Live Game Blog from the Neyland Stadium Press Box

It is getting close to game time here at Neyland Stadium and the crowd is a late arriving one to be sure. The crowd for the Salute to the Hill by the Pride of the Southland band was the smallest crowd I can ever remember. 

There are quite a few Bulldog fans here today, my guess is there will be a little over 10,000 Bulldog faithful cheering on the Dogs today. Tennessee is wearing orange jerseys and white pants just in case you were wondering.

32 minutes until kickoff. 

Tim McGhee and Glenn Streno were just recognized as UT legends of the game by public address announcer Bobby Denton.  

12:24 - Crompton looks good so far. Two passes on the money. Hardesty is running hard.  2nd and 8 at the Georgia 37. 

12:31- A couple of pass completions by Crompton has energized this crowd, its getting loud in here.

The crowd is slowly getting to their seats, my guess for the attendance today is 85,000 or so.  

12:40 Total offense so far: Tennessee 75 yards, Georgia 4 yards.  

12:48 If Tennessee continues to play zone defensively, A.J. Green is going to pick the Vols apart. A lot of zone coverage so far for the Vols on D. I can understand why, Green is a scary looking athlete. Looks like he can take it the distance at any moment.  

12:54 - End of the 1st quarter, no score but Tennessee is driving. It's 2nd and 1 on the Georgia 22 yard line. Excellent running on this drive by Brown and Hardesty.

Total Offense: Tennessee 119 Georgia 49 - Penalties Tennessee 4 Georgia 1 Hardesty 6 carries 23 yards.  

8 play 56 yard drive, 4:29 seconds off the clock. Crowd is getting into it now, Touchdown Tennessee. Vols lead 7-0 with 13:10 to go in the 2nd quarter. Touchdown pass from Crompton to Gerald Jones. 

So much for working all week on the kicking game. It looked like every left their lane or gap. Poor coverage by the kick coverage team. Brandon Boykin was never touched.  

The last time an opponent returned a kickoff for a touchdown against Tennessee at Neyland Stadium was by Rutgers in 2002. 

Scoring drive: 3 plays covering 45 yards 1:19 possession time.  

Correction on the attendance, it now looks more like 94,000. Many of those empty seats are now filled with Big Orange fans. 

Crompton so far is 8-11-0 for 138 yards. 

Georgia had an illegal lineman down field, but the refs missed it. The side judge has been getting an earful from Lane Kiffin since the third down pass fell incomplete. Walsh is 5-8 on field goals from over 50 yards. This  year he is 3 for 3. 

Tennessee 21 Georgia 10 - 2:40 left in the 2nd quarter.

Go figure, Crompton looks confident, he looks aggressive, he looks comfortable and he has been on the money today. Where has this guy been? So far he has thrown for 205 yards on 12-15 passing.  

Tennessee's kicking game is a joke. Hard to even put into words just how ridiculous it is at the moment.  

1:53 P.M. Halftime - Tennessee 21 Georgia 12

Total Offense

Tennessee 253 on 31 plays / Georgia 121 total yards on 27 plays.

Tennessee 48 yards rushing on 16 carries - 205 yards passing. Crompton is 12-15-0 and 3 touchdowns.  

Great halftime performance by the Pride of the Southland Marching Band. They are incredible. Halftime is over and the 2nd half should start in just over 4 minutes from now.  

Georgia had 117 return yards in the first half. The kicking game has been responsible for all 12 Georgia points.  

103,261 was just announced as the attendance by Haywood Harris. Actual number of people here, as we said earlier, about 94,000. 

7 play drive took 2:33 off the clock. Tennessee 24 Georgia 12. FG by Daniel Lincoln. Tennessee really had an opportunity to take control of the game there, but had to settle for a FG.

 The sun is trying to peak out here in Knoxville, but it is still overcast and a little chilly. 

Well, if I were a Georgia fan I would be pretty happy to be in this game. Tennessee has handed the Bulldogs 16 of the 19 points they have scored. I guess it was only a matter of time until Crompton self-destructed. What a big blow, ouch.  

39 yard touchdown run by Hardesty caps a beautiful 80 yard 8 play drive that gives Tennessee a 31-19 lead. Take away the mistakes by Tennessee and this is a rout. Vols have given Georgia 16 points today courtesy of miscues by kicking game and intercepted pass. 

This Tennessee defense has really looked good today. Georgia has had one good drive all day that culminated in a FG.

2:19 left in the 3rd. Tennessee 31 Georgia 19. Hardesty 17 carries 85 yards rushing.  

What a pass from Crompton!! Tennessee 38 Georgia 19 - The dawgs never saw that one coming, what a play call by Kiffin. 

With 11:15 left to go in the 4th quarter, Tennessee has 449 total yards, Georgia has 165. Great crowd at Neyland today. Once the team gave them something to cheer about, they have and they have been a big part of this game. The Vol faithful have really been in this game.  

Headed down to the field and media center for post game press conference. More coverage later by Rick Nyman on WDEF News 12.