afterwards.
Cornerback Daniel Harris mistimed his jump in man coverage against Brazzell on a 56-yard touchdown catch.
Aguilar hit Braylon Staley for a 32-yard touchdown, running past safety JaCorey Thomas.
“All those DBs have all made that play before,” Smart said. “But we didn’t make it when we had to make it.”
Georgia has given up six pass plays of 30 or more yards, 116th in the nation and tied with Kentucky and Ole Miss for most in the SEC, according to cfbstats.com.
The four touchdown passes given up against Tennessee was the most for Georgia in a game since the 2022 season in the 42-41 win over Ohio State in the Peach Bowl in the CFP semifinals.
“It was nothing they were doing,” safety KJ Bolden said. “We were just killing ourselves….Coach Smart on the sidelines always makes sure we calm down and stay composed, just look at our keys and everybody just trust each other and do your job.”
Coming into Saturday, Georgia had given up three touchdown passes in a game just once since the start of the 2023 season.
“They didn’t lose their confidence,” Smart said after Saturday’s game. “One player may have a little doubt, but that group in there, they think they can stop anybody, anytime.”
Georgia did stop Tennessee in overtime, holding the Vols to a field goal before Georgia ended it with a 1-yard touchdown run from Josh McCray.
Aguilar started the game 14 of 14 for 213 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Georgia goes from the SEC’s top passing offense to No. 2 in the Crimson Tide.
Since a surprising 31-17 loss at Florida State in week one, the Crimson Tide passing game is clicking.
Ty Simpson has completed 41 of 46 passes for 608 yards with 7 touchdowns and no interceptions the last two games against Louisiana-Monroe and Wisconsin.
Ryan Williams went off against the Badgers for 165 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns on 5 catches.
Germie Bernard is fifth in the SEC with 15 catches for 275 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Smart said one of the three characteristics defensive backs must have is to play the ball in the middle part of the field.
He said Georgia’s secondary players work year round in on one-on-one coverage.
“It’s not like we go, ‘Oh gosh, we’ve got a problem, let’s fix it,’” Smart said. “That’s a daily must. …We try to put them in those situations every day. You can’t do that enough to simulate it.”
