ATHENS, Ga. — Tennessee football jumped out to an early lead but couldn’t hold on as they fell at Georgia 31-17 on Saturday night. It marked the Vols’ eighth straight loss in the series and a major second loss this season for their playoff hopes.
Here’s four quick takeaways on the loss.
A First Half Ode To The 2021 Tennessee Football Team
Think back to Josh Heupel’s first season at Tennessee. The Vols came out the gates hot in the first quarter every game before stumbling badly in the second quarter. This was an ode to that team.
Tennessee came out the gates red-hot, forcing a three-and-out before going 78 yards on 12 plays for an opening drive touchdown capped off by a Miles Kitselman one-yard touchdown run on a fullback dive.
The first quarter continued going the Vols way as they led 10-0 through the first 15 minutes. After 30 minutes, Tennessee and Georgia were knotted up at 17-17 heading into the intermission. While the difference for the 2021 Vols was often the offense, it was their defense that changed from the first quarter to the second quarter.
Georgia hit a 38-yard play on the final play of the first quarter. It was more yards than they totaled in the first half up to that point. That play sparked Georgia’s first touchdown drive of the night, starting a streak of three straight scoring drives to end the first half. After totaling just 22 yards on its first three drives, Georgia totaled 216 yards on its next three drives.
Tennessee’s offense stepped up with a big touchdown drive to stop a potential free fall and the defense held Georgia to a field goal in the red zone to end the half. But the vibe of the second quarter had a much different vibe than the first quarter as the two teams went into the locker room tied up.
Pass Defense Struggles
Tennessee’s run defense had issues each of the last two weeks against Kentucky and Mississippi State while its pass defense held strong. It was the other way around against Georgia.
The Bulldogs had success throwing the football against Tennessee and they went to the air often. Carson Beck completed 25-of-40 passes for 347 yards in the game. Compare that to Georgia’s 107 rushing yards and it was a relatively one dimensional Georgia offense.
There were a number of issues for Tennessee’s pass defense. Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo did a fantastic job of drawing up plays to exploit the Vols’ linebackers and safeties limitations in coverage and certainly Beck had a really nice night and was accurate throwing the football.
But the biggest impact on Georgia’s passing game was Tennessee’s lack of pass rush. The Vols couldn’t get pressure bringing four or blitzing. Beck has been bad when under pressure and Georgia’s pass protection has been shaky the last month.
With Tennessee’s defensive line being stout this season, it seemed like they’d be likely to affect the game that way. They did not and Georgia’s pass offense had a strong night.
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Lacking Explosive Plays In The Passing Game
The running game is the bread-and-butter of Tennessee’s offense and the Vols ran it as well as they have against Georgia in Josh Heupel’s four seasons as head coach. But the key to Tennessee’s offense being at its best is its ability to hit explosive plays in the passing game.
And as has been the case in past years against Georgia, Tennessee was unable to hit those plays. Quarterback Nico Iamaleava was solid in the game but finished with just 167 passing yards due in large part to Tennessee’s inability to hit big plays.
The Vols longest pass of the night was just 17 yards and it was their only completion of over 15 yards.
Dont’e Thornton dropped one pass that would have been a decent gain over the middle but Tennessee largely did not have players open down the field as they struggled to win one-on-ones on the outside. That forced Tennessee to put together long drives against an elite defense. They did it some but not enough to win.
Tennessee Can’t Get Off The Field On Third Down
Georgia failed to get its first three third down attempts of the game prior to the big completion on the final play of the first quarter we previously mentioned.
From that point on, Georgia was eight-of-10 on third down and seemed to pick them up at a number of really crucial spots. Tennessee struggled to get off the field in passing downs, something they’ve been great at doing all season, due in large part to the pass rush issues we previously discussed.
On the 12-play, 92-yard game sealing touchdown drive, Georgia converted a pair of third downs including a third-and-two deep shot where London Humphries made a contested catch on Jermod McCoy. It was largely symbolic of the game and the rivalry, Tennessee wasn’t bad on the play. Georgia was simply better.
