The Voice

Issue date: 10/23/08 Section: Sports

The #10 Georgia Bulldogs took care of business Saturday evening, beating the visiting Tennessee Volunteers 26-14.

It was a game that was never in doubt, even when Tennessee pulled within six points in the third quarter. Georgia dominated the line of scrimmage, the play clock, and out-gained the Volunteers by 249 yards.

The Bulldogs enjoyed a very productive performance on offense, except when they entered the red zone.

Despite Matthew Stafford passing for a career-high 310 yards and Knowshon Moreno becoming the first 100-yard rusher against Tennessee all season, Georgia was never able to pour on the points because of mishaps close to the Volunteer goal line. In the first quarter, freshman phenom A.J. Green dropped a wide open touchdown pass. The drive ended with a Blair Walsh field goal. In the third quarter, Stafford was easily intercepted by Tennessee safety Eric Berry in the endzone after junior wideout Mike Moore was jammed at the line of scrimmage.

The red zone woes clearly frustrated the Bulldogs and their fans, but they didn't necessarily overshadow what happened on the field during the game.

Besides the fact that they came away with a win, it was apparent that Georgia's young team is growing up. The biggest need of improvement for the Bulldogs this year is clearly the offensive line. The unit showed signs of getting better on Saturday as they had a strong push and gave their quarterback enough time to throw all game.

The real test came late in the second quarter with 2:24 remaining on the clock. Georgia found itself on its own 3-yard line after a special teams' mistake and proceeded in putting together a 9-play 97-yard touchdown drive to close out the half. The drive may prove to be a defining moment for Georgia's season.

Their backs were against the wall. They needed to improve upon just a six-point lead after a half of dominating their opponents on both sides of the ball. They wanted more than just to get within field goal range before halftime. With the offensive line giving him time, Stafford drove his team to the endzone in just over two minutes. He capped off the drive by throwing a 9-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi with 15 seconds remaining in the quarter.

That drive set the tone for the rest of the game, and hopefully for the Bulldogs, the rest of the season. Georgia needs to continue improving with each game getting tougher over their next three contests in Vanderbilt, LSU, and Florida. The games against Vanderbilt and Florida will be the most meaningful since the Bulldogs are tied with both teams for first place in the SEC East.

Starting left tackle Vince Vance is lost for the season after tearing his ACL in the first half. Vance is the third starter on either side of the line of scrimmage to suffer a season-ending knee injury, joining fellow left tackle Trinton Sturdivant and defensive tackle Jeff Owens on the sidelines.

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