What Went Wrong: Georgia
Credit: University of Tennessee Athletics
By Tucker Harlin
#7 Tennessee (8-2, 5-2) fell at #12 Georgia (8-2, 6-2) 31-17 Saturday night.
This is only the second time I’ve broken down a Tennessee football loss this season. I had Georgia as one of the Vols’ two losses before the season, but it looks worse with a prior loss to Arkansas in Fayetteville.
I’m largely going to avoid officiating. It’s a shame Alabama quarterback David Smith performs poorly every November, but they ARE NOT the reason Tennessee lost between the hedges.
Let’s jump into the real reasons why the Vols lost Saturday.
OFFENSE
Tennessee is stuck in this strange trend of starting the game off well against the Bulldogs and letting it all slip. We can trace this all the way back to 2019.
Saturday was no different. After the defense forced a punt, the Vols marched downfield and scored on a Miles Kitselman dive at the goal line.
But a great coach is going to make adjustments, and that’s exactly what Kirby Smart did. Outside of Dylan Sampson’s 27-yard touchdown run, Tennessee was unable to construct explosive plays.
There are a few different areas to examine for offensive struggles, starting with the run game.
Why is Dylan Sampson only getting under 20 touches? Georgia wasn’t keeping him behind the chains, and many of Sampson’s short yardage outputs were on third downs that only called for minimal gains.
Peyton Lewis is a wildcard at running back right now. He’ll give you eight yards on one play and get stonewalled on the next.
The problems with the offensive line weren’t related to the run game but pass protection. The fives sacks it surrendered is a new high for the year, an element that proved costly.
Pre-snap penalties weren’t as troublesome for the offensive line as they were in the 2022 loss, but the false start on Lance Heard on 4th and 5 at the Georgia 41 crushed any hopes of tying the game in the middle of the fourth quarter.
I hate to pose this question, but did we oversell this receiving core in August? Nico Iamaleava didn’t struggle seeing the field, but the connectivity between he and his targets has been a talking point all season.
Not only are Nico and the receivers out of sync, but they’re lacking the burst we’re accustomed to seeing.
Bru McCoy doesn’t have the twitch he possessed before destroying his ankle last season, and Squirrel White continues to play hurt. Dont’e Thornton had a brutal drop in a critical moment, and the big plays occur sparingly for Chris Brazzell.
When does Josh Heupel get his wish for Mike Matthews to see the field more? I’m not making any assumptions about Matthews’ character, but kids will transfer out of your program without hesitation if they don’t see the field in two years.
Underutilization of tight ends is another subject of frustration. Tennessee’s best wins have featured a mixture of important receptions from the tight ends, but they only had five receptions between the hedges.
The last offensive complaint I have is the decision to take a delay of game and punt instead of going on a fourth down at Georgia’s 36-yard line.
It’s always hard to be critical in the moment, but everyone will remember that decision for all the wrong reasons. I don’t mean to turn into Eminem here, but Heupel only had one shot at something he hadn’t done at Tennessee and blew it.
Mark Stoops punted late in Kentucky’s loss to Georgia and you saw how that game ended.
DEFENSE
We can objectively call this the worst performance from Tennessee’s defense all season.
Carson Beck looked like a coveted draft prospect for the Bulldogs all game. A previously turnover-happy quarterback became a dual-threat that diced up one of the most formidable defenses in the SEC.
So, how was Beck able to get after the Vols?
It starts up front. James Pearce, Josh Josephs, Tyre West, and the rest of the defensive line were unable to keep Georgia behind the chains, only tackling the Bulldogs behind the line twice.
Similar to the decision to punt on Georgia’s end, the offsides penalty on James Pearce at the conclusion of the first quarter was another moment responsible for a momentum shift.
Unlike the offensive front, the defensive line was affected by pre-snap penalties, committing three offsides over the course of the evening. The secondary looked completely lost on the free play, and it opened up the floodgates for a previously stagnant offense.
Mike Bobo (cue the Vol Rumor Mill) got his tight ends involved in the pass game. Oscar Delp, Ben Yurosek, and Lawson Luckie all finished the night with at least one reception over 20 yards.
Utilization of tight ends exposes a serious weakness in the Tennessee defense: linebackers.
The Keenan Pili injury against Florida is taking its toll on this group. Arion Carter got beat on the first touchdown pass to Delp, and his missed tackle is a part of the reason for Beck’s first sizable gain on the ground.
As for the others, Jeremiah Telander and Jalen Smith still have lots of room for growth in their roles, and Tennessee needs it with Pili’s career ending.
Outside of the two runs by Beck, the run defense wasn’t an issue for this team. You knew the fifth and sixth options at running back weren’t going to have the efficacy of a Trevor Etienne, so Georgia looked to hurt Tennessee in the air.
OVERALL
I said this earlier, but Tennessee is singing a different tune if the loss at Arkansas doesn’t happen. The loss at Georgia has diminished the odds of a playoff home game in Neyland Stadium, but I don’t think that’s the case with a playoff appearance.
Obviously, the Vols have to control their schedule in the final two weeks of the season, but they’ll need to root for other results as well.
The first team Tennessee needs to root for in the final two weeks is Florida. The Gators face Ole Miss in the swamp this weekend, and a win over a 7-5 Florida team looks better than a victory over one that’s 5-7 or worse.
You can root for the Alabamas and Texases of the world to lose, but Bama will have a difficult time losing to Oklahoma and Auburn while a Texas loss to Texas A&M helps less than you think.
Outside of the SEC, Army is every power four contender’s best friend this weekend as it faces Notre Dame. The results in the ACC and Big 12 are meaningless for the Vols; the committee holds those conferences in a low regard.
As for the Big 10, Indiana is at worst finishing the season 11-1. Should Ohio State lose to the Hoosiers, the Vols would need Michigan to do the impossible in the shoe during Rivalry Week.
I honestly don’t know what’s best for the Vols in regard to Penn State. The committee could reason with an 11-1 record for the Nittany Lions over the Vols if they take care of business, but a loss at Minnesota may be stronger than the Vols’ loss at Arkansas.
The College Football Playoff rankings are released Tuesday, so keep an eye on those when they come out.
