Tennessee’s offense was a bit of a mixed bag in the Vols’ 41-17 loss to No. 1 Georgia Saturday.
The Vols turned the ball over two times. Once in Georgia’s red zone and another time at the UT 40-yard line. Tennessee coughed up the ball two other times too, though the Vols recovered both.
It was quarterback Hendon Hooker’s worst start of the season as the senior was responsible for both of Tennessee’s turnovers and missed a handful of throws — both underneath and down the field — that cost the Vols.
“Whether it was juiced up, body not in the right position or just the pressure they were getting at time and him being a little bit rushed in the pocket,” Tennessee head coach Heupel said of Hooker. “Whether the pressure was real or he was feeling the rush from previous plays, we’re just a little bit off. The one interception was that and there were a couple other throws that sailed on him.”
Still, Tennessee scored more points and recorded more yards than anyone has against Georgia this season. That wasn’t satisfying for a Tennessee offense that expects a lot of itself but left plays out on the field.
“We played with a lot of heart but a little bit, a lot a bit, disappointed,” receiver Cedric Tillman said. “Just cause we felt like we could’ve done better. There’s a lot of things, including myself, that we messed up on. Sure we may have scored more than people averaged but we expect that. We like to think we’re one of the best offenses in the country so we had our moments but overall we have to get better.”
Tennessee moved the ball better than expected against the nation’s best defense, recording six drives over 30 yards and three drives over 70 yards.
It’s not about turning in strong drives against this Georgia team — though that’s obviously a plus. It’s about finding ways to punch the ball in the end zone and that’s incredibly challenging to do without chunk plays. Once offenses get in the red zone and the field shrinks, life just gets harder.
That was the case for Tennessee. The Vols turned the ball over on downs twice in Georgia territory in the second half and Hooker fumbled another time.
That’s why Tennessee’s offensive performance was — at least a little bit — better than the final score indicates. The Vols could have kicked field goals to make the game more competitive, but Heupel and his staff played to win, knowing they needed touchdowns once they got in Georgia territory.
“You lose the turnover battle 2-0, you can’t do that,” Heupel said. “The red zone for us offensively, not good enough. Change those two things and you have a chance to put it down at the end.”
Heupel hits the nail on the head. For an undermanned Tennessee team to pull off the upset of the college football season, they had to capitalize on every single opportunity they had.
Georgia was who we thought they were. That’s the best team in the country and the best defense we’ve seen in a number of years.
“The toughest thing is just their personnel,” Heupel said. “Their front seven personnel is really good. They rotate guys in and there’s no drop off from the one to the next guy coming in.”
After a four week gauntlet against four top 20 opponents the Vols are on the closing stretch of the season with much more manageable opponents.
Tennessee can get bowl eligible next week against South Alabama and can improve to 4-4 in SEC play in two weeks against Vanderbilt.
