Tennessee football: Five takeaways from Vols’ 41-17 loss to No. 1 Georgia

Despite scoring a touchdown on a 77-yard drive to open the game, leading 10-7 at the end of the first quarter and forcing a punt on their first defensive drive of the second half, Tennessee football couldn’t hang on with the No. 1 ranked Georgia Bulldogs for too long. UT was outscored 17-0 in the second quarter en route to a 41-17 loss on homecoming.

UGA, which had already clinched the SEC East, improves to 10-0 on the year and has ended its regular season SEC slate a perfect 8-0. The Vols, meanwhile, fall to 5-5 on the year and 3-4 in the SEC. This is also their fifth straight loss to the Dawgs in the series.

Up next for UT are two home games to close out Josh Heupel’s first season against the South Alabama Jaguars and Vanderbilt Commodores. Kirby Smart’s team will host the Charleston Southern Buccaneers and visit the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Here are five things we learned from Tennessee football’s loss.

5. Passing game missed on too many key throws.

Some were on Hendon Hooker, others were on certain receivers, but the Vols couldn’t convert on a couple of key plays that were there. Hooker threw a devastating interception in the second quarter that spotted Georgia its first lead of the game with a touchdown drive. At first the pass looked like a miscommunication, but it turned out to be an overthrow.

On another play, Ramel Keyton had beaten his man down the sideline, and Hooker seemed to find him. However, Keyton mistimed the ball and had to dive for it as he slowed down, resulting in it being an incomplete pass. Hooker also overthrew a pass to Velus Jones Jr., and both of these plays once again came in the second.

Overall, you can’t say too many negatives about a passing attack that generated over 330 yards, but a couple of key plays proved costly. Tennessee football couldn’t afford those plays against Georgia, and the Vols needed to be the ones getting the interceptions, not throwing them.