Well, that wasn’t what Tennessee had in mind.

The Vols’ offense, a group that simply could not be stopped through the first 2 months of the season, was held in check for 60 minutes by Georgia.

The Bulldogs sacked Tennessee QB Hendon Hooker 6 times and knocked him down repeatedly. On the rare occasion when Hooker was able to find a receiver deep downfield, the pass would be overthrown. The Vols, who have lived off the big play all season, had only 1 play of more than 20 yards all afternoon in Athens.

Tennessee entered this game leading the nation with 553 yards of total offense per game. It was held to only 289 yards by UGA. The Vols, already one of the most penalized teams in the nation, were flagged 9 times, with the majority of those pre-snap penalties.

There’s no way to sugarcoat it. That was ugly.

So now the Vols sit at 8-1, and you are hearing some doom and gloom from their fans. Not a ton of that because after all, did anyone expect Tennessee to have only 1 loss heading into the final 3 weeks of the regular season? If you did, I hope that you now have your children’s college and that Maui beach house paid for with all your Vegas winnings.

The loss to Georgia takes away any realistic chance for Tennessee to win the Eastern Division and play for an SEC championship.

But there’s still a lot left to play for this season.

First of all, the Vols will be favored to win their remaining games against Missouri, at South Carolina and at Vanderbilt. If they run the table, that will put them at 11-1, the 1st time they’ve won at least 10 games since 2007.

If that’s the case, the absolute worst-case scenario should be that the Vols play in the Sugar Bowl. It has been a generational absence from that bowl game for Tennessee, as it hasn’t played in New Orleans since New Year’s Day 1991. Even during the Vols’ glory days of the mid-1990s to early 2000s, they ended up getting sent to places like Tempe or Dallas, but not the Big Easy.

Imagine 40,000-plus Vols fans spending their Christmas money all around Bourbon Street. There might not be enough booze in a town known for its penchant for partying. The only downside is that the game gets an 11 a.m. local time New Year’s Eve kickoff, but I suppose that just means fans stay up all night.

That should be the floor for Tennessee. And considering what the past 15 years have been like for the Vols, there’s no reason for anyone to be upset by that development.

But as much as the 14-point loss to UGA hurts, UT isn’t out of the picture for a Playoff berth. Not by a long shot.

Tennessee’s resume will include at least 5 wins over teams that were nationally ranked at the time the game was played: Pittsburgh, Florida, LSU, Alabama and Kentucky. Its only loss would be to the undefeated defending national champions in their building.

Some of the Vols’ competition for Playoff spots are having issues of their own. Clemson was destroyed by a very average Notre Dame team. Alabama is for all intents and purposes out of the Playoff mix thanks to its loss to LSU.

Ohio State and Michigan are still undefeated, but 1 of them will have a loss in 3 weeks because they play each other in Columbus. The Pac 12 contenders play each other the rest of the way. Will 1 of those teams have a single loss?

TCU is still undefeated, but it goes on the road to Texas and Baylor the next 2 weeks, which could present some challenges. Then it would potentially play in the Big 12 title game. If 13-0, the Horned Frogs will be in the Playoff. If not? Who knows …

There is a whole lot of football left to be played. This past weekend gave us some chaos, and more might be on the way.

Despite a rough Saturday in Athens, Tennessee is right in the thick of the Playoff picture.