Will Tennessee's painful overtime loss to Georgia haunt Vols in SEC, CFP races?

The ESPN television cameras panned to ready-made memes of Tennessee fans with outstretched arms wondering out loud. 

"What happened?" 

A replay review confirmed Josh McCray's 1-yard TD run in overtime – where he snuck the ball over the goal line in the pile-up. That gave No. 6 Georgia a 44-41 overtime victory against No. 15 Tennessee at Neyland Stadium on Saturday.

That also gave the Bulldogs a ninth-straight victory against the Volunteers – and this is arguably the most-painful one yet. 

Georgia (3-0, 1-0 SEC) maintained its lofty perch in the early SEC pecking order. Tennessee (2-1, 0-1 SEC) will have to wonder what this loss will mean as the SEC grind continues throughout the 2025 season. This was the early nominee for "Game of the Year." It also was a huge missed opportunity for Tennessee and fifth-year coach Josh Heupel.

How will the College Football Playoff committee weigh that later?

How Tennessee missed a chance to beat Georgia 

So, what happened? With the game tied at 38, Tennessee had possession with 2:32 remaining. Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar – who had 371 passing yards, four TDs, two interceptions – led a potential game-winning drive and pushed Tennessee to the 20-yard line with seven seconds remaining.

The Vols had 14 rushing attempts for 68 yards in the fourth quarter. This could have a tough, gritty victory against Georgia. Neyland Stadium was ready to copy-and-paste the celebration after the 52-49 victory against No. 3 Alabama 52-49 on Oct. 15, 2022. A false start penalty knocked the Vols back five yards, however, and Max Gilbert missed a 43-yard field goal with two seconds remaining. 

That sent the game into overtime. Gilbert hit a 42-yard field goal on Tennessee’s possession, but Georgia scored in three plays. Nate Fraizer had a 21-yard run on a sweep, and McCoy powered in the end zone after two runs. The review confirmed that TD.

MORE: From Diablo Valley to Rocky Top - Joey Aguilar's football journey

Georgia responded to Tennessee's early run 

Tennessee could not have scripted a better first quarter for Aguilar, who completed his first 14 passes and led the Vols to three straight TD drives. Chris Brazell II caught TD passes of 72 and 14 yards, respectively, and Tennessee had a total yards advantage of 235-77 after the first quarter. 

Georgia responded. The Vols had just 24 yards in the second quarter. The Bulldogs trimmed the lead to 21-17 at halftime. Gunner Stockton was 12 of 19 for 178 yards in the first half with a 36-yard TD pass to Zachariah Branch on a screen pass, and that set up the back-and-forth shootout in the second half. 

Gunner Stockton made the clutch throw on fourth down 

Georgia took a 24-21 lead with 7:41 left in the third drive after opening the second half with a bully-ball drive. The Bulldogs drove 14 plays, 75 yards – and threw just one pass during the drive. Georgia extended that lead to 27-21 before Tennessee erupted for 17 points into the fourth quarter. Aguilar hit Brazzell for a third TD pass and Braylon Staley for a 32-yard TD pass in the run, and the Vols had a 38-30 lead with 6:40 remaining in the fourth quarter. 

Yet the Bulldogs responded again. On fourth-and-6, Stockton lofted a fade to London Humphries for a 28-yard TD pass with 2:32 remaining. That set up the dizzying sequence of events in the final minutes and overtime. Stockton finished 23 of 31 for 304 yards and two TDs. 

GUNNER STOCKTON TO LONDON HUMPHREYS!!! pic.twitter.com/i3v3rlmUXy

— Mr Matthew CFB (@MrMatthew_CFB) September 13, 2025

Give Georgia coach Kirby Smart credit. Georgia never faltered in crunch time, the sign of a been-there, done-that national championship contender. He trusted Stockton after a strip-sack by Joshua Josephs earlier in the quarter. 

The TD pass to Humphries will go down in rivalry lore, too. 

What about Tennessee?

Where will Tennessee go after a loss to Georgia? 

That depends on how long this loss lingers with the program. It's tough. Georgia had won the previous four meetings at Neyland Stadium by an average of 30.5 points per game, and this was the best opportunity to break the losing streak, vault the Vols into the top 10 and put the pressure on the Bulldogs the rest of the season. 

The "quarterback trade" with Nico Iamaleava transferring to UCLA has been a constant topic of conversation in September, and Aguilar averages 302 yards with nine TDs and two interceptions through two games. Yet Aguilar was 10 of 21 for 158 yards after the first-quarter barrage against Georgia. 

Tennessee will stay in the AP Top 25, but there are still circle-the-date games at No. 19 Alabama (Oct. 18) and No. 13 Oklahoma (Nov. 1) before late-season games against Florida (Nov. 22) and Vanderbilt (Nov. 29). The Vols would likely have to go 3-1 in those games to avoid trying to squeak into the CFP with a 9-3 record – which did not work for SEC contenders last season. That is the missed opportunity that slipped away in overtime.