Dan Fleser
Carson Beck was supposed to be taking blows, not delivering them.
Georgia’s quarterback had other ideas, though, after running through two would-be tackles in the backfield to begin his second-quarter scramble. He punctuated the 14-yard run by bulldozing into Tennessee safety Andre Turrentine before going down.
Beck didn’t turn into Bronko Nagurski on Saturday night. But he did revert from the beleaguered, turnover-prone quarterback of this season to a semblance of last year’s Manning Award finalist, throwing for 347 yards and two touchdowns and running for another in the Bulldogs’ 31-17 comeback victory.
Conversely, the Vols’ defense – particularly the defensive line – was a shadow of itself, recording zero sacks and zero quarterback hurries of Beck, who was sacked five times last week at Ole Miss. The Rebels front seven also amassed nine tackles for lost yardage. UT’s defenders mustered just two, amounting to a scant three yards.
With time to operate, Beck completed 25 of 40 pass attempts and averaged 13.9 yards per completion. His play helped eclipse the absence of leading rusher Trevor Etienne due to injury and the loss of wide receiver Dillon Bell during the game to injury.
“How about Carson Beck tonight,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “All the criticism he takes . . .”
Not last night he wasn’t. Instead, the Vols were left to train a critical eye on themselves.
“We didn’t play up to our potential; we didn’t play (up) to how we’re capable of playing,” defensive tackle Jaxson Moi said. “That’s a good Georgia team. We’re capable but we just didn’t do it today. We take full responsibility for not causing havoc like we usually do.”
Here’s some other notes and observations:
-While Josh Heupel credited Georgia and commended his team’s effort, Tennessee’s coach was clearly miffed by some penalty calls by the officials. He turned his microphone toward reporters when asked about a face-masking penalty, which aided the Bulldogs’ decisive scoring drive in the third quarter. A television replay cast some doubt on the call.
Heupel did the same regarding an illegal-substitution call for an extra man on the field earlier in that drive. His actions served as his commentary on the calls without commenting.
-After spending the week in concussion protocol, Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava started and survived five sacks to complete 20-of-33 passes for 167 yards. He rushed 12 times for a net gain of 40 yards.
“I felt great; I felt great out there,” Iamaleava said. “I was happy I could go out there and battle with my brothers.”
-Ten of Beck’s completions went to tight ends. Ben Yorsek led with five receptions. Oscar Delp caught four passes, two for TDs.
On his first touchdown reception, Delp was matched up against linebacker Arion Carter, who had good position but couldn’t get turned around in time to adjust to Beck’s throw. On the second, Delp ran counter to the flow of the play and came wide open in the back of the end zone.
“Obviously they had some plays for him,” Tennessee safety Will Brooks said. “We just didn’t play smart enough, didn’t execute the right way with our eyes and that kind of led to him getting open a couple of times.”
-Boo Carter struck again as a punt returner. The former Bradley Central star’s 26-yard return set up placekicker Max Gilbert’s career-long 52-yard field goal late in the first quarter, which gave UT a 10-0 lead at the time.
-The ripple effect from the loss will be felt Tuesday, when the latest playoff rankings are announced. The Vols stayed at No. 7 last week and No. 12 Georgia likely will advance ahead of them now.
“We don’t control what we don’t control,” said Heupel, voicing a somber, fatalistic tone.
Smart likely spoke on Tennessee’s behalf as well as his team in addressing the playoff committee and the difficulty of playing on the road in the SEC: “I really don’t know what they look for anymore. I would welcome anybody from that committee to come down to this league and play in this environment. It’s a tough place to play.”
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Dan Fleser is a 1980 graduate of the University of Missouri, who has covered University of Tennessee athletics since 1988. He is a member of the Tennessee Sportswriters, U.S Basketball Writers and Greater Knoxville Sports Halls of Fame. He can be reached at danfleser3@gmail.com.