Tennessee football had the ball in a tie game on third-and-five from the Georgia 20-yard line. The Bulldogs called timeout with seven seconds still on the clock. UT came back out to simply let quarterback Joey Aguilar fall down and line things up for kicker Max Gilbert. However, guard Sham Umarov jumped for a false start pushing it back five yards.
This made it a 43-yard field goal attempt, instead of a 38-yard one, for Gilbert to win the game. After a brief second of confusion on if it was time to kick it, Tennessee lined up for the game-winning attempt. The snap was good, the hold was good, but the kick drifted to the right and fell no good.
In the ensuing overtime, Gilbert knocked down a kick from virtually the same exact spot, but it wasn’t enough. Georgia scored a touchdown in response to win 44-41.
While Gilbert had the chance to earn the win, there were plenty of other moments Tennessee had that could have sealed the deal. That’s what head coach Josh Heupel told the team after the game. He’s not putting the blame solely on the missed kick.
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“Listen, I told the team, it’s a series of one play that make the wins,” Heupel said. “And as a specialist, sometimes your life gets showcased in a way where you get very limited opportunities. I love the fact that he came back over time, drains it. Unfortunately, he didn’t make the one before, but he had his head high. And that’s the life of being a kicker, you know what I mean? And I love the way he responded. He’ll continue to grow and we got great trust in him. Unfortunately, he didn’t finish that one.”
Gilbert has bounced back from tough outings in his career already. Against Kentucky in 2024, he went 0-for-3 on kicks. The following game against Mississippi State, he went 4-for-4, including a make from 51 yards out.
It’d be pretty surprising if he wasn’t the kicker for next Saturday’s bout against UAB or going forward past that, as well. As a redshirt-sophomore, he will even likely be the place kicker in 2026 and 2027.
