Georgia coach Mark Richt arrived at his postgame news conference Saturday hobbled and bleeding. It was only fitting after he watched his bruised and battered Bulldogs prevail in overtime against Tennessee, 34-31.
Richt pinched a finger on his left hand moving a chair to sit down and address reporters following No. 6 Georgia’s 34-31 victory. He came to the interview room limping from a first-half play in which he was taken out by a play on the sideline.
But Richt left Neyland Stadium standing up, which was more than three of his players could say. Tailback Keith Marshall and wide receiver Justin Scott-Wesley suffered what appears to be season-ending knee injuries during the course of the game. Wide receiver Michael Bennett (knee) and punter Collin Barber (concussion) also were unable to finish the game, but their injuries appear less serious.
The Bulldogs already had to play the game without tailback Todd Gurley and safeties Tray Matthews and Connor Norman, who all had injuries. That Georgia survived under such circumstances was equal parts guts and luck.
“I don’t have much to say other than I’m thankful we won, and I’m thankful we’re leaving,” said Richt, using a stat sheet to stop the blood flowing out of his finger. “I’m not in a very celebrating mood. Just thankful.”
It took a mighty comeback effort by Georgia’s Aaron Murray-led offense and a big dose of good fortune to pull victory from the jaws of defeat. Murray engineered a 75-yard scoring drive in the game’s final 1:54 to force overtime — he hit Rantavious Wooten on a 2-yard pass with 5 seconds remaining — then got the game-winning points on a 42-yard field goal by Marshall Morgan in overtime.
“I think I’m growing gray hairs right now,” said Murray, who became the SEC’s all-time leading passer during the game. “These are games we’ll remember. We’ll talk about these games for a long time.”
The game-winner was made possible only after a touchdown by Tennessee’s Pig Howard was overturned by video replay. Howard appeared to score on a 7-yard run on a flanker counter on the first possession of overtime. But the replay showed he lost possession of the ball on the play. Instead of a touchdown, it was a touchback.
Georgia couldn’t muster even a yard on its ensuing possession at the Tennessee 25. But that was all that Morgan needed to convert a 42-yard field goal.
“It’s a blessing,” said Morgan, who kicked a 56-yarder and missed a 39-yarder earlier in the game. “You’re just overwhelmed. When it goes through you don’t really realize what you did until the whole offensive line jumps on you and you have 2,000 pounds on top of you. I just had to take in the moment.”
The win keeps the Bulldogs (4-1, 3-0 SEC) undefeated in conference play and in control of their destiny in the SEC’s Eastern Division. They play host to Missouri, which was playing late at Vanderbilt, Saturday at Sanford Stadium (noon, ESPN)
The first question on everybody’s mind was whether some of the injured Bulldogs might get back. Richt put the chance of Gurley’s return from a left-ankle injury at “50-50,” but wouldn’t address the status of any of the players that went down Saturday. Norman had a concussion, and Matthews didn’t make the trip because of a hamstring strain.
“I just don’t know what the carnage is right now,” Richt said. “I purposely didn’t talk to (head trainer) Ron (Courson) before talking to you because I just didn’t want to say anything. I don’t want to talk about it right now.”
The Volunteers, rebuilding under first-year coach Butch Jones, fall to 3-3 and 0-2 in the league. Tennessee is off next weekend.
“It’s another step, another building block,” Jones said. “We need to learn how to win these football games. That’s a part of the process of learning how to win, but you can see it. I can see it evolving.”
Tennessee trailed 17-3 at halftime. But thanks to Georgia’s missed field-goal attempt and a blocked punt recovered for a touchdown, the Vols turned a blowout into a shootout. They went ahead 31-24 on a 13-play 80-yard drive that ended with Rajion Neal’s 7-yard touchdown run with 1:54 to go.
That proved to be just enough time for Murray to get the Bulldogs back down the field.
Murray, who also led the Bulldogs on a game-winning touchdown drive against LSU last week, became the SEC’s all-time passing leader early in the game. He hit Chris Conley with a 24-yard completion on fourth-and-4 midway through the second quarter to bypass former Bulldog David Greene. He finished with 196 yards and three touchdowns on 19-of-35 passing and now has 11,625 yards in his career.
Freshman J.J. Green came off the bench and ran for 129 yards on 17 carries. Wooten had six catches, two for touchdowns, and Conley had one touchdown catch and led the receivers with 64 yards.
Tennessee’s Neal, who’s from Fayetteville, led the Vols with 148 yards rushing and scored twice. Beleaguered quarterback Justin Worley had 215 yards on 17-of-31 passing, but was sacked three times.
“You’ve got to fight all 60 minutes and sometimes beyond,” Murray said. “That’s what we did today.”
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