Skip to main content
Join Now
Team Avatar
Tennessee

Steve Spurrier 'felt sorry' for Tennessee players after loss to Georgia

IMG_6598by: Nick Kosko09/16/25nickkosko59
USATSI_27077368 (1)
Saul Young/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Former coach Steve Spurrier said he felt sorry for Tennessee after the Vols suffered a heartbreaking overtime loss to Georgia Saturday. For a guy who coached against the likes of both teams during his career at Florida and South Carolina, among other places, Tennessee made an impact on the “Head Ball Coach.”

Tennessee had their chances, particularly at the end of regulation and in overtime. But, Georgia came out on top to keep the winning streak against the Vols going.

This doesn’t end the season at all of course, but the Vols are going to have to rebound quickly. Spurrier noted Tennessee couldn’t overcome a great performance by a guy like Gunner Stockton.

“The Georgia-Tennessee (game) was a heck of a game,” Spurrier said on Another Dooley Noted Podcast. “I felt sorry for the Tennessee guys. They played their hearts out. And give Georgia credit, they hung in there, hung in there. And Gunner Stockton … you gotta like guys like him. He sat on the bench there, two or three years or something like that, waited his turn, he’s I think from Georgia, and he wanted to be a Bulldog his whole life and now he got a chance … Yeah, he’s really played well.”

Tennessee fell to 2-1 with the loss but proved they’re right there. Still, it doesn’t erase the sting of a golden opportunity in mid-September. 

“Losses never feel good, taste good,” head coach Josh Heupel said. “That’s not the expectation inside of this locker room, just to play somebody tight. I think the disappointment of tonight can be a moment, something in our journey together that can springboard and propel us if we choose to use it that way …

“Man, soak this baby in tonight, let it hurt. Same thing tomorrow for the players. Coaches, we’ll learn lessons and move forward early tomorrow. When the players come back in on Monday, it’s – whether you win or lose, man – it’s about how you’re going to get better. If we take the lessons from this one, use the disappointment to propel us, have even greater focus and urgency, we’ve got a chance to be a good football team and continue to get better, and that’s what we have to do to be the team that we’re capable of.”

Tennessee and Heupel will look to get back on track this weekend in non-conference play. The Vols host UAB on Saturday at 12:45 p.m. ET.