We’ve all seen the comical exchange in movies or cartoons. One puny, overmatched person, in their rage and adrenaline, decides to stand up to the big, bad bully. With all their might, they reach back, fist clenched, and swing at their opponent, hitting them squarely in the chin.

Instead of being knocked over by the force of the punch, however, the bully softly touches their chin, checks their own fingers for blood and smiles at their assailant. The overmatched, undersized fighter, realizing their mistake, cowers and pleads for mercy.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Georgia versus Tennessee.

The Vols came out of the gates full throttle against Georgia on Saturday in Knoxville. Jaylen Wright took a handoff on the first snap of the game, found a hole and raced 75 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead. The orange-clad faithful in Neyland Stadium erupted. The loudest stadium in America got just a little bit louder, and Georgia’s 27-game win streak seemed ever so briefly in some measure of peril.

And then Georgia did what Georgia does. It outscored Tennessee 38-3 the rest of the way. Quarterback Carson Beck was superb, throwing for 298 yards and 3 touchdowns. Deebo Samuel-clone Dillon Bell caught 5 passes for 90 yards and a touchdown and also tossed an 18-yard scoring pass. Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint tallied 7 catches for 91 yards and 2 touchdowns. Brock Bowers, who got a little banged up in the game, had another touchdown reception. After the 75-yard run, Georgia allowed 202 total yards the rest of the way.

It was just another dominant victory. The Bulldogs are 11-0, they have won 28 straight, and they just recorded their third straight perfect regular season conference record.

Lost in everything this season — the ups, the downs, the blowouts, the squeakers — Georgia has demonstrated one skill that this team has above all others:

It knows how to take a punch.

It’s really good at a lot of things. The offense might even be better than past iterations, or at least on par. The defense is objectively a couple of notches below what we’ve seen in the past couple of years. But in terms of a team that can take an opponent’s best shot to open the game, then recover in spades? This team has it.

Just look back throughout the conference schedule.

  • South Carolina: Scored on its first drive and led the Bulldogs 14-3 at halftime. Georgia scored 14 points in the third quarter, outscored the Gamecocks 21-0 in the second half and won 24-14.
  • Auburn: Took a 10-0 lead in the first quarter and had the Bulldogs 20-20 inside of the fourth quarter. Georgia hung on for a 27-20 win.
  • Vanderbilt: Scored on the first drive of the game. Georgia won 37-20.
  • Florida: Scored on the first drive. Georgia won 43-20.
  • Missouri: Led Georgia 13-10 early in the third quarter. The Bulldogs won 30-21.
  • Ole Miss: Scored on the first drive. Georgia ran away, 52-17.
  • Tennessee: Scored on the first play. Georgia recovered for a 38-10 blowout.

Time and time again, Georgia has easily rallied after getting knocked in the mouth by rivals that wanted nothing more than to be the team that ended its winning streak. Each time, the Dawgs survived.

So, what is it that makes this team so resilient?

It starts with Carson Beck. The quarterback no one was really sure how they felt about is suddenly one of the top 2 or 3 signal callers in the country. He is humble, yet arrogant. Quietly self-assured. There is never a moment big enough to faze the guy who spent multiple years waiting in the wings.

Week after week, Beck is demonstrating the kind of poise that few players really possess. Whatever the situation, his demeanor is the same.

The other factor is the safety-valve receivers. Mostly, it’s Brock Bowers. But when he was out for 2 games, it was Ladd McConkey. And when McConkey was back on the bench nursing an aggravated back on Saturday, it was Bowers setting the tone early. It wasn’t always big yardage, but just knowing that Beck would find No. 19 and sustain a drive is such a buzzkill for opposing teams.

And then there’s the defense. For all of its faults, Georgia’s defense is still ranked in the top 10 nationally. It gives up early points, but immediately responds like no team I’ve seen before. It is nowhere near as talented as Georgia’s past defenses, but it is effective at reacting quickly to an offense that punches it in the mouth. Tip of the cap to Tykee Smith, Javon Bullard and Nazir Stackhouse, who really help this unit tick.

This team is not as dominant as past teams. In the next 4 games — 4 wins left to history — the Bulldogs are sure to fall behind another talented opponent. But it is well accustomed to that. If there’s one thing you can be sure of, this team will be battle tested in a way that neither of the past 2 national champs were.

And that bodes very well for these Bulldogs.