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

5. Pass defense has major issues

Shawn Shamburger returned, and the benefits showed for Tennessee football at times. However, without Daniel Bituli and Nigel Warrior, there are numerous issues with this team defending the pass that continue to come up, and they came up again in this game. The story is the intermediate passing game, which didn’t change with Shamburger back.

What we’re seeing is that despite how good Henry To’o To’o is, he’s got to work on his coverage game. Stetson Bennett was able to pick the Vols apart over the middle when he wasn’t under pressure, and this is why tight end Tre’ McKitty was second on the team in receiving with two receptions for 47 yards.

Even with Shamburger back, though, Kearis Jackson, the slot receiver, led the team in receiving with four receptions for 91 yards and a touchdown. His touchdown was on a third down play that put the Dawgs up by two scores, breaking the game open, and it was simply due to a busted coverage by the Vols over the middle. That was the story of the game in many ways for UT.

To’o To’o, Jeremy Banks and Quavaris Crouch all have to improve as linebackers in coverage. Jaylen McCollough and Trevon Flowers haven’t been bad at safety but could be better. The same holds true for Alontae Taylor. To be fair, though, Thompson had no issues, as Bennett barely threw his way. Covering passes over the middle was the main problem, and Derrick Ansley needs to fix that.