The feeling was similar. The Vols are driving late in the game with national championship implications. There's time on the clock for a field goal to win the game. A successful kick of 43 yards would acknowledge to the world that the Vols were back among the elite of college football teams. The snap is good, the placement is adequate, and the ball sails toward the goal posts, veering only to the right. The officials signal no good, and the Vols are the eventual losers of a classic game that went down to the wire.

Only this wasn't 2015. It was 1968. For those of us who've been around long enough, Max Gilbert's missed field goal last night felt just like Karl Kremser's missed field goal against Oklahoma, his kick sailing wide right from, you guessed it, 43 yards away.

Vols fans waited thirty years from Kremser's failed kick to win a national championship. Hopefully, the Vols will win a national championship in my lifetime.

Tennessee beat the spread by a half point but lost the third game of 2025 to Georgia, 44-41. The Bulldogs ultimately needed the Vols' help to win the game, and they received it.

The hype was stratospheric: College Game Day was present. Tennessee, riding a 2-0 start with Joey Aguilar slinging it like a man possessed, eyed the upset to snap Georgia’s nine-game stranglehold in the series. Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs, meanwhile, arrived 2-0 and ranked sixth in the nation. On a beautiful Neyland Stadium Checkerboard Saturday, two evenly matched football teams engaged in a back-and-forth struggle with scintillating plays and massive momentum changes. It's early in the season, but there might not be a more entertaining SEC game all year.

Tennessee stunned the favored visiting team with 224 yards of offense on three scoring drives in the first 10:28 of the contest. The score at the end of the first quarter was 21-7, Vols.

Could Tennessee go on and deliver a knockout blow in the second quarter? It was not to be. Even in Hendon Hooker's glory years, the second quarter was a trouble spot for the Vols' offense. This Georgia game was no different.

The Dogs outscored the Vols 10-0 in the second. Aguilar threw his first interception of the season. After Georgia's counterpunch, would Tennessee have the fortitude to rise to the occasion, unlike their efforts in the past eight games with Georgia?

The third quarter didn't start well. Georgia took the kickoff and methodically drove 75 yards in 14 plays to take their first lead at 24-21 with a one-yard rush by Josh McCray. Thirteen of the fourteen plays were runs. Tennessee's response was indicative of the most recent Georgia games. A second interception of Aguilar by Georgia sophomore safety KJ Bolden at the Tennessee 38-yard line led to Georgia capitalizing immediately, driving to the Vols’ 30 before settling for a 48-yard field goal by kicker Peyton Woodring. The field goal extended Georgia’s lead to six points and marked 20 unanswered Bulldog points dating back to the first quarter.

Then came the bomb. With the game seemingly slipping away and with under two minutes left in the third, Tennessee needed a rally. They got it with a 56-yard pass from Aguilar to Chris Brazzell II, his third TD reception of the day. With Max Gilbert's PAT, the 4th quarter began with the Vols up 28-27.

The remaining minutes served to make this game a classic. The sellout crowd of 101,915 was momentarily quieted when Georgia drove to the ten-yard line but had to settle for another Woodring field goal. The two-point margin was quickly eclipsed by the Vols: they exploded for 75 yards in just four plays over 1:16, showcasing their big-play passing game. QB Joey Aguilar hit WR Mike Matthews for a 15-yard gain on first down, followed by a 28-yard bomb to Brazzell to cross midfield. The drive was capped by Aguilar’s 32-yard touchdown pass to WR Braylon Staley, and with Gilbert's PAT, made the tally 35-30, Vols.

After a short Georgia punt, Tennessee was able to get into field goal range again, this time Gilbert splitting the uprights, foreshadowing the drama to follow.

Georgia's last drive will be remembered as one where they showed why they secured four SEC Championships and two National Championships under Kirby Smart's mentorship in the past eight years. Trailing by eight with 6:40 left, the Bulldogs orchestrated a 75-yard, nine-play masterpiece over 4:08 to even the score. Stockton was surgical, completing 5-of-6 passes for 62 yards, including a 28-yard touchdown strike to WR London Humphreys on fourth down. A two-point conversion tied the score at 38.

Tennessee had the final opportunity in regulation. It ended in Gilbert's wide right. While he atoned somewhat for the miss by nailing a 42-yard field goal in overtime, Georgia countered with the game-winning touchdown on another one-yard McCray run. The final 44-41 was indeed another heartbreak for Tennessee's national championship aspirations.

Coach Josh Heupel has brought the Vols to the college football playoffs in less than five years as Tennessee's coach and was tantalizingly close to knocking off a perennial national championship contender in Georgia. The question remains whether the Vols can build on the successes of the Georgia game or whether the loss sends them into a lackluster spiral. Next week's game against Alabama-Birmingham should give some indication of this team's bounce-back capabilities. Unlike the Vols of 1968, the 2025 team has a shot at redemption.

TOM'S TAKEAWAYS:

#A criticism of Joey Aguilar's gunslinger approach to the quarterback position was the number of interceptions he threw at App State last year. The difficulty resurfaced with the two interceptions in this Georgia game. We will see if Heupel and QB Coach, and OC Joey Halzle can find a solution.

#Speaking of swaps, Nico Iamaleava’s Bruins fell 35-10 to New Mexico at home on Friday night. UCLA’s 0-3 on Nico's 62-97 passing and 4 TDs. Aguilar’s ledger? 2-1, ten total touchdowns, 906 yards passing. Trade grade: Vols A-, Bruins F.