Georgia's Chase Vasser and Michael Gilliard, leap to tackle Tennessee's Robert Yonce during the first quarter.KNOXVILLE -- Georgia is certain to ascend in at least one defensive category following Saturday's 20-12 win at Tennessee.
The Bulldogs held the Vols to minus-20 yards on 23 rushes, and nobody for Tennessee finished with as many as 10. Marlin Lane led the Vols with 8 rushing yards, followed by 7 apiece from Tauren Poole and Rajion Neal.
Tennessee had five rushing plays in the decisive third quarter, losing yards on four of them.
"Even though they can throw the ball, we wanted to make them one-dimensional," Georgia defensive coordinator Todd Grantham said. "I thought our guys up front were stout, and they really weren't able to run the ball at any time."
Junior inside linebacker Mike Gilliard led the Bulldogs with a career-high 12 tackles, and he also tallied a sack, a tackle for loss, a forced fumble and a pass deflection.
"The defense made a statement to come into this hostile environment roaring with that 'Rocky Top' song," Gilliard said. "I couldn't be happier for our defense."
When the Vols scored on a 1-yard Matt Simms keeper with 2:45 remaining, it was just the second touchdown allowed by Georgia's defense in the last four games.
A lot of No. 1
Georgia came out of the gate Saturday night providing its share of confusion.
On their opening possession, the Bulldogs mixed rushes between freshman tailback Isaiah Crowell and junior cornerback Branden Smith, each of whom wears jersey No. 1. Crowell took a fourth-and-1 pitch and gained 11 yards to the Tennessee 49-yard line less than a minute into the game, and two players later Smith picked up 17 yards to the Tennessee 32.
Crowell had four carries, including two that converted fourth downs into firsts, on Georgia's opening possession that ended with a 35-yard Blair Walsh field goal, while Smith had two. The carries were the first this season for the 5-foot-11, 176-pound Smith, who has two rushing touchdowns of longer than 50 yards in his career.
Under NCAA rules, players can have the same jersey number as long as they're not in the game at the same time.
Mitchell's moment
With Georgia facing a third-and-10 from its 7-yard line with six minutes remaining in the third quarter, Aaron Murray dropped back into his end zone and launched a pass to midfield to Malcolm Mitchell. The freshman receiver beat Marsalis Teague on the play and gained 71 yards to the Tennessee 22.
"The post had been there all night, but we hadn't hit one yet," offensive coordinator Mike Bobo said. "Murray did a great job of laying it up there with enough air under it to where Malcolm could get it."
It was the longest reception of the season for Mitchell, topping a 69-yarder he had at Ole Miss, but he sustained a left hamstring injury on the play and did not return.
Odds and ends
Georgia is 7-4 against Tennessee under Mark Richt but still trails the overall series 21-18-2. ... Safety Shawn Williams tied a career high with seven tackles and blocked an extra point. ... Richt on having a fourth-and-56 in the fourth quarter: "That's got to be in the top 10 in college football history. ... Georgia's opening drive consisted of 15 plays and consumed 6 minutes and 33 seconds, which was the longest drive allowed by Tennessee this season. ... Sophomore Chris Burnette returned to the starting lineup at right guard after missing the past two games while recovering from a knee injury. ... Junior nose John Jenkins made his first career start, becoming the 14th first-time starter for the Bulldogs this year.