Hi everyone! Another edition of Your Weekly NCAA Football 14 Preview is here. UGA is currently 2-2 (1-2) on the year. As usual, I play 10-minute quarters with Heisman difficulty on Offense and Defense.
UGA won the coin toss and I deferred, with Marshall Morgan's kick going for a touchback. Tennessee had no falter in its first drive, with large passes and strong runs in no-huddle action to go 75 yards, capped off by a 6 yard pass for a touchdown to Pig Howard. 7-0 Tenn with 8:23 left.
UGA faltered, however, on its first drive, with only 7 plays going for 29 yards, to end in a 32-yard punt by Collin Barber to put Tennessee at their own 15 yard line. Tennessee made great use of this, creating a drive that lasted exactly 1 minute, going 88 yards in only 7 plays, ending with a 21 yard rush by Marlin Lane for a touchdown. With 4:01 left in the 1st quarter, Tenn led it 14-0.
UGA started a comeback with the next drive that carried into the 2nd quarter, though. Todd Gurley returned the kickoff 34 yards, and UGA went on a tear, going for 71 yards across 12 plays, capped off by a 6 yard rush by Todd Gurley into the endzone, making it 14-7 Tenn with 8:10 left in the first half.
Tennessee's next drive started off to a bang with a 14 yard rush by Rajion Neal, but a 0 yard rush, an incomplete pass, and a 4 yard pass brought no more first downs, as the drive ended in a punt with 7:27 left in the half.
UGA was on a tear again in the next drive, going 77 yards across 13 plays, but ending in a 21 yard field goal from Marshall Morgan, to make it 14-10 Tenn with 2:13 left in the first half.
Tennessee needed a strong drive to end the half on a good note, but failed. After a 2 yard pass and an incomplete pass, Josh Harvey-Clemons intercepted the ball and giving UGA great field position with 1:56 left in the half, at Tennessee's 36 yard line.
Aaron Murray made good on this turnover, completing both a 23 yard pass and a 4 yard pass to Rantavious Wooten, and a 6 yard pass to Jonathan Rumph for a touchdown, to make it 17-14 in favor of Georgia. Tennessee stalled, mixing a few 10+ yard passes with some incomplete passes, and ultimately turning the ball over on downs. At the end of the first half, UGA leads 17-14.
With Georgia receiving the 2nd half kickoff, I decided it was time to get Michael Bennett some action. After a sack and a good rush from Gurley, Murray threw a 56-yard pass to Michael Bennett, and after a few small rushes and a 5 yard pass to Chris Conley, Todd Gurley rushed into the endzone for 6 yards to make it 24-14 Dawgs with 6:21 left in the 3rd quarter.
With Tennessee not scoring at all since the 4-minute mark in the 1st quarter, the defense looked amazing. Justin Worley became desperate, obviously with some long passes that were completed, but with one series ending on a 4th & 1 play where Worley was sacked to turn it over on downs with 5:02 left in the 3rd.
I decided to also get Keith Marshall into the game now on the next drive. Murray threw to Arthur Lynch, and then a 1 yard rush from Gurley, Marshall immediately ran for 10 yards. Gurley then ran for 12 yards, 2 yards, and 5 yards, and Aaron Murray ran for 5 yards afterwards. Murray then went back to Arthur Lynch for 5 yards and a Georgia touchdown, to make it 31-14 Dawgs with 0:45 left in the 3rd quarter.
Tennessee stalled in its next drive, ending in a punt. Georgia also stalled in the succeeding drive, to end in a 50 yard punt from Collin Barber.
Justin Worley, Tenn's QB, took matters into his own hands in the next drive, passing to Vince Dallas for 21 yards, and rushing for 20, to mix it in with a 9 yard rush from Rajion Neal and a 3 yard rush from Rajion Neal for a Tennessee touchdown, the first score for the Vols since the 4:01 mark in the 1st quarter, giving it back to UGA with 7:58 left in the 4th quarter. The score is now 31-21 Dawgs.
The Dawgs then created a 10-play, 80-yard drive, including a 45 yard pass to Chris Conley. The touchdown came from a 5-yard rush by Keith Marshall, who was responsible for 6 of the 10 plays on that drive. The score now was 38-21 Dawgs.
Justin Worley again went to work on the next drive, with passes of 13, 4, 32, and 27 yards, with the 27-yard pass to Pig Howard resulting in a touchdown to make it 38-28 Dawgs, with 2:40 left in the game.
Georgia recovered the onside kick, resulting in awesome field position, in Tenn territory. A 4 yard rush by Marshall, a 12 yard pass to Conley, a 5 yard rush by Marshall, and a 22 yard touchdown rush from Marshall made the score 45-28 Dawgs, with 1:44 left in the game.
Justin Worley yet again went to work, making passes of 19, 13, 13, 18, 7, and a 2 yard pass for a touchdown to make it 45-35 Dawgs with 0:46 left in the game. Georgia recovered the onside kick and kneeled for the victory.
UGA 45 Tennessee 35
TEAM STATS
First Downs: UGA 21 Tenn 22
Total Offense: UGA 484 Tenn 492
Rushes-Yards-TD: UGA 43-187-4 Tenn 16-109-2
Completions-Attempts-TD: UGA 23-34-2 Tenn 33-44-3
Passing Yards: UGA 297 Tenn 383
3rd Downs: UGA 10-16 (62%) Tenn 4-9 (44%)
Turnovers: UGA 0 Tenn 1
Total Yards: UGA 541 Tenn 508
Time of Possession: UGA 30:42 Tenn 9:18
INDIVIDUAL STATS
Aaron Murray: 23-34, 297 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT, 160.4 QBR
Todd Gurley: 26 rushes, 113 yards, 4.3 AVG, 2 TD
Keith Marshall: 14 rushes, 77 yards, 5.4 AVG, 2 TD
Arthur Lynch: 5 catches, 55 yards, 11.0 AVG, 1 TD
Rantavious Wooten: 5 catches, 65 yards, 13.0 AVG
Todd Gurley: 4 catches, 19 yards, 4.7 AVG
Michael Bennett: 4 catches, 80 yards, 20.0 AVG
Chris Conley: 3 catches, 62 yards, 20.6 AVG
Jonathan Rumph: 1 catch, 6 yards, 6.0 AVG, 1 TD
Justin Scott-Wesley: 1 catch, 10 yards, 10.0 AVG
Josh Harvey-Clemons: 7 tackles, 1 INT
Corey Moore: 5 tackles
Amarlo Herrera: 4 tackles
Chase Vasser: 4 tackles
Brendan Langley: 3 tackles
Ramik Wilson: 3 tackles
Leonard Floyd: 2 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack
Marshall Morgan: 1-1, 21 yard FG
Collin Barber: 2 punts, 83 yards, 41.5 AVG
Tenn: Justin Worley: 33-44, 383 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT, 166.0 QBR
Rajion Neal: 10 rushes, 56 yards, 5.6 AVG, 1 TD
Marlin Lane: 1 rush, 21 yards, 21.0 AVG, 1 TD
Justin Worley: 4 rushes, 32 yards, 8.0 AVG
Drae Bowles: 9 catches, 78 yards, 8.6 AVG, 1 TD
Vince Dallas: 8 catches, 147 yards, 18.3 AVG
Pig Howard: 4 catches, 68 yards, 17.0 AVG, 2 TD