Well, that didn't go according to plan at all. On Saturday night in Athens, No. 6 Tennessee had a great chance to send a message to the College Football World as a whole. Instead, Josh Heupel and Co. suffered a deflating 31-17 loss to Georgia.
With the defeat, Tennessee is expected to tumble in the CFP rankings, potentially falling out of the Top 12. The Vols couldn't get going on offense, while the officials didn't do them any favors either. Following the loss, quarterback Nico Iamaleava was quite unhappy about the result.
Iamaleava, who worked his way back from the concussion protocol, made it clear that the loss to UGA stung quite a bit. At the same time, he's calling for this team as a whole to learn from their mistakes and bounce back as soon as possible:
#Vols QB Nico Iamaleava: We have to let this hurt and learn from it.
— Wes Rucker (@wesrucker247) November 17, 2024
Nico Iamaleava says the Vols must let 'this hurt' after loss to Georgia
The locker room for Tennessee was devastated on Saturday. Can you blame them? This team traveled south to Georgia in hopes of locking in a spot for the College Football Playoff. Now, we have to wait and see how badly the committee penalizes them for loss No. 2 on the campaign.
Georgia also has two losses on the year. Had the Vols taken care of business, they would have ended the season for Kirby Smart and his players. Instead, quarterback Carson Beck looked like a first-round pick again, tossing for 347 yards and two touchdowns.
Heupel himself was not happy about the game too, as he found a creative way to call out the refs following the final whistle. All in all, the performance against Georgia wasn't good enough and it needs to serve as a wake-up call for Tennessee. Next up on the schedule is a dance with UTEP, followed by the regular season finale against Vanderbilt.