Tennessee Volunteers running back Jalen Hurd coughs up the football on a certain touchdown versus the Georgia Bulldogs in the second quarter in Athens.
The No. 25 Georgia Bulldogs needed to respond in their Week 5 home game against the No. 11 Tennessee Volunteers to have any shot at winning the SEC East. With Tennessee threatening, defensive back DeAndre Baker is able to knock the ball out of running back Jalen Hurd’s hands for a forced fumble recovery at the Georgia goal line.
Hurd was wide open and should have scored on a Joshua Dobbs dart near the Georgia red zone. Instead of it being 10-7 Georgia after the Tennessee PAT, it would go on to be a 14-point Georgia swing. Georgia would take it the length of the field and score on a Jacob Eason fumble recovery in the Tennessee end to make it 17-0 Bulldogs.
If you don't run all the way to the end zone...this is what can happen. https://t.co/rjJOdTDFmM
— CBS Sports College Football 🏈 (@CBSSportsCFB) October 1, 2016
Tennessee head coach Butch Jones lost his mind on the Hurd fumble. He had every right to be livid on that gaff by his star running back. That’s about as bad of a time to fumble the football as it can get: right before crossing the goal line.
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Baker never gave up on the play and was rewarded for his efforts. Georgia has played committed defense in Week 5 after getting boat raced by the Ole Miss Rebels in Oxford in Week 4 , 45-14.
This is a new era of Georgia football under first-year head coach Kirby Smart. He is a former defensive back coaching at his alma mater. Georgia may not have the experience to be a championship caliber team in 2016, but this team will play hard for Coach Smart.
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99% of the time that catch by Hurd goes in for an impressive touchdown. What happened was an even more remarkable defensive play by Baker in the Georgia secondary. Does that 14-point swing come back to bite Tennessee in this SEC East rivalry game?