Something interesting is happening with the Tennessee Vols and the national media is taking notice
The Tennessee Vols nearly knocked off the Georgia Bulldogs this past weekend in Knoxville. Tennessee had a chance to leave Neyland Stadium with a win. Max Gilbert’s game-winning 43-yard field goal attempt, however, sailed wide right, sending the game to overtime. Georgia, which was afforded an extra life thanks to Gilbert’s miss, handled business in […]
The Tennessee Vols nearly knocked off the Georgia Bulldogs this past weekend in Knoxville.
Tennessee had a chance to leave Neyland Stadium with a win. Max Gilbert’s game-winning 43-yard field goal attempt, however, sailed wide right, sending the game to overtime.
Georgia, which was afforded an extra life thanks to Gilbert’s miss, handled business in overtime, escaping with a 44-41 win.
After the game, Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart told ESPN that Tennessee deserved to win the game.
“Tennessee deserved to win this game,” said Smart. “We didn’t play our best game. I got a lot of respect for the way [Tennessee] played. But these kids never quit…..we didn’t play really well defensively, but gotta give Tennessee a lot of credit.”
The loss to Georgia wasn’t a moral victory for the Vols, but it’s clear something special is brewing on Rocky Top
Vols head coach Josh Heupel certainly wasn’t happy that his team almost beat Georgia.
“There’s no moral victories in this game,” said Heupel on Monday. “We’re certainly long past anything like that.”
“There’s nothing easy about the disappointment of competing in the arena and being on the wrong side of the scoreboard,” added Heupel.
A loss is a loss. But we’d be foolish not to acknowledge that Tennessee is a good football team after what we saw in Knoxville this past weekend. This is a Tennessee team that showed, with its performance against Georgia, that it can compete with anyone in the nation. And, perhaps surprisingly, that’s been the biggest takeaway from the national media.
Tennessee, which didn’t drop a single spot in the AP Top 25 poll despite losing to the Bulldogs (UT held steady at No. 15 this week), has received praise from numerous national analysts for the way it played against Georgia.
Former Ohio State Buckeyes and NFL wide receiver Joey Galloway, who is now an analyst, pointed out during an appearance on Kirk Herbstreit’s YouTube channel that if Gilbert made the field goal at the end of regulation, then everyone would be talking way differently about Tennessee this week.
SEC Network’s Alyssa Lang pointed out that she has Tennessee as the second-best team in the SEC right now after the loss to Georgia.
On3’s Ari Wasserman’s takeaway was that Tennessee can beat anyone in the nation when they play well.
“Tennessee didn’t only survive, it proved to the entire country that there isn’t a single team it cannot beat on the right day,” wrote Wasserman on Monday.
SEC Network’s Cole Cubelic suggested on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning on Monday that he feels better about Tennessee coming out of the loss to the Bulldogs than he does about Georgia.
“I think I feel like I felt better about Tennessee coming out of there with a loss than I did with Georgia,” said Cubelic. “Because that, to me, was the closest I’ve seen Tennessee to being physically even with Georgia since like, maybe the Phillip Fulmer era.”
I’ve been writing about the Vols for a long time — well over a decade — and I’ve been following the program even longer. I’m not sure I ever remember the national media reacting this positively to a Tennessee loss.
The result against Georgia is what it is. The Vols’ losing streak to the Bulldogs is now at nine. But Tennessee’s performance shouldn’t be discounted just because a field goal was missed.
Georgia may still be the better team, but the gap between the two programs is tiny at this point.
No one knows what’ll happen the rest of the season, but if the Vols can get healthy, this certainly looks and feels like a College Football Playoff team. And I think nearly everyone in the national media realizes that now.
Tennessee Volunteers News
Kirby Smart made an admission after Georgia’s win against Tennessee that showed he underestimated the Vols in one important area
Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart was mostly complimentary of the Tennessee Vols on Saturday following UGA’s 44-41 overtime win. Smart mentioned that he has a lot of respect for the way the Vols play, while pointing out that Tennessee is “physical” and “tough”. The longtime Georgia head coach also made an admission after the […]
