The Vols were defeated in Athens by a lackluster defense and a number of dubious calls.
Early on Saturday night, the Tennessee Vols appeared to have some hope, but it rapidly vanished as the squad struggled in the last two quarters to lose to the Georgia Bulldogs 31–17 in Athens. Nico Iamaleava passed for 167 yards at a rate of 20/33. With 101 rushing yards on 19 carries and a touchdown, Dylan Sampson surpassed the 100-yard milestone. Miles Kitselman added a 1-yard rushing score and topped all pass catchers with 46 receiving yards on 4 catches.
The Vols got off to a fantastic start by forcing Georgia to go three and out. After that, they marched 78 yards in a systematic manner to the end zone, finishing with a Kitselman dive over the top from a power formation one yard out. Max Gilbert booted through a 51-yard field goal for a 10-0 lead following another stop and a lengthy return of a punt by Boo Carter (who, regrettably, was tackled by the punter in the open field). At that point, the Vols’ situation starts to go south. Georgia would outscore the Vols by a significant margin during the next three quarters after a 38-yard catch and run to finish the first quarter signified a turnaround in the game.
Georgia would add two more scoring drives of at least ten plays apiece in the first half after they had already drawn within 10-7 with a 75-yard drive in five plays. Throughout the game, Beck was completely unassisted by Tennessee’s defensive front, and he easily tore up Tennessee’s secondary, throwing for 347 yards and two scores.
Even though the Bulldogs were saved by a highly contentious ruling early in the second half, the difficulties persisted. With the score at 2nd and 24, Beck completed a 16-yard pass to Nitro Tuggle. It was not the facemask that tore off his helmet. However, the call turned 3rd and 8 into 1st and 10 as the officials inexplicably noticed a facemask. Georgia would score again, securing the advantage. After the Dawgs punted once in the second half, they pulled together a series of time-consuming drives, the final one ending with Nate Frazier’s 2-yard touchdown with two minutes remaining
Tennessee’s offense didn’t perform much better than their defense. The Vols’ wide receivers didn’t seem to be getting much separation down the field, and the offensive line had trouble holding Georgia’s pass rushers at bay. Additionally, Nico missed two important throws that would have continued drives. After a memorable start, the Vols had a night to forget overall. The Vols will now have to wait until Tuesday, when the new college football playoff rankings and bracket are unveiled, to find out how far down they stand.
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