Tennessee beats Georgia 34-31 with TD pass on final play

The ball sailed into the left corner of the end zone, where Jennings was surrounded by six Georgia defenders and two teammates. Georgia scored the first 10 points of the game as Sony Michel took a draw play up the middle and into the endzone from 14 yards out late in the first quarter.

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) – Tennessee works on the play every week in practice, just in case.

“I was standing on the sidelines, and my whole body went numb”, said Tennessee strong safety Todd Kelly Jr., who watched from the sidelines as Dobbs cocked his right arm for what Jones called “probably the best ball he’s thrown in his career”.

Tennessee is on quite a high after one of the most improbable wins in school history Saturday.

Fans admitted that they were beginning to accept defeat to their SEC rival until Joshua Dobbs threw a 43-yard touchdown pass to Jauan Jennings to win the game. “He’s got to play better and with consistency, but look at what he can do, you know what I mean?”

In all, the teams combined for three touchdowns in the final 3 minutes.

The 34-31 result sent Georgia (3-2, 1-2 SEC) out of the national polls Sunday, making Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. game at SC (2-3, 1-3) a matchup of unranked teams for the first time in the series since 1997.

You couldn’t blame Georgia for drawing a celebration penalty after Eason tossed a 47-yard go-ahead touchdown to Riley Ridley with 10 seconds left, but the 15-yard penalty moved the ball back to the 20-yard line on the ensuing kickoff.

As Jennings lay on the field clutching the ball, the entire Volunteer team poured onto the turf at Sanford Stadium to celebrate the victory that pushed Tennessee to 5-0 overall, 2-0 in conference play.

The 6-foot-3 Jennings leaped above everyone else in the scrum and rather easily brought the ball down as he fell to his back.

This is presented as an adjunct to the Georgia-Tennessee game column, which can be found here.

“I’ve never been part of something like that”, Georgia tackle Greg Pyke said.

But the Vols keep marching on and they have now won 11 consecutive games. Then, next thing you know, we lost the game.

It was recovered in the end zone by defensive end Corey Vereen.

That wound up being an afterthought.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Austin Allen completed 13 of 18 passes for 206 yards and three touchdowns to help Arkansas win for the 10th time in 12 games. Tennessee had proven performers on offense (quarterback Dobbs, running backs Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara) and studs on defense (linebackers Darrin Kirkland and Jalen Reeves-Maybin, cornerback Cameron Sutton, end Derek Barnett), and a new highly coveted coordinator (Bob Shoop) to unleash them.

“We discussed it coming out of a timeout and we wanted to go with what we practiced”, he said.

Game over, 34-31! The Vols escape the upset and remain the top team in the SEC East. That not only puts Tennessee ahead in the standings, but provides a tiebreaker edge that could come in handy at the end of the season. They also avenged a 14-13 loss past year in Champaign.

NOTES: Smart said RB Nick Chubb, limited by an ankle injury to one carry against Tennessee, has no restrictions this week.

Get ready for the SEC Championship Game to be a de facto national quarterfinal.

Tennessee overcome three double-digit deficits this season to post wins, including a 21-0 margin last week to snap an 11-game losing streak to Florida with a 38-28 decision.

It doesn’t get any easier for the Vols as they travel to College Station to face Texas A&M next week before returning home in two weeks to host No. 1 Alabama. Both teams will have a chance to prove that they’re not only the No. 1 contender to Alabama in the SEC, but that they’re also a contender for the College Football Playoff.