Tennessee Vols players confirm suspicion about the officiating in UT's loss to Georgia Bulldogs
If you're one of the many Tennessee Vols fans who felt like the officiating was one-sided in UT's 31-17 loss to the Georgia Bulldogs last weekend, you're not alone. Some of Tennessee's players feel the same way. Vols wide receivers Kaleb Webb and Dont'e Thornton discussed Tennessee's loss to Georgia on this week's TPL Tennessee […]
If you're one of the many Tennessee Vols fans who felt like the officiating was one-sided in UT's 31-17 loss to the Georgia Bulldogs last weekend, you're not alone.
Some of Tennessee's players feel the same way.
Vols wide receivers Kaleb Webb and Dont'e Thornton discussed Tennessee's loss to Georgia on this week's TPL Tennessee and they both felt like the officiating was a little suspect in Athens last Saturday night.
"I feel like the officiating, it was definitely one-sided," said Webb.
"Oh for sure," chimed in Thornton.
"I feel like the penalties were coming during opportunities where it was like a game-changing [moment]," added Webb. "Like we had backed them up, it was like a second-and-24, then [Georgia] called like a slant or something and got 10 yards. But then they called a facemask, giving them the first down. It put them from like the 20 (yard line) to midfield."
"For me, it was the fumbles," said Thornton.
"I feel like at least one of them should've been [a fumble]," added Webb. "Either the one they threw across the middle, that's been kind of trending. The one where Will Brooks hit the tight end."
"The one thing that messed us up the most was every time we crossed the 50, something happened that killed our drives," Thornton pointed out. "We probably crossed the 50 like four or five times and got no points…if those penalties or whatever it may have been, if that stuff didn't happen, who knows how many points that could've [given Tennessee]. It could've been seven points it could've been three points."
"In a game where you're ahead, whenever you're ahead in a game, it takes some pressure off you," continued Thornton. "Because now the other team is trying to fight to get back. Once we came out of halftime tied up and they ended up going up, now we're pressing to try to score. Because now all they gotta do is whatever they can to keep that lead….they were making sure they could drain as much time out of each drive as they could before we got the ball back."
Webb and Thornton both acknowledged that Tennessee's offense needed to play better. They weren't putting the blame on the officials for the loss. But it's still fair for them to feel slighted by the way the officiating went on Saturday in Athens. It seemed like every close/questionable call went Georgia's way.
If you're a parent who has a kid that plays travel sports, you've likely been in a situation where your child played in a tournament against a "home team" that seemed to get every single close call. That's how the Vols felt leaving the field at Sanford Stadium on Saturday night.
That's no slight against Georgia — they're a good team and they played better than Tennessee for most of the night — but it's understandable why Vols fans (and players) feel like a couple of things didn't go their way when it came to officiating last weekend.
