The previous 14 Tennessee football home games taught us the Vols don’t lose at Neyland Stadium. But Georgia doesn’t lose anywhere.
So, the result of Saturday’s SEC matchup shouldn’t have surprised anyone, except the oddsmakers who made Georgia only a 10-point favorite. UT’s home-field winning streak came to a screeching halt in a 38-10 defeat while the Bulldogs left Knoxville with a 28-game winning streak in tow and their hopes of a third consecutive national championship still alive.
And Tennessee’s record dropped to about where it belonged. The Vols are 7-4 and surely out of the top 25.
Eleven games have provided overwhelming evidence Tennessee was never as good as its ranking suggested, but more the product of an accommodating schedule. Only in a surprising first half against Alabama did the Vols hold their own against a nationally ranked opponent, and the Tide outscored them 27-0 in the second half of a 34-20 victory.
I won’t revisit the embarrassing details of the 36-7 loss to Missouri last week. Suffice to say: the Bulldogs picked up where the Tigers left off. Losing handily to Georgia is no aberration. The Vols have lost seven consecutive games to the Bulldogs, and none of those games have been close.
Georgia isn’t just beating up on Tennessee, though. It defeated ninth-ranked Ole Miss 52-17 a week earlier and routed Kentucky and Florida as well.
For what it’s worth, Tennessee struck first Saturday. But Georgia struck back − again and again.
Jalyen Wright raced 75 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the game. The play developed perfectly with key blocks from Cooper Mays and Javontez Spraggins springing Wright into an out-of-position Georgia secondary.
Give Tennessee coach Josh Heupel credit for designing a great play. Give Georgia coach Kirby Smart credit for preparing the No. 1 Bulldogs for…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/another-nationally-ranked-opponent-another-001813120.html
Author : Knox News | The Knoxville News-Sentinel
Publish date : 2023-11-19 00:18:13
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