ATHENS, Georgia. – For a moment, the injury seemed worse than it was.

After Justin Worley left with a numb right elbow and was replaced by sophomore quarterback Nathan Peterman with just over 10 minutes left in the third quarter, it seemed as if Tennessee’s chances of an upset over No. 12 Georgia had slipped away.

But with 9:22 remaining in the game, the senior signal caller returned from the Volunteers’ locker room and joined the offensive huddle with UT trailing 28-17.

And just like a Hollywood blockbuster, Worley played the part of the catalyst, leading the Vols and putting them in a position to win before falling short in a 35-32 loss in Athens on Saturday.

“(Worley) was gritty,” second-year head coach Butch Jones said. “He was confident. He’s very prideful and wants to win. He wants to do anything he can to lead his team to victory. I’m really proud of his grit and his toughness.

“He was itching to get back, and I think that speaks volumes to his competitive character.”

And when it seemed the contest was slipping away from them, Worley’s competitive character shined and kept the Vols in it.

Following Todd Gurley’s 51-yard touchdown that gave the Bulldogs their 28-17 lead, the Rock Hill, South Carolina, native drove UT 52 yards in four plays – finding Alton “Pig” Howard for a 31-yard strike – to bring the Vols within three after successfully converting a two-point conversion to freshman tight end Daniel Helm.

The Vols defense then followed in their team leader’s footsteps, forcing a Georgia punt that gave UT the ball on its own 1-yard line with a chance to tie or take the lead.

Two plays later, though, disaster struck as a Worley-Jalen Hurd handoff went awry, resulting in a Bulldog defensive touchdown that extended the lead back to 10 with 4:27 left.

“It was a bad exchange,” said freshman running back Hurd. “I completely take full responsibility and it’s something that won’t happen again.”

Worley, however, wasn’t fazed by the growing deficit and waning game clock, as he led his offense right back down the field, capping a 7-play, 58-yard drive with a six-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Marquez North.

“It’s a testament to the guys on this team,” Worley said of the Vols’ resiliency. “We don’t give up and I think we showed that last game (against Oklahoma). This game was little bit closer, but you saw it again.

“I love these guys I’m playing with. Like I said, we don’t give up and that’s something we all take pride in.”

The Vols would never get another opportunity to win the ballgame, though, as Gurley was able to convert on a fourth-and-three – picking it up by inches – that allowed the Bulldogs to run out the rest of the clock.

“It’s a game of inches,” Jones said. “It’s a play here, it’s a play there and it’s a cumulative effect. They fought. Every individual in this organization really believed we were going to win. I’m proud of them, but we have to learn from this and continue to move on.”

But if Worley, who finished the day with 264 yards and three touchdowns on 23-of-35 passing, was the Vols’ Superman, than Gurley was their kryptonite.

The junior tailback rushed for 208 yards – the first 200-yard game of his career – and two touchdowns on 28 carries, with 129 of the Heisman candidate’s yards coming in the fourth quarter.

“He’s a bigger guy and he’s got good speed,” Jones said. “He’s one of the top running backs in the country so we had to do a great job of getting him on the ground, and we gave up a lot of points today, so we didn’t do a good enough job.”

Gurley, however, was far from the only running back to have the spotlight shined on them in Sanford Stadium on Saturday.

Hurd, a highly touted five-star recruit from Hendersonville, Tennessee, had the best game of his young UT career –albeit with the late-game fumble – amassing 138 yards and a touchdown on 27 touches.

“Jalen played a great game,” Jones said. “He gave us everything that he had … Jalen runs angry. He breaks tackles. He’s doing some great things.”

With its second-consecutive heartbreaking defeat to the Bulldogs, UT is now tasked with shifting its focus to yet another SEC East rival, the Florida Gators. The Vols are honed in on wiping the slate clean as they prepare this week for their next challenge.

“We know we let this one slip away from us, but we can’t leave our season here in Georgia,” sophomore cornerback Cameron Sutton said. “We have a lot of football left this season and we just got to come out and get as many wins as we can.”

Graphic Courtesy of Samantha Smoak/The Daily Beacon