No. 3 Georgia made a demonstrative statement Saturday, dominating No. 1 Tennessee and putting the rest of the country on notice.

Stetson Bennett threw two touchdown passes and ran for a score and No. 1 Georgia shut down Tennessee’s high-powered offense to win 27-13 on Saturday in an SEC showdown of the nation’s top-ranked teams.

Georgia (9-0, 6-0 SEC) turned the 25th regular-season matchup of the top two teams in the AP poll into rout that made clear the defending national champions are still the team to beat.

“A bunch of kids that love this place,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said right after the game. “We took zero out of the portal. They all love it here. They compete their asses off, and these fans are elite.

“I’m so proud of this university and these kids. They practiced their butts off for two weeks.”

Georgia led 27-6 before Tennessee scored its first touchdown with 4:15 remaining.

Hendon Hooker, who entered as the Heisman Trophy frontrunner after taking down Alabama last month, passed for only 195 yards for Tennessee (8-1, 4-1) and was sacked six times by star defensive tackle Jalen Carter and the Bulldogs’ defense.

Hooker threw an interception, lost a fumble that nearly resulted in a safety for Georgia and didn’t throw a touchdown pass.

“They played together,” Smart said. “They stuck to the plan. You stick to the plan, and you have a hell of a chance. Nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. That was our theme.”

Mark Heim is a sports reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim.