Throughout the week, the Tennessee Volunteers had to feel fate was smiling on them. Offensive lineman Trey Smith was cleared to play in the opener and defensive tackle Aubrey Solomon was awarded immediate eligibility by the NCAA. That gave the Volunteers two of their most talented players, but it didn’t prevent the school from being shocked by the Georgia State Panthers in its home opener.
THE VOLS FALL IN KNOXVILLE!
Georgia State stuns Tennessee to hand the Vols their first loss in a home season opener since 1983. pic.twitter.com/XPpYuEucrc
— ESPN (@espn) August 31, 2019
The day got off to an ominous start for the hosts. Since Neyland Stadium is right on the water, some travel by boat to get to the game, and one of the boats in the Vol Navy caught on fire and sunk a few hours before kickoff.
Off to a great start pic.twitter.com/klLFDgmMoc
— Peter Edmiston (@peteredmiston) August 31, 2019
Georgia State wasn’t expected to put up much of a fight. The Panthers went 2-10 last year, and only one of those 10 losses was by one score. However, their ground game proved difficult for Tennessee to stop and Georgia State QB Dan Ellington did enough in the air to lead Georgia State to a 38-30 win.
Georgia State QB Dan Ellington with the shifty moves on his way to the endzone 😨 pic.twitter.com/1zGQRwaD4W
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) August 31, 2019
Ellington completed less than 50 percent of his passes on the day, but his ability to scamper proved to be the difference. With Georgia State driving to put the game away, he made four Tennessee defenders miss on a read option, giving the Panthers a 35-23 lead that they would not relinquish.
Turnovers proved to be especially costly for the Vols on Saturday afternoon as well. Tennessee fumbled on its second play of the game, leading to a Georgia State touchdown, and the hosts turned the ball over three times on the day. The Panthers tallied 17 points off of turnovers, starting on Tennessee’s 23, Tennessee’s 39, and Tennessee’s 36 on the turnover-aided drives.
Tennessee will face another team that struggled in Week 1 next week, hosting BYU on September 7th. The Volunteers will be sizable favorites in that game, and they will welcome Chattanooga to town the following week before kicking off conference play against Florida.
