Georgia traveled to Knoxville, Tenn., on Saturday and landed a blowout of the Tennessee Volunteers inside the hostile confines of Neyland Stadium. The Bulldogs came away with a 41-0 shutout — their largest margin of victory over the Vols since beating them 44-0 in 1981 — and tightened their hold on the No. 2 spot of the SEC Country Power Poll.
The 2017 SEC Country Power Poll, consisting of 27 voters from around the SEC, placed Georgia in the No. 2 spot behind the Alabama Crimson Tide. This is the third consecutive week Georgia has been ranked second.
Despite staying put in the SEC Country Power Poll, Georgia did make moves in the traditional Top 25 polls. Georgia jumped from No. 7 to No. 5 in the AP poll and from No. 8 to No. 6 in the coaches poll.
Georgia rushed for 294 yards against the Vols, 109 of which came from tailback Nick Chubb. And although freshman QB Jake Fromm struggled through the air — finishing 7 of 15 for 84 yards, a touchdown and an interception — he got the job done on the ground, scoring 2 rushing touchdowns.
But it was the defense that won this game for Georgia. On the first play from scrimmage, cornerback Tyrique McGhee intercepted Tennessee QB Quinten Dormady and set the tone for the game. Rodrigo Blankenship made a field goal four plays later to give Georgia a 3-0 lead, and the Bulldogs never looked back. Georgia’s defense held Tennessee to 142 yards of total offense and allowed only 1 third-down conversion on 12 attempts.
“[Defensive coordinator Mel] Tucker does a tremendous job with that defense,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said, according to Seth Emerson of DawgNation. “They play hard for Coach Tucker. At halftime I didn’t have to go over and see the defensive players. They had it under control, the adjustments, doing a really nice job. So give credit where credit is due.”
Next up for Georgia is a showdown with Vanderbilt this Saturday in Nashville. The Commodores are ranked 11th in the SEC Country Power Poll.
Your Week 5 Power Poll rankings
| RANK | TEAM | POINTS | 1ST PLACEVOTES | PREV | HIGHVOTE | LOWVOTE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama (13 - 1) | 351 | 27 | 111 | ||
| 2 | Georgia (13 - 2) | 322 | 0 | 223 | ||
| 3 | Auburn (10 - 4) | 298 | 0 | 324 | ||
| 4 | Florida (4 - 7) | 265 | 0 | 445 | ||
| 5 | Texas A&M (7 - 6) | 223 | 0 | 8413 | ||
| 6 | Kentucky (7 - 6) | 200 | 0 | 7412 | ||
| 7 | Mississippi State (9 - 4) | 191 | 0 | 549 | ||
| 8 | South Carolina (9 - 4) | 135 | 0 | 11713 | ||
| 9 | Arkansas (4 - 8) | 128 | 0 | 12313 | ||
| 10 | LSU (9 - 4) | 115 | 0 | 6713 | ||
| 11 | Vanderbilt (5 - 7) | 93 | 0 | 9714 | ||
| 12 | Tennessee (4 - 8) | 81 | 0 | 10613 | ||
| 13 | Ole Miss (6 - 6) | 49 | 0 | 13714 | ||
| 14 | Missouri (7 - 6) | 6 | 0 | 14914 |
This week's voters:Alex Hickey (SEC Country)Alex Martin Smith (SEC Country)Andrew Astleford (SEC Country)Ben Wolk (SEC Country)Blake MorganBrandon Walker (SEC Country)Chip Towers (DawgNation)Chris Kirschner (SEC Country)Christopher Walsh (SEC Country)Eric Bolin (SEC Country)Joe Mussatto (SEC Country)Jordan Mcpherson (SEC Country)Justin Ferguson (SEC Country)Ken Bradley (SEC Country)Kyle Tucker (SEC Country)Lauren Shute (SEC Country)Marq Burnett (SEC Country)Mike BambachMike Griffith (SEC Country)Nick SussPete ScantleburyRyan YoungSam SpiegelmanSeth Emerson (DawgNation)Thomas Neumann (SEC Country)Trent Shadid (SEC Country)Zach Abolverdi (SEC Country)
