Despite their best efforts, the Volunteers fell to No. 5 Georgia, 51-44, in front of a raucous crowd of more than 90,000 between the hedges.
Tennessee (3-2, 0-2 SEC) had several opportunities to tie the game in the fourth quarter, but Georgia’s defense proved to be too much.
“You have to give a lot of credit to Georgia. They are a great football team and a heck of an offensive football team,” head coach Derek Dooley said. “I am proud of this team for fighting. I think we showed that we have some resilience in this ball team, but we have a lot of work to do on both sides of the ball. We are leaving here a better team than when we got here.”
Georgia (5-0, 3-0 SEC) jumped out to an early 21-10 lead in the first quarter, but a 1-yard A.J. Johnson rush and two touchdown passes by Tyler Bray sent Tennessee into the locker room tied with the Bulldogs at 30.
Two touchdown passes from quarterback Aaron Murray and a 72-yard run from running back Keith Marshall gave Georgia the lead, 51-37, at the end of the third quarter.
“We are better in a lot of areas, but we have to shore up the run defense. Georgia is a great running team but we are a lot better than what we showed out there today,” Dooley said. “It was frustrating.”
The Tennessee running game, which has come under scrutiny in this season, amassed 197 yards and accounted for three of the five Volunteer touchdowns.
Rajion Neal was the Volunteers’ leading rusher with 104 yards and scored Tennessee’s sole touchdown in the fourth quarter, which whittled Georgia’s lead to seven at 51-44.
“It is like Coach Graham has been saying, it will just keep coming with time,” Neal said. “We are going to keep working to get better and better every week, as long as we keep taking care of ourselves. I feel like we can keep growing.”
After Neal’s touchdown, the Volunteer defense made four stops and allowed the Bray-led offense three more opportunities to tie up the game.
Bray finished the game with two touchdowns, 281 passing yards, but also managed to rack up three interceptions.
Despite stringing together three great drives, as the fourth quarter ticked away Bray threw two interceptions and fumbled the ball on a drive that would have potentially tied the game and could have forced overtime.
“I was trying to force (throws), just trying to do too much,” Bray said. “I talked with (offensive coordinator Jim) Chaney and he said I was trying to do too much and I should just let the game come to me. I do not need to win it, I need to let the team win it.”
Next week, the Vols will have their bye week and will have the opportunity to rest up for a tough stretch, which includes a home game against No. 1 Alabama and two away games against No. 20 Mississippi State and No. 6 South Carolina.
“We win and lose as a team. We had a lot of mistakes in all three phases (of the game),” he said. “We had a chance to win it there at the end on offense and we did not get it done.”
