Hendon Hooker offers explanation for Georgia loss

Tennessee took their first loss of the 2022 season on Saturday in their 27-13 defeat to Georgia. The Volunteer offense was stifled in Athens with what was by far their lowest point total of the season. Considering their defense gave up big plays to the Bulldogs too, it was a poor performance across the board for UT. In his opinion, Hendon Hooker says that a lot of what happened last weekend was because of what Tennessee did to themselves.

Hooker spoke about the mistakes that Tennessee made during his press conference on Monday. He said the Bulldogs deserve their due credit. However, he knows he and his teammates didn’t do what they had to to win the primetime matchup.

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“Just a lot of self-inflicted mistakes. Georgia came out and played a great game. Hats off to those guys. But we really definitely left a lot of plays out there from just us not doing things what we’d normally do on a daily basis,” said Hooker. “It comes back to little things, paying attention to detail. And we didn’t do that on Saturday.”

Tennessee’s offense was outgained from a yardage standpoint both through the air and on the ground. Beyond the Bulldog defense slowing them down in general, they also forced two turnovers from the Vols. As for their defense, they gave up several big passing plays to Stetson Bennett. In the end, they weren’t able to find their footing until the second half.

One of Tennessee’s biggest strengths coming into Saturday was their efficiency. Georgia forcing them into their most inefficient game of the season is a big reason why they were the first team to knock the Volunteers off. It’s also why Hooker feels okay, though, about he and his teammates moving forward. No other team in the country has a defense similar to the Bulldogs. Assuming they get back to business this week, Hooker and Tennessee should be back to normal down the stretch run of their season against Missouri, South Carolina, and Vanderbilt.