KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — D'Andre Swift dragged the pile for a few yards, then a few more, all the way to the Tennessee 10-yard line. That's one of those subtle jabs that illustrates what we found out after No. 7 Georgia dragged the Volunteers around Neyland Stadium in a 41-0 shutout on Saturday.
Georgia (5-0, 2-0 SEC) is ready for the big time again. For real.
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The Bulldogs threw a second-quarter knockout punch three plays after Swift's run, a 9-yard scramble by Jake Fromm for a TD. That 11-play, 87-yard drive had a little bit of everything. Chunk runs by Nick Chubb. Third-down conversions from Fromm. Georgia offensive linemen pushing the pile for a few more yards. Touchdown, Bulldogs. 17-0. Game over, basically.
That's when you knew Georgia is big time. For real.
"They are starting to (play) with a little more confidence," Georgia coach Kirby Smart said of his team. "There are certainly a lot of things we can improve on — communication skills back and forth, huddle environment, some missed tackles on defense — but I'm proud of the way the guys competed."
Smart praised the defense, which forced three first-half turnovers, the third which led to another touchdown run by Fromm for a 24-0 halftime lead. This traditional SEC East rivalry was over before Peyton Manning threw one more touchdown pass in the end zone to Joey Kent at halftime. That was the only time the Tennessee (3-2, 0-2 SEC) found the end zone on Saturday. A little later, Sony Michel began the process of emptying the stands with a touchdown run that put the Bulldogs up 31-0 with 1:04 left in the third quarter.
Did Georgia just put the rest of the SEC on notice?
"I think so," Michel said. "It can be a negative. It's like a distraction. You want to keep the guys on the team poised knowing every week is a challenge for us."
Tennessee was not one of those challenges. Georgia rushed for 294 yards and outgained the Volunteers offensively 378-142. Fromm won another big start on the road, just like he did at Notre Dame on Sept. 9. It was the kind of two-way performance that affirms Georgia — the only unbeaten in the SEC other than three-time defending champion Alabama — is the best bet to take a swing at the Tide in Atlanta in the SEC championship if it comes to that. That's kind of what we want, a game that matches the championship game between those two teams in 2012.
That's how writers get distracted. Georgia is off to a 5-0 start for the seventh time since winning the national championship in 1980, but there always is that one loss that derailed the season.
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Here's a closer look at those seasons, and how far the Bulldogs got before that first loss:
| 1982: 11-0, lost to No. 2 Penn State |
| 1983: 7-0-1, lost to No. 3 Auburn |
| 2002: 7-0, lost to No. 22 Florida |
| 2005: 7-0, lost to No. 16 Florida |
| 2006: 5-0, lost to No. 13 Tennessee |
| 2012: 5-0, lost to No. 6 South Carolina |
The Bulldogs won 10 or more games all of those seasons with the exception of 2006, when they finished 9-4. Perhaps that's why Michel and Smart, among others, are taking a guarded approach. Clemson's national championship last season put the Bulldogs on the clock as that true blue blood with the most pronounced national championship drought.
This Georgia team passes most of the eye-ball tests. Fromm should continue to improve. Chubb, Michel, Swift and Elijah Holyfield form a seemingly endless running back rotation. The defense can play. It was good enough to detonate Tennessee's season. Now it needs to be good enough to beat Vanderbilt and Missouri before the inevitable showdown with Florida on Oct. 28.
By then, we'll know whether Georgia can win the SEC East and take the big swing at Alabama.
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Georgia made that statement at Neyland on Saturday, and they did it by forcing four turnovers. That all started on the first play from scrimmage when Tyrique McGhee picked off Quinten Dormady. The Bulldogs didn't stop all day long.
Smart said he didn't have to say much this week. Chubb, who doesn't say much, talked to the team beforehand.
"When he speaks, they listen," Smart said.
The rest of the country heard it. Georgia showed it's a top-five, playoff-caliber team with a chance to win the SEC, and that's enough for Alabama to listen. There's no question Tennessee heard that message.
41-0. Shutouts always make the loudest statement.
"That's in the back of our mind at the end of the game," McGhee said. "It feels good. I'm not going to stand here and lie and say it doesn't feel good to shut out opponents, but that's the mindset we come in with, though."
That's big time. For real, really, it's serious. Georgia is that good this time.
