Senior Staff Writer/Editor/Host
Well, we’ve got to talk about it sooner or later — might as well be now. Unless you’ve been on an Aaron Rodgers darkness retreat, you know by now that Tennessee suffered a cruel loss to the Georgia Bulldogs. What went wrong? What has to change? And most importantly, how do the Vols get off the mat and respond? Let’s dive in.
Let me get this out of the way: I’m not here to throw any players under the bus, so calm down. I’m just here to point out what’s staring us all in the face.
First of all, it’s time for Star Thomas to be the star (pun intended) of Tennessee’s running back room. He should be the starter for the rest of the season. He’s the most explosive and versatile back in the group — the one who can rip off a twenty-yard run, turn a screen into chunk yardage, and haul in touchdown passes in the red zone. DeSean Bishop and Peyton Lewis are talented backs who would probably start for several SEC teams, but Thomas is different. He’s the gamebreaker — the one who changes everything when the ball is in his hands.
As far as the receivers go, you couldn’t ask for much more. They were electric. Tennessee bet on its young blue-chip prospects being better than anyone they could have landed in the portal, and it paid off big time: 24 catches, 371 yards, and four touchdowns. That’s why it was so head-scratching when, right after a Gunner Stockton fumble gave the Vols the ball up 35–30 with a chance to put the game away, Heupel and the staff called three straight runs. Give your receivers a chance to win the game. They’re the reason you’re even in that position. Let Chris Brazzell II win a one-on-one ball. Let Mike Matthews or Braylon Staley get open and make a man miss. Instead, conservative play-calling down the stretch snatched victory out of Tennessee’s hands.
As for quarterback Joey Aguilar, I thought he was tremendous. He opened the game 14-for-14 with three touchdowns — an absolutely flawless start. Yes, he threw two interceptions in the middle stretch: one that wasn’t really on him, and another that was a bad decision. But he bounced back and did everything he could to put Tennessee in position to win. Which, circling back to the last point, makes it all the more maddening that the playcalling didn’t give him the chance to finish the job. This isn’t a quarterback you have to hide — he was carving up one of the most talented secondaries in college football. Put the ball in his hands and let him win it.
The offensive line held up well in pass protection, giving Aguilar plenty of time to work in the pocket. Run blocking, though, left more to be desired — especially on that infamous sequence of three straight runs. Still, the backs managed 125 yards on 34 carries. That’s only 3.7 yards per attempt, not great but serviceable, especially considering five-star David Sanders, who may or may not actually exist (calm down, I’m joking), was held out due to continued injury concerns. We’ll find out soon enough, I guess.
Defensively, I’ll hold off on making a final judgment. If Georgia goes on to struggle offensively against the rest of the SEC, then Tennessee has real concerns. But if Gunner Stockton keeps hitting tough throws and pushing the ball downfield, it’ll be clear Georgia was just vanilla in its first two games and saved the good stuff for Knoxville.
Finally, let’s talk coaching. I’ve alluded to questions about decision-making earlier in this article. No, I don’t think I know more football than Josh Heupel — but the common fan can spot areas for improvement. In the first half, I have almost no complaints. The play-calling was aggressive, and it worked. The second half, though, was shaky. Beyond the three straight runs, the decision to kick the extra point to go up 35–30 instead of going for two was puzzling. A conversion would have forced Georgia to either kick two field goals just to tie or score a touchdown to take the lead. With how well their offense was moving, that felt like the moment to be bold. Conservative choices in big moments kept the door open, and Georgia walked right through it.
This one hurts because it was there for the taking. The question now is simple: will Tennessee learn from it, or let it define the season? The Vols can still finish as a top-three team in the SEC if they avoid the annual road slip-up, and the playoff isn’t out of the picture just yet. Whether that potential becomes reality is up to them.
