Tennessee football: Five takeaways from Vols 44-21 loss to Georgia

2. Defense showed encouraging signs in the trenches.

There are lots of things to criticize about Tennessee football’s defense, but in the first half, the defensive line got a solid push while the inside linebackers did a great job of filling the gaps. That was what put Rocky Top up 21-17 going into halftime, and it’s something Jeremy Pruitt and his team can build off of going forward.

The most standout play is obviously Kivon Bennett recovering the fumble in the end zone off that high snap to give the Vols a 7-0 lead early. But beyond that, there were numerous great plays made by this unit up front.

Darel Middleton deflected multiple passes. Henry To’o To’o continued to fill gaps and come away with two tackles for a loss. Roman Harrison emerged around the edge himself with a sack and a tackle for a loss.

Then there are the specific defensive stands. The Vols scored their first offensive touchdown after stopping a quarterback sneak on 4th and less than a yard. At the end of the second quarter, they had an epic goal-line stand, stopping Georgia on back to back running plays from the one.

When the turnovers came in the third quarter, the defense initially played great. It didn’t allow a first down on either drive after the turnover, forcing UGA to settle for a field goal, and then it forced a punt on the next drive. That was all because UT stopped the run well until it wore down in the fourth quarter.