By Riley Haltom
ATHENS, Ga. – The seventh-ranked Tennessee Volunteers traveled to Athens, Georgia to play the twelfth-ranked Georgia Bulldogs, losing 31-17 in Samford Stadium on Saturday night. The loss drops the Vols to 8-2 overall and 5-2 in SEC play and moves Georgia up to the same marks. Here are my takeaways from the close loss and what it means for Tennessee going forward:
Playoff Chances
The way I see it, Tennessee will need a ton of luck to make the College Football Playoff after the loss to the Bulldogs. Tennessee’s defense got embarrassed against Georgia, giving up more than 20 points for the first time in 10 games, while the offense struggled to get anything going outside of the first quarter. After going up 10-0, Tennessee allowed Georgia to waltz back into the game with self-inflicted penalties and negative plays. A performance like that as opposed to a competitive back-and-forth loss will hurt the Vols a ton in the committee’s eyes.
ESPN gave Tennessee a 53% chance to make the playoff with a loss, and I see that as generous. The big questions are how far Tennessee drops for the loss on the road to Georgia, how the committee will handle Indiana, how Notre Dame fairs from here on, and how much the committee considers Tennessee’s win over Alabama. Tennessee is in trouble.
Nico Iamaleava and the Offense
I loved everything about Nico Iamaleava’s performance against the Bulldogs. The redshirt freshman showed incredible resilience in a hostile environment with health that probably was not perfect. Iamaleava finished with 20 completions on 33 attempts for 167 yards. That may not sound fantastic until I tell you that he was rushed on many of his pass attempts and got little help from his receivers with some costly drops in crucial moments.
Iamaleava operated the offense well and was also able to create out of structure as well. He used his legs to convert several would-be sacks into gains for his offense. Outside of Iamaleava, Miles Kitselman stood out offensively, leading the team in receiving yards with four catches for 46, and a rushing touchdown. Dylan Sampson, as always, had a good game with 19 rushes for 101 yards, including a 27-yard touchdown. Iamaleava let us in on how he was feeling following the loss.
“Lot of frustration, lot of anger. We put a lot of work in, came up short. It’s gonna sting, but let it sting and learn from it.”
The Defense Disappears
Tim Banks has rightfully gotten a ton of praise for the way his defense has played this season. All of that disappeared against the Bulldogs. Georgia had 453 yards of total offense and committed no turnovers after quarterback Carson Beck had nine interceptions in the last three games.
Beck repeatedly used his legs to punish the Tennessee defense and carved through the Vol secondary, especially to his tight ends. Ben Yurosek and Oscar Delp led the team in catches with nine combined catches and 51 and 56 yards receiving, respectively. Delp also added two scores. I mentioned the linebackers as struggling last week, and that trend continued against Georgia, but the safeties joined them in struggling this week. There are plenty of questions rightfully being asked about the defense and what happened.
Also…
I don’t like to mention the referees or how the game was called, but I will include the fact that there were several questionable calls that crippled the Vols at times and things that should’ve been called on Georgia that were equally as debilitating.
There is a reason the defensive line suddenly had no pressure on the opposing quarterback for the first time this season, and fans are rightfully upset about a phantom facemask, missed false start on Carson Beck, a 12 men on the field penalty that should not have been called, and a missed defensive pass interference, all of which could have affected the game. That said, no amount of penalties make up for how poorly Tennessee played and how they struggled with things in their control, so they deserved to lose this game.
What’s Next?
The Vols playoff hopes are on life support as they head back to Neyland Stadium for a matchup with the UTEP Miners. Style points matter at this point of the season, so the Vols need a huge win against UTEP and then another big win in Nashville against Vanderbilt the following week if they want to make the playoffs. Tune in for the first noon game Tennessee has played in months this Saturday.