Heupel aptly summarized the game by saying that Georgia converted most of its third downs into first downs---and,
conversely, UT didn't. That was the story of the first half--and essentially the game. We played pretty good defense on first
and second down but could not stop them on 3rd down--and most of their third-down yardage requirements were more than 3/4 yards. They'd complete a pass--very often to a tight end-- and...first down.
We had a bunch of manageable 3rd-down yardage, but our pass plays/execution was often terrible; we didn't get the first downs, and we'd have to punt. So Georgia would drive the ball for several minutes, score, and then we'd get the ball and it would be three and out, or one first down, and then three and out. Ball game. Our passing game was simply not good when it needed to be.