Georgia entered the final quarter with an 18-0 lead, but two quick
touchdowns by the Vols had confirmed that the Bulldogs' defense was spent.
So when faced with a fourth-and-two call from the Tennessee 35 with 1:43
left to play, Georgia coach Mark Richt made what is becoming a
characteristically bold decision.
Rather than punt the ball and turn the game over to his defense -thereby
risking giving up a big play by the Tennessee offense or punt return team -
Richt sent in the call for a toss sweep play for tailback Tony Milton.
"(Richt) has nerves of steel,'' said offensive tackle Jon Stinchcomb.
How big was the gamble? To that point, Milton had netted one yard on
four
carries. On third down, Milton had been stuffed for no gain on a run up the
middle.
Another defensive stop would have provided an added momentum boost to the
Tennessee offense, which then would have been perhaps one big play away from
winning the game.
But after leaning on his defense and special teams for three quarters,
Richt
gave his offense a big vote of confidence.
"I just went in the huddle and told the guys the game is in our
hands,''
said quarterback David Greene. "I said 'How bad do you want it?'"
Needing only two yards to clinch the win, Milton instead ran for 25 yards
before he was knocked out of bounds at the Tennessee 10.
"We knew we had to get one first down, just one first down (to run
out the
clock),'' Richt said. "I hate it that it took four downs, but we got it.''
And more.
Similarly, in the season opener against Clemson, Richt sparked some
second-guessing by successfully going for the first down on fourth-and-one
from the Georgia 39 with 40 seconds left and the Bulldogs clinging to a 31-28
lead.
In each case, the statement from Richt, and the performance from his team,
was bold and confident. The big run from Milton clinched a win over Tennessee
for the third straight
year and triggered another celebration from Georgia fans.
Unlike the 2000 home win over the Vols, the Georgia fans didn't storm the
field and attack the hedges or goal post, but perhaps the fans sense there
may be greater cause for celebrations later in the year.
"We have an opportunity to do something special,'' Richt said.
"But every
single game in the next five games, every single game is for the Southeastern
Conference championship and (Georgia players) need to treat it that way.''
Each of the three wins over the Vols has been a landmark. In 2000, Georgia
ended a streak of nine straight losses in the series. In 2001, Georgia won at
Knoxville for the first time since 1980. And this year, Georgia beat a top
10 team from the Southeastern Conference
at home for the first time since 1976 and moved to 6-0 overall and 3-0 in the
SEC for the first
time since 1982. For the record, 1976 and 1982 were SEC championship
seasons for Georgia, and
with Saturday's win before a Sanford Stadium sellout crowd of 86,520, the
Bulldogs are officially stamped as the favorite in the SEC East.
"Everything is just working right,'' said senior linebacker Boss Bailey
in
attempting to explain what has kept Georgia undefeated for the first half of
the season.
Everything? The offense, though impressive at times in last week's win at
Alabama, has yet to hit stride on a consistent basis, but Georgia's defense
and special teams delivered efforts worthy of a championship contender
against Tennessee (4-2 overall, 1-2 SEC).
Bailey blocked a 44-yard field goal attempt by Tennessee's Phillip Newman
in
the second quarter. Reggie Brown blocked a punt through the end zone for a
safety in the first quarter. Billy Bennett was perfect on field goal attempts
from 27, 44 and 47 yards.
Brown caught an 11-yard scoring pass from David Greene in the third
quarter
for Georgia's only touchdown, and that provided enough cushion for the
Bulldogs to win despite having only 29 yards rushing on 19 carries from Musa
Smith.
Smith left the game in the fourth quarter with a jammed neck, but the
injury is not thought to be serious. Tennessee star receiver Kelley
Washington was held to two catches for
minus-13 yards through three quarters before adding a 45-yarder in the final
quarter. The Georgia defense gave up a few long runs but played well enough
to keep the Vols off the scoreboard for three quarters. Tennessee
quarterback Casey Clausen was held out with a shoulder injury.
C.J. Leak was the fill-in starter, but true freshman James Banks saw more
time.
The elusive Banks rushed for 35 yards on 14 carries and completed 10 of 15
passes for 168 yards and a touchdown. Banks' scrambling which sapped the
Georgia defense, but still the Vols would have preferred to have Clausen.
Asked if he believed Tennessee would have won with Clausen, Washington said
"Definitely.'' "I definitely feel like we would have won the
game with Casey in there,''
Washington said. "... Casey can do a lot of things that we were not able to
do today because of inexperience at quarterback.''
But, said Vols coach Phillip Fulmer: "Give Georgia a lot of credit
for the
win. They are a good team.''
Charles Odum is the beat writer for Dawg Post in Athens. He has over 20 years of experience covering Georgia football. He can be reached here: CEOdum@aol.com
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