Tennessee 42 Vs. Georgia Tech 41: Mercedes-Benz Stadium Hosts 2nd College Football Game

ATLANTA, GA -- The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets face the Tennessee Volunteers on Monday night in Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium. For the second game in a row, the shiny new stadium was rockin' and rollin'. If this is any indication of how the venue will hold up during its inaugural NFL season, Atlanta is going to have a ball.

The match-up featured Georgia Tech, who plays their home games just up the street at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Midtown, and the Vols of the mighty SEC. The game, an overtime thriller won 42-41 by Tennessee, turned out to be as good -- actually better -- than advertised. (SIGN UP: Get Patch's Daily Newsletter and Real Time News Alerts. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app.)

Tech scored in the second overtime and elected to roll the dice and go for two instead of kicking the tying extra point. But the Vols defense came up with a huge stop at the goal line.

Tech coach Paul Johnson said he thought they had a great chance of winning it in the second OT.

"Well, I was so sorely disappointed with the outcome. I think there were some positives that we can build on in the game," he said after the game. "Our young guys on offense I thought went out and played pretty well."

Johnson said that the fourth-quarter turnover is what gave the Vols new life.

"You know, the last fumble killed us. I think we've got the game in control down there, in spite of being horrendous on special teams, kicking the ball, I think we could have scored there, run the clock down" and won the game.

Tech's running game, powered by quarterback TaQuon Marshall and running back KirVonte Benson (26 / 124), churned out 545 yards on 86 carries - the fourth game out of the last five that UT's defense gave up more than 400 on the ground. The game could have been won in regulation, but Tennessee blocked Tech's game-winning field goal.

Vols quarterback Quinten Dormady had a solid game, finishing 20 of 37 for 237 yards through the air and two touchdowns.

Tennessee's receiving corps was led by Marquez Callaway, who scored two touchdowns and 115 yards on just for receptions in regulation, including a 50-yarder. On the ground, the Vols' John Kelly tallied 128 yards on 19 carries.

UT coach Butch Jones said that his offense didn't play up to the Vols' "standards" early in the game -- but then they came to life.

"You know, the second half, obviously Marquez Callaway, what can I say about that individual. He sparked us and made some very, very key plays for us, obviously, and then the resolve and resiliency of the defense, even though we gave up the amount of yards rushing, we still managed to force two takeaways and offensively didn't turn the football over, which was paramount to winning the football game." Jones said.

Tech's Marshall, who scored a record five touchdowns, a Tech record, showed that he may be one of the most electric players in all of college football, finishing with 249 yards rushing.

Jones said that the yards his team gave up on the ground had a lot to do with Georgia Tech's incredible offense -- but also his team's lapses on defense.

"Well, the good thing is we don't have to play (another) triple option football team," he said, "We need to spend a lot of time on this video, but tackling, being able to -- we had way too many missed tackles."

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Fans from both sides packed the stadium on a beautiful day for some football inside or even outdoors. Unlike the Georgia Dome, which had only four eateries, the new venue has 24 places to eat -- and that's outside of the stadium's own delectable fare.

Some stats about the Mercedes-Benz Stadium (MBS) compared with the Georgia Dome (GD):

Cost to build: GD -- $214 million, MBS -- $1.5 billion
Construction time: GD -- 29 months; MBS -- 39 months
Parking spaces: GD -- 19,211; MBS --21,000
Height:GD-- 275 feet; MBS -- 305 feet
Total seating capacity: GD --71,250 (no expandable seating); MBS -- 71,000 (75,000 with expandable seating)
Bars, restaurants-- GD -- 4; MBS -- 24
Scoreboard square footage: GD -- 4,800 square feet; MBS -- 63,800 square feet
The Atlanta Falcons play their first regular season game at the new stadium on Sept. 17 against the Green Bay Packers.
Image via Craig Johnson / Patch