For one quarter it was really fun. For one half, it was still enjoyable. And many of us Vol fans were thinking Tennessee has demonstrated it is a second half team.
But there usually is an exception to every rule and Saturday night in Athens was an exception. The second half was not to be for this Tennessee team as they were shut out by UGA. The reversal of fortune from Tennessee’s quick 10-0 first quarter start actually began in the second quarter. UGA reversed the Vols fast start to close out the game with a 31-7 romp on the way to a final score of 31-17.
I suspect all of the Big Orange Nation understood this was going to be an extremely tough matchup. Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss did not do Tennessee a favor by romping over UGA in Oxford the previous week. One thing Kirby Smart has proven is he can get his team focused when their backs are against the wall. He did that again in Athens Saturday night. UGA’s focus most likely increased in intensity when they looked at a 1Q scoreboard showing the visiting Vols up 10-0.
Where did things start to go wrong for the Vols?
There have been many suggestions as to turning points in the game. My humble opinion is one play that’s not included in the conversation often. It occurred in the second quarter after UGA had scored. Tennessee took the kickoff and was marching down the field. On a 3rd down play, Nico found Dont’e Thornton open and put the ball right in his hands for what would have been a first down and kept the drive going. The pass was dropped, Tennessee punted and you could feel some air leak out of the positivity balloon the Vols had generated with their early game play.
I believe we orange clad fans in the stands were suspecting the Vols had to play a reasonably excellent game to get out of Sanford Stadium with a win. Dropping a wide open pass that would have been a chain moving play after UGA had gotten some mojo from their score was not what we wanted to see. I read where Thornton was concerned about being inbounds. From my vantage point, I didn’t think he was that close to the sideline. I never watch a replay of a Vols loss so I have not reviewed the replay. Regardless, I thought that was a major play in the game. If the Vols march on to a TD and snatch the mojo back from UGA after their score, never know how things might have played out.
There has been a ton of conversation about officiating. A former NFL receiver, Roddy White, has been quoted as saying no team could beat UGA with the calls they got Saturday night against the Vols. Roddy White played for the Falcons and prior to, UAB in college. He has no allegiance to Tennessee. But he knows football and let his thoughts be known for whatever reason about the officiating in the Tennessee-UGA game. I’ve never been big on blaming officials for a loss while acknowledging they can have a significant impact on the game. I thought there were some questionable calls in the game but there always are. And how often does the home team in the SEC not get the benefit of most of the debatable calls? Bama under Saban and the Bear seemed to always get the close calls regardless of where the game was played. I recall watching the SEC Championship game last December and thought it was insane how the officials were letting the Bama DB’s hold and interfere with the UGA receivers. Close calls are part of the game and Tennessee probably came out on the short end of more of them Saturday night than did UGA. But did officiating cost the Vols the game?
My opinion From The Stands last night in Athens is the game was lost by the Vols by 1) not protecting Nico, 5 sacks and no telling how many hurries and forced scrambles, 2) -0- pressure and -0- sacks on Carson Beck who appeared to have all night to throw the ball and when the Vols were closing in, they often lost contain allowing Beck to make a chain moving run and in one case, a TD, 3) no explosive plays by Vols offense, average completion was 8 yards. This Tennessee offense does not resemble a Heupel offense and in an away SEC game like in Athens, explosive plays are almost a must. They did not take advantage of a UGA secondary that has looked vulnerable this season.
Tennessee did better than I expected rushing the ball, 152 yards on 39 carries and 2 TD’s. UGA has a stout defensive front and Tennessee’s offensive line performed effectively with the rushing attack, not so much in pass protection. I was concerned throughout the game for Nico’s health following last week’s injury. He took some hits, still didn’t seem to hesitate to run when needed. He’s a tough dude.
And now with the release of the latest CFP rankings, we know that Tennessee is the first team out. Vols also dropped in AP & Coaches polls and are now ranked 10th and 11th respectively. As disappointing as the loss in Athens was, that game will not be the ultimate factor if the Vols don’t make the CFP this season in my opinion. We’ll have to see what the results are for the remaining two games on Tennessee’s schedule but the game that I believe may wind up being the biggest reason that could cause Tennessee to miss the CFP is that ugly loss at Arkansas. Win that game, and Vols should have and it should have been by double digits, and the primary worry about making the CFP would be handling a very capable Vandy team in Nashville in two weeks.
As always, Vols need to take care of what they control and at this point, they are not in control of making the CFP. That could change with results around the country over the next two weeks along with results of conference championship games. Taking care of the UTEP and Vandy games needs to be the Vols 100% focus over the next two weeks and let the CFP sort itself out.
