Georgia’s win streak against Tennessee is now at nine games.
The No. 6 Bulldogs got a wild 44-41 overtime win over the No. 15 Volunteers on a 1-yard TD run by Josh McCray after Tennessee was forced to kick a field goal to start overtime.
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The game went to an extra period tied at 38-38 after Tennessee kicker Max Gilbert’s 42-yard attempt sailed wide right with just seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.
The Volunteers had a chance to win the game in regulation after Georgia tied the game with 2:32 to go on a 28-yard touchdown pass from Gunner Stockton to London Humphreys on fourth down. It was a phenomenal throw and catch as Humphreys made an over-the-shoulder grab of a perfectly placed ball before the Bulldogs officially got the tie on the ensuing two-point conversion.
The two teams combined for nearly 1,000 yards of offense as both Stockton and Tennessee QB Joey Aguilar threw for over 300 yards.
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The Volunteers took a 21-7 lead in the first quarter as Aguilar got off to a hot start. He was 14-of-14 passing in the first period and was responsible for all three of the Vols’ touchdowns.
But Georgia slowly chipped away at the lead as Tennessee’s offense cooled. The Bulldogs took their first lead midway through the third quarter before UT’s Chris Brazzell followed up his 72-yard TD catch in the first quarter with a 56-yard TD catch to regain the lead with seven seconds to go in the third.
The Vols went up eight with 6:40 to go on a 48-yard field goal by Gilbert. As the defensive front was swarming Stockton and Georgia’s shuffled offensive line, it was easy to think the game was over.
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Instead, Georgia went on a nine-play drive that was capped by the pass from Stockton to Humphreys on a fourth-and-6.
Tennessee was managing its final drive of the fourth quarter perfectly after the TD until a couple hiccups right before Gilbert’s miss. The Vols had all three timeouts and committed a false start on an Aguilar run to the middle of the field with seven seconds to go.
The penalty pushed Tennessee back 5 yards and instead of running another play to center the ball before calling timeout, Tennessee coach Josh Heupel sent Gilbert out to attempt the kick from the left hashmark.
Georgia coach Kirby Smart is now 9-1 against Tennessee after the Vols beat the Bulldogs in Smart’s first season in charge in 2016.
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Over that nine-game win streak, Georgia has outscored Tennessee 347-145. Saturday’s win was the only game in that span closer than 14 points.
It’s a rough reminder to the Vols that they aren’t at the top of the SEC despite making the College Football Playoff a season ago. However, Aguilar has shown enough through the first three games of the season — while UCLA has struggled mightily — to make Tennessee fans optimistic about the 2025 season and the swap of quarterbacks between the Volunteers and Bruins.
Though Aguilar was uneven at times on Saturday, he’s a fearless passer who is unafraid to throw deep. He finished 24-of-36 passing and had five total touchdowns with two interceptions. Brazzell caught six of those passes for 177 yards and three scores.
Georgia now heads into its first bye week of the season at 3-0 ahead of a Sep. 27 game at home against No. 19 Alabama. The Crimson Tide moved to 2-1 on Saturday with a blowout win over Wisconsin.