For a while, it seemed like Rocky Top might be the site of the season’s biggest upset. However, the Volunteers still sent a loud message.
Tennessee saw a fumble roll out of the endzone in their first possession of overtime as they fell 34-31 to No. 6 Georgia on Saturday inside Neyland Stadium. Despite the loss, the Vols sent a message to the rest of the college football world that they aren’t the pushovers as in the past seasons.
"It's another step, another building block,” Tennessee Head Coach Butch Jones said. “We need to learn how to win these football games. That's a part of the process of learning how to win, but you can see it. I can see it evolving. I can see it everyday. I can see it the way we are excelling in the classroom. I can it the way our attention in the meetings. I can see the preparation in practice. I can see it and we're going to need a lot as we continue to move forward but we have very prideful great character kids in our football program."After trailing 17-3 at the half, Tennessee cut into the deficit midway through the third quarter when Marquez North caught an 18-yard touchdown pass from Justin Worley. The Volunteers tied the game in the closing minute of the third quarter as former Dobyns-Bennett standout Devaun Swafford scooped up a blocked punt and returned it 15-yards for the a touchdown.
Georgia regained the lead on the first play of the fourth quarter, but Tennessee battled back with two touchdowns from Raijon Neal as the Vols took a 31-24 lead with 1:54 remaining. During the drives, Tennessee converted three fourth downs.
However, Aaron Murray marched the Georgia offense down the field and threw a touchdown pass with five seconds remaining to send the game into overtime.
In the first overtime, Tennessee saw their possession end when Pig Howard dived for the endzone, but the ball slipped out inches before touching the pylon for the score. Georgia took over on the touchback and won the game with a 42-yard field goal.Worley finished the game 17-of-31 for 215 yards and a score, while Neal had 148 yards on 28 carries with two touchdowns.
"I thought Justin probably played his best game,” Jones said. “He was poised. He made the plays. I thought our offensive line played well. Rajion Neal's a warrior. He's playing like we expect our seniors to play. He's giving us everything he has. He's been injured and he's been a warrior. He's added another spark to us."
A.J. Johnson paced the Tennessee defense with 12 total tackles, six of which were solo.
For a program that has saw a signature win elude them for four seasons, the Tennessee players knew how to use the overtime loss in a positive manner without the Jones’ guidance.
"Great thing is I didn't have to be the one to say it,” Jones said. “Other players said it. They talked about a lot to play for and keep building and they can see it. They can see the progress. Obviously I told them that too. They know I love them. We have a saying in our football family, ‘I got your back,’ and everyone has each other's backs."The Volunteers will have an open week before hosting South Carolina on Oct. 19.
