Stetson Bennett’s telephone was blowing up Saturday at noon, but not in the way he would have liked.
It seems someone got hold of the quarterback’s numbers and blasted it across social media for all to see.
“I probably got six or seven hundred (calls and texts),” Bennett smiled, presuming they were all from Tennessee fans.
Undoubtedly, those fans won’t be calling back. Not after Bennett completed 17 of 25 passes for 257 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Bulldogs past Tennessee, 27-13.
He also ran for a 13-yard score.
“I figured if I tried to hide them, they wouldn’t show up,” Bennett said of the calls.
No, he did not return any of his messages.
“I think I’ll just sit on them,” he said.
If Vols hoped the messages would rattle Bennett, they had zero effect.
Head coach Kirby Smart liked what he saw. Two descriptions came immediately to mind.
"Competitive excellence. Competitive toughness: he's a winner,” Smart said. “I mean, let's be honest. The guy wins. The guy knows how to play the game. he understands what people are doing. He came off the field one time and we were frustrated. I said, 'Well, what coverage was it?' He said what coverage it was, but a lot of people were saying it wasn't. But go back and look, turns out he was right. He sees the game, he understands it. He's stubborn as hell sometimes, but he's a competitor."
Hendon Hooker came with all the accolades and was billed as a Heisman Trophy candidate, but Saturday it was Bennett who once again proved he’s much better than many might want to believe.
Hooker completed 23 of 33 passes for 195 yards, with no touchdowns.
“This was fun,” said Bennett, who despite being nine-point favorites, felt like they were the underdogs after Tennessee earned the top ranking in the inaugural College Football Poll.
Bennett acknowledged the entire team played with a bit of a chip.
“A little bit, but not really,” he said. “We’ve got confidence in ourselves. Outside doesn’t matter. If we take care of business, then everything else takes care of itself.”
Bennett’s first big play came during the offense’s second possession when he hooked up with Arian Smith for a 50-yard completion. The play set up a 13-yard run by Bennett, which he scored after diving to the pylon to put Georgia up 7-3.
The 25-year-old was just getting started.
Bennett threw touchdown passes of 37 yards to Ladd McConkey and five yards to Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint.
Per the experts, this was not the way Saturday’s game was supposed to go. Hooker came in leading the country in completions over 30 yards with 40.
Heading into the fourth quarter, Hooker’s longest completion was 28 yards to Jalin Hyatt to set up the Vols’ first touchdown with 4:15 in the fourth. Hooker only attempted three deep throws, with one intercepted in the end zone by Kelee Ringo.
“We had confidence in ourselves; we just had to go out and play like it,” Bennett said. “But we’ve got a lot of work to do. This wasn’t a one-and-done thing. We’ve got some big challenges ahead, including next week at Mississippi State. They’ve got a great team. We’ve just got to keep it going.”
