ATHENS — Streaks are made to be broken and Tennessee entered its game against Georgia having won eight consecutive games.
The Vols’ streak was snapped when Tennessee came up on the short end of a 44-21 decision Saturday at Sanford Stadium.
The Volunteers (2-1, 2-1 SEC) had a 21-17 lead at halftime and got the ball first to start the third quarter.
That is when things went awry for the Vols.
Tennessee had more than its mistakes in the first half, but the Volunteers overcame those miscues after cashing in on a mistake by the Bulldogs (3-0, 3-0 SEC) early when Kivon Bennett recovered an errant snap in the end zone to give the Vols a 7-0 lead.
Tennessee had the lead thanks to a goal-line stand and a pair of touchdown passes from Jarrett Guarantano to Josh Palmer.
Guarantano went 11-for-13 with two touchdown passes before halftime, but he fell apart after the break.
He fumbled twice and threw an interception, and those mistakes were UT’s first turnovers this season.
Georgia made the Vols pay by scoring 27 unanswered points over the final 30 minutes.
With the loss the Vols have dropped 34 consecutive games against Top-10 opponents.