ATHENS — Kirby Smart praised Carson Beck’s performance in the first half of the Georgia-Tennessee showdown.

The Bulldogs went to halftime tied 17-17 at Sanford Stadium, Beck 15-of-29 passing for 184 yards with two touchdowns through the air, in addition to two carries for 22 yards.

He’s playing like he always does, to me,” Smart told the ABC cameras at the half. “He has poise, he has composure, kid’s a leader, he does a good job.”

Vols quarterback Nico Iamaleava, playing after clearing concussion protocol, is 12-of-19 passing for 93 yards and five rushes for 3 yards — Georgia sacking the redshirt freshman three times.

Tennessee has hurt Georgia most on the ground with Dylan Sampson (11 carries, 68 yards) spearheading an attack that has gained 96 yards on 22 attempts.

“First thing to do is tackle him, he’s getting yards after contact,” Smart said. “They are good at running the ball and we didn’t do a good job of stopping the run.”

Tennessee coach Josh Heupel noted his team will get the ball first in the second half, and it will need to produce.

“We just have to play assignment sound in all three phases of the game,” Heupel said. “It’s gonna be a great game in the second half, we have to come out and play fast.”

Tennessee jumped out to a 10-0 lead before Georgia rallied to take a 14-10 lead, Oscar Delp pulling down touchdown catches of 19 and 4 yards.

The Vols volleyed when Sampson broke loose up the middle for a 27-yard touchdown run to reclaim the lead with 1:54 left in the half.

Beck led Georgia back down the field for Peyton Woodring’s game-tying 36-yard field goal, knotting the score at 17-17 with five seconds left in the half.

Smael Mondon is leading Georgia defenders with six tackles and a sack, while captain Chaz Chambliss has two sacks.

Georgia receiver Dillon Bell, who was targeted seven times, left the game with a left leg injury in the second quarter.