The Tennessee Vols played their worst game of the season on Saturday against the Georgia Bulldogs and it resulted in a 27-13 loss for UT.

Thanks to the win, the Bulldogs now have what essentially amounts to a two-game lead in the SEC East.

Despite Georgia's convincing win against the Vols, Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart was still impressed by Tennessee's football team.

Specifically, Smart felt like the Vols were an extremely physical team.

“They’re a really physical team. People don’t understand that. They’re extremely physical” — Kirby Smart on Tennessee after Georgia’s 27-13 win pic.twitter.com/mCklsgRNcC

— zach ragan (@zachTNT) November 7, 2022

"They're a really physical team," said Smart after Georgia's win. "People don't understand that. They're extremely physical. They run the ball between the tackles and until you take that away, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what you do outside. You better be able to strike people and get off blocks."

Part of the reason Georgia was able to shut down Tennessee's offense was because Smart seemingly had more respect for Tenessee's up-tempo offense and physicality than some of the other SEC coaches we've heard from this season.

"When you play Tennessee, they go for the knockout blow in the first round," said Smart. "You’ve got to survive it. I don’t like surviving anything, we want to attack it. But with them, it’s about surviving that."

It wasn't just the Vols' offense that had Smart concerned before the game, it was Tennessee's defense, too.

"Now, look, I want to make sure — I'm super proud of our offense because I personally felt coming into that game that Tennessee's defense was really peaking and getting better," said Smart. "They had played really good football, guys. They attack the ball, they do good in the red area, they've got a good defensive unit."

It's clear that Smart has a lot of respect for the Vols and what they're doing under Josh Heupel. And the fact that Smart didn't dismiss Tennessee's offense as a "gimmick" is why the Vols weren't able to torch Georgia's defense.

Tennessee has a great team and they can still win a national championship this season. But Georgia proved on Saturday that the Bulldogs are still the class of the SEC.

Maybe the Vols will get another chance to knock off Georgia in the playoff. I have a feeling it'll be a much different game on a neutral field if Tennessee gets another shot.

Featured image via Joshua L. Jones / USA TODAY NETWORK