In a classic battle SEC battle, Georgia quarterback Carson Beck was able to out duel his Tennessee counterpart Nico Iamaleava to lead the Bulldogs to a 31-17 win against the Vols.
No. 12 Georgia dominated most of the last three quarters, led by Beck, who completed 25 of 40 for 346 yards and a two touchdowns. Iamaleava completed 20 of 33 passes for 167 yards and no touchdowns. However, his longest pass was just 17 yards as the deep-passing attack that Tennessee coach Josh Heupel was once known for continues to elude the Vols.
All the talk about Iamaleava was about his head injury coming into the Georgia game. His throwing arm and legs were on display against the Bulldogs in Athens on Saturday, but he still fell short.
Iamaleava, who practiced all week despite a concussion and banged up left, non-throwing shoulder, looked plenty ready to play and Tennessee certainly didn’t seem be overly protective of Iamaleava as he completed eight of 12 passes for 69 yards against Georgia in the first quarter as the Vols took a 10-0 lead. That turned out to be the high-water mark for the Vols.
That was quite the change as the Vols had struggled this season early in SEC games, scoring just seven points combined in the Vols’ last five conference contests. One would have thought the game was playing into Tennessee’s hands. Beck didn’t let that narrative play out.
Credit the Bulldogs and quarterback Carson Beck with a 14-point charge in the second quarter that gave Georgia a short-lived 14-10 lead. The Vols retook the lead for a moment at 17-14, but Beck, who had struggled lately with 12 interceptions in his last six games, finished the game without a turnover. His running was certainly a factor in the game as he ran for 32 clutch yards on 3 carries, which included a 10-yard touchdown run to give the Bulldogs a 17-14 lead in the third quarter. It was downhill for the Vols from there as Georgia was able to take control.
Georgia’s pass protection had been an issue last week in a 28-10 loss to Ole Miss in Oxford in which the Bulldogs gave up five sacks to the Rebels. However, the Vols didn’t record a sack on Saturday against the Bulldogs. Before Saturday’s game against the Vols, Georgia hadn’t lost consecutive games following its last eight losses. With just two tackles for a loss and no turnovers, the Vols’ vaunted defense couldn’t break up that streak in Sanford Stadium.
Iamaleava finished the first half completing 12 of 19 passes for 93 yards. A drop by receiver Dont’e Thornton, who battled a lower-body injury all week, would have made that stat line significantly better and could have set the Vols up for another first half score.
The two also misfired on a deep shot in the second half that looked to be overthrown. Iamaleava is now 9-2 as a starter in college and seems to be close to being an elite player. The befuddling part of his development is his lack of ability to connect on deep passes, which was thought to be intact this season following his fast start against lessor competition, Heupel’s attack and Iamaleava’s overall arm talent.
Tennessee, per the broadcast on ESPN, still has a 53-percent chance of making the inaugural College Football Playoff, but are almost assuredly out the the SEC Championship hunt. While the loss is painful, it may not be crippling and certainly doesn’t mean that Tennessee hasn’t closed the gap on the Bulldogs.
Tennessee had lost its last seven games to Georgia by an average margin of 26 points. The Vols lost by 14 on Saturday, but the game certainly seemed closer than the final score.
