ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia’s offensive line was a statistical success Saturday, no matter the category.

In the 26-14 win over Tennessee, the Bulldogs did not allow a sack of quarterback Matthew Stafford, who attempted 36 passes and threw for 310 yards. The line blocked well enough for Knowshon Moreno to gain 101 yards on 27 carries, but the most impressive numbers may be 10 minutes, 55 seconds.

Georgia prevented any kind of Tennessee rally by marching 76 yards on 17 plays in the fourth quarter, consuming nearly 11 minutes before Blair Walsh capped the scoring with a 28-yard field goal with 2:49 remaining.

“It was nice, even though it was a little tiring,” said sophomore Clint Boling, who began the game at right guard but was moved to left tackle. “That’s going to be a confidence boost, so maybe we can take it from there. We definitely knew they were tired.”

The Bulldogs wound up with 458 yards and more than 42 minutes of possession time in their best performance against an SEC foe, but it wasn’t all good. Boling had to switch positions in order to replace starting left tackle Vince Vance, who left midway through the second quarter with a knee injury.

Vance is not expected to return this season.

“We’ve lost two left tackles now,” said offensive coordinator Mike Bobo, referring to the preseason loss of Trinton Sturdivant. “We’ll have to mix and match some more with some young guys, but they’re not as young anymore after playing six games.”

Georgia has now gone over 450 yards in total offense in four of those six.

“We took this game as a challenge,” Boling said. “I know there have been some question marks with us switching around so much. This is the best we’ve played against an SEC team, that’s for sure, but we’ve done it once, so coaches are going to expect this out of us every time now.”

Said Bobo: “I think we played well up front. We were going to struggle at times running the football, but we wanted to stay patient. They’re hard to run on inside, but the toss sweep worked for us a couple of times.”

Walsh keeping busy

Walsh made all four field-goal attempts and both extra-point tries and kicked off seven times. Walsh is now 10-of-12 on field-goal attempts this season, missing only from 56 yards against Central Michigan and 54 yards against Arizona State.

“I’ve made all the reasonable ones,” he said. “Obviously I’d like to make the longer ones, too, but we’re winning, and to beat a program like Tennessee is a big thing around here.”

Bulldogs head coach Mark Richt said Walsh had to be taken from his hotel room to a health center Saturday morning because he was suffering from migraines and nausea. Richt said Walsh’s biggest kick was the 41-yard field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter, which provided Georgia a 23-14 lead.

“There was a lot of pressure on that kick,” Richt said. “He had to wait about four minutes to kick it.”

Even more yellow

Georgia entered Saturday leading the nation in penalties with 10.6 a game and did nothing to ease that by being flagged 11 times for 76 yards. The Bulldogs were penalized only twice for 10 yards in the first half and intentionally took a couple of delay penalties in the fourth quarter, but Richt wasn’t amused by the overall total.

“Boys are going to get worn out Monday,” he said. “Maybe they’ll slow it down sooner or later.”

Richt blamed himself for not challenging a call early in the second quarter when Tennessee cornerback DeAngelo Willingham was flagged for holding Bulldogs receiver Mohamed Massaquoi in the end zone. Georgia was not awarded an automatic first down but should have been, because defensive holding is an automatic first down when it’s performed on an eligible receiver.

Odds and ends

Darryl Gamble, who made his first start at middle linebacker, shared team-high tackle honors at five with safety Reshad Jones. ... Sophomore fullback Shaun Chapas had three catches for 64 yards but still seeks his first college touchdown after being tackled at the Tennessee 1-yard line following a 37-yard gain on Georgia’s first possession. ... Chapas and senior fullback Brannan Southerland got snaps at tight end. ... Freshman receiver A.J. Green on dropping a 21-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter: “I was too wide open.” ... Late in the first quarter, junior cornerback Prince Miller recorded his first career sack and had a 27-yard punt return on consecutive plays. ... Junior defensive end Rod Battle returned after a three-game absence.