Georgia’s Dillon Bell had himself a game against Tennessee in a 38-10 win on Saturday.
Bell, a sophomore offensive weapon for the Bulldogs, completed one pass for an 18-yard touchdown. He also had a rush for four yards while adding five receptions for 90 yards and a score.
“Great competitor. He’s ready when his number is called,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said of Bell. “He made plays on back-shoulder 50-50 balls, made a great play that (offensive coordinator Mike) Bobo put together for him with the opportunity to pass, and the runs after the catch were big. So, he stepped up big today, and we continue to have guys do that when other guys are down.”
Bell is a former three-star prospect signed by Georgia as a wide receiver, but he’s played all over the offense this season, including as a running back, due to injuries at the position.
He has totaled 128 yards on 24 rush attempts and two touchdowns while lining up as a running back. Bell has also hauled in 19 receptions for 217 receiving yards and a pair of scores at wide receiver.
Bell arguably had the play of the game Saturday as the Bulldogs trailed Tennessee 7-3 in the first quarter. He tossed an 18-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint on a trick play.
Bell’s first career passing touchdown gave Georgia the lead and silenced a crowd of 104,000 Tennessee fans. The Bulldogs never lost the lead after that and coasted the rest of the game.
“That was a whole game-changer right there,” Bell said. “My confidence was just like, wow. He caught it and then we just shut the crowd up. They had momentum, they scored on the first play of the drive, then we came back with that. It was just a blessing overall. I was like, I’ve got to get it to him. The safety came down, everybody came down to it. I was like, got to make a good pass.”
In the second quarter, Bell caught a 9-yard touchdown at the 8:04 mark. Georgia extended its lead to a margin of 10 points at that point and held a 24-7 advantage over the Volunteers at the half.
The Bulldogs added two more touchdowns in the third quarter to solidify the win. According to Rosemy-Jacksaint, Georgia’s offensive unit has “weapons” at every position.
“We’ve got weapons all over the place. It doesn’t matter who’s in the game, I feel like whoever is in at the time, there’s a standard that we play here at,” Rosemy-Jacksaint said. “Whoever’s in at that time, they’re going to play to that standard of Georgia football. We feel like we trust everybody to go out there and perform at a high level and make the plays they’re supposed to make.”