Andy & Ari On3 - Georgia KNOCKS OFF Tennessee in Overtime | SEC Thriller in Knoxville

Episode Date: September 14, 2025

It's the Bulldogs and Volunteers battling in Knoxville. Watch here as Andy & Ari instantly react to this thrilling week 3 matchup in Neyland Stadium. While Tennessee jumped out to an EARLY 21-7 lead in the first quarter, Georgia came clawing back. Watch here as Andy & Ari instantly react to Georgia's thrilling win in overtime over Tennessee, 44-41. Watch our show on YouTube here: https://youtube.com/live/8w0n3FLn8jg Hosts: Andy Staples, Ari WassermanProducer: River Bailey Interested in partnering with the show? Email [e-mail]

Welcome to an instant reaction edition of Andy and Ari on three presented by BetMGM. Ari, what a game in Knoxville. Georgia wins at 44-41 in overtime. Tennessee had a chance to win it at the end of regulation, but college kickers will indeed college kicker. I got to say, I don't really react to wins and losses very often, like in like a I legitimately feel bad for Tennessee fans right now. Oh, you're down bad on this one, mostly because you had a whole column written about how Joey Aguilar was the savior. And but here's the thing. You're still right.

He's still really good. Yeah. I mean, I might actually take it and like, like still right. Like I'm going to, I wrote a thousand words about Tennessee. I think 600 of them apply still and I might. He made George's defense look pretty normal. Yeah.

So here. So here's the deal. I know how this game ended. And I know that Tennessee had a chance to kick a field goal. If that field goal goes in at the end of regulation, we're having a legitimate conversation right now about how the SEC doesn't have a real superpower this year. And we can still have it.

But then Georgia impressed the hell out of me in coming back. That game was lost. 21-7, everybody's writing them off. This was a classic never-tweet in the first quarter game. 21-7, everybody's writing them off. They worked their way back. By the third quarter, they're in control, and then Tennessee storms back. Like when Tennessee was marching down the field to set up the game-winning field goal that wasn't,

I would be yelling at my TV because I didn't understand why Kirby Smart's not calling timeout with 225 to go. I'm like, you got three timeouts, you got the two-minute timeout. Like, you're going to get a three-in-out here. You've been stopping them most of the second half. No, Tennessee shredded Georgia's defense on that possession. They were moving it down the field. running the ball at will. And I was really impressed.

I was really impressed. And so you knew, though, when the kick didn't go in. That was that. And in a second, like, they get back out for overtime. George's run defense shows up immediately. Like, first play, one-yard gain is like, nope, never mind. Done here. Yeah, I mean, Joey Aguilar threw for 371 yards and four touchdowns in Tennessee lost at home.

like that's a He did throw two picks too Yeah he did and like in the third quarter Like also forgot how to play football for an entire quarter But you know I don't know like I'm trying to think of like what the spin on this is Is going to be and I don't know maybe spin's not the right word like what's the reaction Did we just got done watching

A high level football game in the SEC Where both teams are going to compete for playoff spots Or do we watch two fundamentally flawed teams like Duke it out I think it's more Both be true? I think both can be true. Yeah. I think I think that Georgia is a really good football team, and I think Tennessee proved they are much better than I thought they were. And I think that going down the line, when you look at all the things that Tennessee learn, like, we can break down what this

means for Georgia. Georgia's good. Okay, great. Like now, like, we know that. We knew Georgia was good. Tennessee found receivers. Their receivers were sensational. And And what was the number one thing that we talked about in the offseason that Tennessee did not have last year? Great. Receivers. They found a quarterback who was smiling on the television broadcast on the fourth quarter at times. I don't know if you noticed that, but he was, like, not big for the moment, a person who could throw 371 yards on Georgia's defense, and that means that, to me, Tennessee can win every single game.

As producer River points out, same receivers Nico was throwing to last year, that Nico's, you know, team said wasn't good enough. Yeah. So want to know what the actual angle of my column was, and I think it still applies. My angle was that Tennessee fans could finally fully turn the page on the Nico stuff because the best revenge is living well. You don't have to worry about watching UCLA get its ass kicked by New Mexico

on a Friday night anymore because what you have to. So that's still fun for them, I'm sure. It's still fun. but like I had a girlfriend back in the day and I used to keep up on oh did she break up with her boyfriend or did she get a new job or did she move like all these things I always used to keep tabs on her because that's what you do like when you're single and you had a love relationship go bad and then you meet somebody that is so much better than what you had before like I don't care about that person anymore like even if she has the hottest husband and he makes a million dollars a year. and they live in Laguna Beach, it does not matter to me because what I have is more important. What I have now is better than what that ever was.

And I think that while Tennessee is all, I mean, college football in general is all about Shadenfreude and watching, you know, other people, you know, struggle and you feel betrayed by that person. Like today marks the day. Win or lose that Tennessee can finally move on from that and let that go. That's a disaster. What's going on at UCLA for him is probably punishment.

enough like Tennessee found a dog for a quarterback and he has his flaws you know throwing it up into double coverage deep is going to work sometimes when you have a six foot four receiver who can jump up and grab it and run into the end zone but there are times too where the opposing team's going to pick it off you have a quarterback that is good enough that can win any single game you play in the SEC and in May and April when this shit was going down with Nico it was bad it was back then I think that you found out today even in the heart break that you have a squad and like here's here's what georgia found out you're not the dominant superpower you once were but you still have dudes who can make plays when they have to make plays

and that quarterback you were worried about on fourth and six when you had to have it he threw a dime to london humphreys i mean they lose that he doesn't make that throw they lose i mean we do need to have a gunner stockton conversation gunner stockton played plenty well he is he the perfect quarterback no but he did just fine in that environment i'll take it i think that you could also make the case that everything i just said about tennessee is true for georgia they don't have this game was not that different if if a 14 year old kicker or i'm assuming that's his age based on the way he looks if a 14 year old kicker makes a kick tennessee wins and georgia doesn't that's all that's the only difference so we can't make any grand

other grand sweeping revelations about this thing. All of these things are still true. If you think that the SEC is still propped up because Georgia's Georgia, then what does that say about Tennessee? And I know that people in Knoxville who filled up that stadium and the time of their life today don't want moral victories. I think that the moral victory today stands, but you can use and reap the benefits and revel in that later on when the team that

you have is beating UAB. It's beating Mississippi State in Arkansas and probably Alabama. Who knows? Alabama look really good today, too. We don't know about that. We don't know about Oklahoma. We don't know about Florida. Look at the rest of their schedule. Yeah. They can make the playoff.

Tennessee can make the playoff. There will probably be dogs on the road to Bama because it's on the road. Are they favored in every other game on their schedule? Who knows what Florida will be? Depends on Oklahoma. We don't know what Oklahoma will be at that point. But, yeah. I like Tennessee be more than every single team. team on their schedule, maybe outside of Oklahoma at this point.

And Oklahoma is still a big question mark to me. So playoff team, you're not going to see Tennessee on a lot of off-season, pre-season playoff projection brackets. If I were doing a bracketology, I would consider putting Tennessee in it tonight. I might. I won't, but I'll consider it. I won't put them in there. Because I have other weeks that I can put them in there.

later when they win. Yeah. And by the way, what a wonderful display of football that was just for the... It was amazing. There isn't a single person with a pulse who likes football who wouldn't have enjoyed that. So Gunner's first road start, big win,

big comeback win. The fact that they were down eight late, looked like they were cooked, drove him down the field, they scored. He made some throws that were the difference in the game. Georgia found a quarterback that they know is battle tested. That's how you get experience. Tennessee knows it's not cooked. with its quarterback. They have receivers

I can go out and make a play. I thought, you know, the running back situation was pretty good. I saw two teams on the field today that could win any game they play against anybody, probably. So that's good. That's good for the SEC. That's good for both fan bases. And, you know,

it's not 2019 anymore. Losing a game at home doesn't cook you, not by any stretch of the imagination. And I actually think that the committee, later on down the line, will use this for Tennessee as a there's no such thing as a quality loss

but it does frame the way that conversation is made and had. I think that if Tennessee is in an argument with somebody down the line and Georgia continues to win games down the stretch of the season that this game will still play a benefit in tie. Well, yes. I mean the committee is going to look at how do you play against other teams in the playoff mix?

Did you win? Did you lose? Did you get blown out? Did you blow them out? All of that matters. All that makes a difference down the line. So if it's if, you know, if they're tied with somebody else who, when they got in games against playoff type teams, they got blown out, that's going to go in Tennessee's favor. Yeah, no question.

We need to talk about Kirby not kicking the extra point. Do you want to? I'm kidding. He can't kick the extra point. The game's over. But they were favored by three and a half. But if he could have kicked that extra point, it would have been good for a lot of people. I picked Tennessee Money Line, lost.

Lost that on the show and lost that in real life. So, okay, because I still lost, too, because I picked Georgia to cover. Yeah. I suck at this, by the way. I am having an awful day again. Awful day. Sorry, Ari. It's okay.

That's part of the game. The night is young. You have chances. Yeah, no, yeah, the good news is. is that like I'll either get hot tonight or I'm not going to make it to the morning. Either one. I don't know what it's going to be. By the way, it appears defense is completely optional in the Ole Miss Arkansas game,

although the first three drives have been exactly like the first three drives of the Georgia Tennessee game. Yeah. One team is up 14.7. So that is a, the SEC is not going to be a heavily defensive league. It is not going to be a lot of three, two scores. Yeah. In Ohio, he's beating Ohio six nothing in the middle of the second.

second quarter. We got some bangers going on right now. Arch Manning may be bad. Like, we have a show tonight. That's the good thing. Not shaky, but, but like bad. Andy, I think we have a show tonight. We do. We do. We have some topics. Yeah. By the way, if you're just watching this because you're a college football fan and you want to talk about Arch Manning, we're going to have a long discussion about that tonight. I don't even know what I'm going to do. I don't even know what I'm going to say. I need to formulate some takes between now in 10.30, Central, 11.30, Eastern time.

Yeah, you got some time. But I was very impressed with Georgia's comeback. I was impressed with Gunner Stockton making the biggest throw when he had to make it. This will be fun. See, that's the thing. I enjoy watching this version of Georgia because they are tough. They don't give up. But they also might lose.

Whereas those three, two, three years ago versions weren't going to lose. They were just going to suck the life out of you. Yeah. From a standpoint of someone with no rooting interest in the game, it's like, yeah, this is fun. You know what I do notice about you? And I didn't say it in the chat. I think you're trapped still in old Georgia land a little bit. I don't think so.

I'm not anymore. Not after a day. Okay. Like during the game, like, see here's the thing it's matchup dependent I've already seen Ole Miss do it to him so I'm not going to say that

when they play them but you sent me a text in the first quarter at halftime or in the third quarter saying hey because Georgia had come back and taking complete control in Tennessee couldn't do anything I was like see Kirby's daddy but you said did you take seven and a half after it was 2114 I was like

no I actually thought Georgia was going to lose by more than that when it was 217 on bed and GM the live line was Georgia plus seven and a half, which if you'd hit it, you'd have won money and you didn't. Yes. Yeah, and I've been losing money all day. But it would have been great to have done it.

But my frame of reference at the time when it was 2114 was that Tennessee was going to win by more than seven and a half. And I think that maybe I am maybe way on the right and your way on the left, or maybe I'm just misunderstanding you. But like, I am not under the illusion that

Georgia is going to bow a constrictor to the a lot of every opponent that it plays this year. I'm not anymore either. They just gave up 41 points to Tennessee. And I think they will lose at some point this year. It won't matter. Of course. They lost. Ari. They lost last year.

Yeah. Yeah. But like that one drive out of the locker room, didn't they have like a 14 play drive or 13 plays? First play, first drive of the second half is where it looked like, oh, this is them returning to four. But the thing is you had already seen enough in the first half.

that the defense is not the dominant Georgia defense of 2021 or 2020. It's just not, you can't, you can't even stock a defense like that in college football anymore. You can't have that, that kind of personnel because, like, even, even in actual Georgia land, they left, like, Jermaine Johnson was on that defensive line, and he left and became the best defensive player in the ACC, and he was a rotation guy at Georgia. So even then you couldn't keep all that talent together. Now it's impossible.

Yeah. Yeah. But Georgia could definitely win the national title. Here's the other piece about Tennessee. Let's say this game happened again. Oh, I don't know, in Atlanta the first weekend of December. Tennessee's starting cornerbacks are playing in that game probably. They weren't playing in this game.

So I, like, if, these two see each other again, which, whether that would be in Atlanta or a playoff game, it could be different. But it was sure as hell fun this time. So I would take it again. Yeah. If someone would give it to me. If you're Georgia tonight, revel in the fact that you are still badass.

And if you're Tennessee tonight revel in the fact that you have a good and that you don't longer have to worry about your ex. And maybe we'll see in Atlanta. I don't know. We'll see. but I thought that was high-level football and I thought that was highly entertaining and I got the sense that both of these teams

can beat anybody else in the SEC and I don't know how many other teams in the SEC I feel that about but it might- There's nobody in the SEC that you're like they're going to beat everybody they play. But there's also nobody, there's also like six teams in the SEC that you could come up with an idea of like they theoretically could win X matchup with that.

Yes, that's the thing. There's a lot of they can beat anybody there's no, they will beat everybody. Right, which means that we probably are around the corner at some case for some chaos as Florida goes up 3-0 on LSU in the first quarter. So they're showing now they're currently showing the pregame fisticuffs. It's one of those nights in Death Valley. Should we go watch it? We should go watch it.

And we will talk about it with you live 1130 p.m. Eastern Time. We'll wrap up all the day's action. This has been fun already. I've got a feeling this night is going to be legendary. We'll talk to you soon.