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* Wiedmer: Vols and their coach both grew up against Dawgs * Tennessee rallies to stun Georgia, 38-31 * Tennessee holds off 19th-ranked Georgia, 38-31 * Michel, Davis take blame for defeat * Chubb injury disheartening for Bulldogs * Tennessee racks up record yardage on Pruitt’s defense * Dobbs leads Vols in ‘very, very gritty’ performance * Daniel’s late punt helps protect Vols’ big win
KNOXVILLE – The Tennessee Volunteers didn’t just end a five-year losing streak to Georgia with Saturday’s 38-31 triumph inside Neyland Stadium.
They also became the first team to gain more than 500 yards against Bulldogs second-year defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt. Vols quarterback Josh Dobbs was responsible for most of the carnage in Tennessee’s 519-yard output, completing 25 of 42 passes for 312 yards and rushing 18 times for 118 yards.
Dobbs accounted for five touchdowns, with three by air.
“We let the guy get out of the pocket some, and we let him extend some quarterback runs,” Pruitt said. “We got a couple of guys banged up early in the game and had to play some guys who hadn’t played certain positions, but once we got settled down, we had guys in position. We’ve just got to finish better.”
Georgia’s previous high yards total allowed under Pruitt was 463, which Georgia Tech amassed last November. South Carolina racked up 447 yards and Florida 445 last year, with the Bulldogs losing all three of those contests.
Inside linebackers Jake Ganus and Tim Kimbrough led Georgia with 12 and 11 tackles, respectively. Ganus intercepted a tipped Dobbs pass on Tennessee’s first possession, while Kimbrough had 2.5 tackles for loss.
“They did a bunch of quarterback runs and play-actions, and as a defense we didn’t play well enough to beat them,” Ganus said. “We’ve got to get more stops and get off the field. We knew Dobbs was a good runner, but in the end it just came down to missed assignments and missed tackles.
“We killed ourselves again.”
Jordan Jenkins started at outside linebacker for the Bulldogs but did not record a tackle and was taken out of the game. Jenkins has been dealing with a groin injury, according to head coach Mark Richt.
“Jordan has been hurt for a couple of weeks,” Pruitt said. “He’s been playing hurt. He tried to play tonight and just couldn’t go.”
Third-down woes
A week after converting just 3 of 17 third downs into firsts in a 38-10 loss to Alabama, the Bulldogs were only marginally better against Tennessee, making 4 of 14.
“I didn’t do enough to help the offense move,” quarterback Greyson Lambert said. “I know we didn’t do well on third down, and I’ll take a lot of the blame for that, because I missed a couple of throws.”
Lambert went the distance for Georgia, marking the first time this season backup Brice Ramsey didn’t play.
Odds and ends
Leonard Floyd’s 96-yard fumble return for a touchdown to open Saturday’s scoring was the longest by a Bulldogs player since cornerback Damian Swann had a 99-yard fumble return last November against Georgia Tech. Reggie Davis on his 70-yard punt return for a touchdown in the second quarter: “Right now, that doesn’t even matter, because we lost.” Freshman cornerback Rico McGraw started after missing the past three games with a knee injury and had eight tackles. For the second game in a row, the Bulldogs wore a “33” decal on their helmets in honor of Southern University’s Devon Gales, who sustained a spinal cord injury against the Bulldogs on Sept. 26.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.