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Tennessee football: Vols fight, fall at Georgia Bulldogs 38-12

By Caleb Calhoun

ATHENS, GA - SEPTEMBER 29: Isaac Nauta #18 of the Georgia Bulldogs runs with a recovered fumble for a touchdown against the Tennessee Volunteers on September 29, 2018 at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)
ATHENS, GA - SEPTEMBER 29: Isaac Nauta #18 of the Georgia Bulldogs runs with a recovered fumble for a touchdown against the Tennessee Volunteers on September 29, 2018 at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images) /
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Tennessee football fell to 0-2 in the SEC and 2-3 overall in its first road game Saturday. The Volunteers lost to the UGA Dawgs 38-12.

The Georgia Bulldogs fumbled the ball four times Saturday, and Tennessee football couldn’t recover one of them. Instead, the Dawgs recovered their first fumble and ran it into the end zone for a touchdown to go up 7-0 in the first quarter.

Such a play seems like the story of the season for the Vols, who fought hard but just didn’t have the horses to compete with the Dawgs in this game. Georgia got the best of them with a SCORE win Saturday at Sanford Stadium in Athens to move to 5-0 and 3-0 in the conference. They also tied this series at 23.

With the loss, the Vols fall to 2-3 overall and 0-2 in the league. They were only down 7-0 after the first quarter, and thanks to a lot of fight from their defense, it was only 10-0 late. But the Dawgs scored a touchdown on their final drive of the first half and their opening drive of the second half to make it 24-0.

That’s when Tennessee football came to life. Once again, Jeremy Pruitt’s team didn’t quit. Jarrett Guarantano hit Josh Palmer for a 37-yard touchdown pass to cut it to 24-6 after a failed two-point conversion.

After that, the two teams traded punts, and then horrible play-calling by Jim Chaney created another UGA punt. On the next drive, Guarantano hit Ty Chandler for a 35-yard touchdown pass, and even after a failed two-point conversion, the Vols were in this game early in the fourth, down only 24-12.

However, that’s when Georgia showed its superiority and exposed Tennessee football’s lack of depth. The Dawgs drove down the field and scored another touchdown to go up 31-12. Then Jeremy Banks fumbled the ball, which set up another UGA touchdown to give them their 38-12 advantage.

For the game, Jarrett Guarantano completed 13-of-21 passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns. He had no interceptions. The team collectively only had 66 yards rushing, but nobody had over 30 yards on the ground.

The defensive front seven played hard in the first half, but its lack of depth began to show later. They ended up allowing 411 yards overall, including 221 yards on the ground. Jake Fromm completed 16 of 22 passes for 185 yards and no touchdowns.

This was par for the course for Tennessee football, as the Vols are rebuilding and going through a brutal stretch. But they continue to show signs of life, and that’s encouraging. Maybe it’s what they need heading into their bye week.

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