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Tennessee football: Five takeaways from Vols’ 27-13 loss at Georgia

By Caleb Calhoun

Nov 5, 2022; Athens, Georgia, USA; The Georgia Bulldogs defense gang tackles Tennessee Volunteers running back Jaylen Wright (20) during the first half at Sanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 5, 2022; Athens, Georgia, USA; The Georgia Bulldogs defense gang tackles Tennessee Volunteers running back Jaylen Wright (20) during the first half at Sanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports /
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Nov 5, 2022; Athens, Georgia, USA; the Georgia Bulldogs and Tennessee Volunteers line up over the ball during the second half at Sanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 5, 2022; Athens, Georgia, USA; the Georgia Bulldogs and Tennessee Volunteers line up over the ball during the second half at Sanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports /

1. Defense for Vols still fought.

Here’s one positive. Tennessee football wasn’t as bad on defense as they appeared. Okay, so they did allow Georgia to go 7-of-12 on third down conversions. However, they gave the Vols’ offense plenty of chances to get back into the game, and they were honestly put in bad situations when they gave up those touchdowns.

One of the touchdowns, as mentioned, was after Georgia started at the UT 40 because the strip-sack on Hendon Hooker didn’t give the Vols room to develop a good punt. There was a busted coverage on that play. Their third touchdown was also off a busted coverage, and they were a  barely missed tackle from turning the first touchdown into a field goal drive.

Meanwhile, the defense forced that fumble on the opening drive to spot the Vols the 3-0 lead. They also forced a Georgia field goal on their first drive of the second half to keep it a three-score game. When it was all over, they had forced two turnovers and held them to under 400 yards.

Now, yes, Georgia was focused on ball control and running the clock in the second half, so that’s a bit skewed, but Georgia needed a busted coverage, a wheel route that wasn’t anticipated and an epic run by Stetson Bennett for its three touchdowns. The problem was Tennessee football’s offense couldn’t handle UGA’s defense.

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