The idea of Sanford Stadium not having an intimidating atmosphere got shut down almost immediately as Georgia shut down the Tennessee offense.
One of the narratives ahead of the Georgia vs. Tennessee games involved crowd noise. We’d all seen how the crowd at Neyland Stadium disrupted Alabama when the Vols pulled off their huge win.
Some high-profile Tennessee fans, including former quarterback Erik Ainge, straight up dogged the ability of Sanford Stadium to produce the same kind of atmosphere.
Ainge started a firestorm when he tweeted, “Playing between the hedges is overrated. Not that loud and definitely not intimidating. It’s nothing like playing in Neyland. Vols will be just fine in Athens!”
Georgia fans definitely took that personally because Athens was absolutely hopping on Saturday and the crowd noise had a clear effect on the Volunteers, who had five false starts less than halfway through the second quarter.
Sanford Stadium registered 127 decibels on crowd noise. Not coincidentally, Tennessee has back-to-back false-start penalties on third-and-2 at Georgia 9. On 3rd-and-12, Georgia's Javon Bullard gets PBU on pass for TE Princeton Fant, and Vols settle for 36-yard Chase McGrath FG.
— Chip Towers AJC (@ctowersajc) November 5, 2022
Tennessee already with 3 false starts today as of 7:54 1st quarter. That is tied for their most in a game this season.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) November 5, 2022
Crowd noise already playing a major role in Athens, Georgia. pic.twitter.com/reOKPkO7Rj
https://twitter.com/ESPNCFB/status/1588993533373222912
The Bulldogs had a whole lot to say about Tennessee underestimating their crowd.
Tennessee's offense so far, dealing with the crowd noise from Bulldogs fans in Sanford Stadium pic.twitter.com/nQ3QOJuC3X
— Sarah K. Spencer (@sarah_k_spence) November 5, 2022
That third fall start penalty was specifically for the Tennessee fans who said “Sanford isn’t that loud.”
— Dawg Sports (@dawgsports) November 5, 2022
I was told the crowd noise wouldn’t bother Tennessee because they run tempo. That’s 3 false start penalties in their first 2 drives so far
— Graham Coffey (@GrahamCoffeyDC) November 5, 2022
'Sanford Stadium is not loud'. This place is bat shit crazy right now......
— Trent Smallwood (@SmallwoodTrent) November 5, 2022
I don’t think people will be running their mouth about that Sanford Stadium crowd noise anymore.
— Brooks Austin (@BrooksAustinBA) November 5, 2022
Georgia had a 21-6 advantage with six minutes remaining in the first half. Stetson Bennett had some fun with Tennessee fans by mocking them for leaking his phone number with his celebration after scoring the opening touchdown of the game. He went on to throw two touchdown passes as the Bulldogs built a commanding lead.
Meanwhile, the Vols offense finally looked like it met its match. They had to settle for two field goals on their best drives of the first half and were lucky the refs were apparently blind to a safety.
Regardless of the ultimate result, Sanford Stadium proved it can be as raucous as any other venue in the SEC. The start of the game also proved that trash talk can come back to haunt you pretty quickly.