That was brutal. Tennessee football fans had to witness their team give up a 4th and 6 touchdown and then miss a field goal late as they lost to the Georgia Bulldogs 44-41 in overtime Saturday. The Vols, ranked NO. 15 in both polls, blew a 21-7 first-half lead. UGA, meanwhile, extends its winning streak in the series to nine games, all under Kirby Smart. Here are five things we learned from the Dawgs’ win.

Gunner Stockton torched Tennessee football DBs

Give the quarterback credit. It was his first road game as a starting quarterback for the Dawgs, and the moment was in no way too big for him. Gunner Stockton completed 23 of 31 passes for 304 yards and two touchdowns, and he ran it 13 times for 38 yards and a touchdown. Both signal-callers were elite, but Stockton was the efficient one, and that 4th and 6 touchdown pass late was a beautiful throw.

UT was playing without its top two cornerbacks in Jermod McCoy and Rickey Gibson III, and it showed, but the entire Vols back seven failed to contain Stockton the way they needed to. They let him move the ball downfield at will, and even when they didn’t, they committed numerous pass interference penalties, including two on 3rd down plays to keep one drive alive.

Too many mistakes by the Vols

Anybody would have thought that if the Vols were going to win this game, it would require mistakes by Georgia with Stockton making his first start on the road. However, UT was the one to make the mistakes. First off, in regulation, the Vols had two legitimate turnovers to Georgia’s one (another UGA turnover was as time expired in the first half).

Beyond the turnovers, though, the Vols committed 10 penalties for 82 yards compared to just five by Georgia for 39 yards. That included those pass interference penalties, but there were also two false starts by offensive linemen on late drives that changed how Josh Heupel approached them, resulting in him settling for a field goal on one and a missed field goal on another. Speaking of Heupel…

Coaching mistakes cost Tennessee football

When you’re the underdog and locked in a shootout, you go for it on 4th and 2 at the 50. Josh Heupel, however, chose to punt in the first half in that situation. Kirby Smart went for it twice in the first half, converted once and then converted again late. His aggression paid off, and it was the difference in the game between these two teams. Heupel also made key mistakes late.

UT had the ball up 35-30 with five minutes to go inside the Georgia 40. A false start by Sam Pendleton brought up 1st and 15, and he decided to settle for a field goal to keep it a one-score game. You can’t do that against Georgia. Then, on UT’s potential game-winning field goal drive, Heupel had a couple miscues that led to a false start and a 42-yard attempt from the left side, resulting in a Max Gilbert miss.

Passing game was on point

Joay Aguilar almost forever etched his name in Tennessee football lore. The UCLA Bruins castoff completed his first 14 passes for the Vols in the biggest game of his career while finishing 24-of-36 for 371 yards. Sure, Aguilar’s gunslinger mentality resulted in two interceptions, albeit one not being his fault because he was hit, but it was also what the Vols needed to move the ball.

The receivers showed their value as well, with Chris Brazzell II leading the way, catching six balls for 177 yards and three touchdowns. Braylon Staley had nine catches for 97 yards and a score, and Miles Kitselman helped out with three catches for 33 yards. Most notably, the pass blocking with Lance Heard and Jesse Perry was elite too, leading to our next point.

Vols won the line of scrimmage

There can be no doubt that UT was the more physical team up front against the Dawgs. When has that ever been the case for Heupel and co. against Kirby Smart? Spoiler alert…it hasn’t. In this game, however, the Vols ran the ball better, and they protected their quarterback better. All you have to do is look at the stats to make that case.

UT as a team averaged 3.7 yards per carry to Georgia’s 3.6 despite UGA having a mobile quarterback to skew their stats. They ran it into field goal range for what should have been the game-winning kick late. The Vols also had three sacks, six tackles for a loss and a strip-sack while Georgia had just two tackles for a loss and one sack. Credit the pressure on the outside, which was there all night.