This. There isn’t a “right” call. There are tradeoffs.
On the 4th down TD, Banks had man outside and four zone defenders in the middle. Stockton was (likely) reading right side first: does he get man coverage on the slot without a safety over the top? If yes, he throws to the endzone sideline. If he gets zone or outside safety help, the over route should come open in a window. If both of those are covered, there is a slant/skinny post on the backside designed to attack the middle of the field—which should be open if there is outside safety help on the first read. Seven blockers stay in to help against the rush.
Tennessee’s interior zone ended up being a bad defense against this route combo, but that doesn’t mean it was a bad call. UGA frequently uses crossers and double slants to convert mid-range downs, and this defense was perfect for countering that plan, plus it leaves lots of guys free to watch for RBs and TEs leaking out. The defenders from the LOS dropping into coverage would be directly in the throwing lanes and the routes would be running into the most crowded parts of the field. Banks just wasn’t expecting Bobo to go deep with the slot WR getting vertical on fourth down.
