Tennessee took a 21-17 lead into halftime of Saturday’s game against Georgia, making many wonder if the Vols were about to pull off a big upset.

However, the Bulldogs made adjustments during the intermission and came out strong in the second half, outscoring Tennessee 27-0 to win the game 44-21.

After the loss, Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt was quick to give credit to Georgia (via 247Sports):

“Just, first of all, like to give credit to Georgia. Thought they really out-played us there in the second half. When you look at the game, of course we’ll learn a lot when we watch the tape, you can’t turn the ball over three times and expect to win. We turned the ball (over) three times in the second half. Once for a defensive score. Two times. I don’t even think they made a first down and kicked field goals. So there’s 13 points there that really change the game.”

He added that pressure was the name of the game after halftime:

“They got pressure on the quarterback. I don’t know exactly what pressures they ran, but a couple times we had people blocking them and they beat us on one-on-ones. Then we threw a pick, which was an ill-advised throw. Just can’t do stuff like that. It’s pretty simple. We turned the ball over three times and didn’t get any turnovers in the second half. It’s the difference in the ballgame.”

When asked about Georgia’s defensive depth, Pruitt offered some general praise:

“Yeah, I guess. I haven’t studied them that much. They’ve got good players and do a good job coaching them up.”

Will the Vols bounce back next week? They have a game against SEC East foe Kentucky.