Oct. 1

By Jimmy Hyams

After Tennessee lost 41-0 to Georgia, the Vols could kiss the East Division good bye.

You can’t lose to Georgia and Florida with Alabama on the horizon and expect to win the division.

So what do the Vols play for?

“To win,’’ Tennessee coach Butch Jones said. “To win every game.’’

That’s not likely, either.

Things could change, but Tennessee is playing like a team that will struggle to post a .500 record by season’s end. Its offense is a mess. Its defense can’t play four solid quarters.

And its confidence has to be shaken, although players say otherwise.

Tennessee played Saturday like a team that had fallen on its helmet.

It couldn’t run against Georgia (62 yards on 29 attempts).

It couldn’t, after the first quarter, stop Georgia’s run game (55 for 294).

It couldn’t pass on the Dawgs – starting quarterback Quinten Dormady was 5 of 16 for 64 yards (one play went for 44) with two interceptions.

Tennessee’s totals: 142 yards, 1 of 12 on third-down conversions, 11 first-down plays that went for 2 or fewer yards, and no points. No points for the first time since a 31-0 shellacking against Florida in 1994.

“That’s as bad of an offensive performance as I’ve ever been a part of,’’ said Tennessee coach Butch Jones. “It’s inexcusable.’’

The bigger concern: Will it get better?

Answer: Maybe not.

I’m not sure Tennessee’s offense is salvageable.

For one, you can’t run a zone-read with a quarterback that can’t run or won’t run.

Secondly, Dormady isn’t the passer I thought he would be. Granted, he hasn’t gotten much help, but he throws off his back foot too often, stares down receivers, doesn’t see the field well, underthrows the deep ball and too often fires into coverage.

From what I’ve seen Tennessee can’t win against decent teams with Dormady at quarterback.

It can’t win with Jarrett Guarantano, either.

And there is no other option.

It’s not wise to overreact to one loss. But this isn’t about one loss.

It’s about looking like a junior college team against UMass.

It’s about blowing a game against an average Florida team.

It’s about an offense that is in dire straits.

Tennessee hadn’t lost this badly at home since 1905.

An angry Tennessee crowd booed the team at halftime and emptied the stands in the fourth quarter. By game’s end, the 15,000 or so Dawg fans that infiltrated Knoxville had come closed to outnumbering the Vol Nation.

Georgia is good, really good, especially on defense. Alabama might have a better defense. Auburn might have a better defense. But these Dawgs might be among the nation’s best.

Georgia’s defense is big, strong and fast and tackles brilliantly. They simply don’t give an inch.

It seemed fitting that on Tennessee’s biggest play of the game – a 44-yard pass to John Kelly – Kelly fumbled and Georgia recovered.

Tennessee was so inept, punter Trevor Daniel had a rugby-style punt blocked by the face mask of a Georgia rusher who didn’t even jump. Why in the world is Daniel, one of the nation’s best punters, trying a rugby-style punt?

Tennessee had four turnovers to Georgia’s one. But even without a turnover, UT wouldn’t have won this game.

“Right now, we’re being tested,’’ Jones said. “Our character is being tested.’’

Asked if he told his team again that the performance was unacceptable, which he did after the 17-13 win over UMass, Jones said: “They understand that. They don’t need to be told that again.’’

Jones said after the game that every position on the field is open during the open date week.

“It’s gut-check time,’’ Jones said.

After an open date, we’ll know more about Tennessee’s gut when it hosts South Carolina.

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