Bulldogs regroup, prepare for Vandy

Georgia plummeted six spots to No. 16 in the Associated Press Top 25 on Sunday after the Bulldogs' collapse against Tennessee. It's the Bulldogs' lowest ranking since they finished 22nd in the final poll of the 2001 season and puts them three spots below Georgia Tech.

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The 51-33 loss marked the fourth-most points allowed this season by a team from a Bowl Championship Series conference. Kentucky gave up 59 to Louisville, and North Carolina and Indiana have allowed 52.

Now it's up to Georgia (5-1, 2-1 SEC) to show it isn't ready to concede the SEC East title to No. 2 Florida (6-0, 4-0).

"The reality is there's one undefeated team in the Southeastern Conference - one," said Georgia coach Mark Richt, whose squad slipped to 14th in both the USA Today poll and Harris Interactive poll. "The race is on. It's really just begun. ... We've got a lot to fight for. We've won the Eastern Division three out of four years and never won it undefeated."

The Bulldogs get Vanderbilt (2-4, 0-3 SEC) in their homecoming game at 12:30 p.m. Saturday. It will be televised by Lincoln Financial Sports.

After a busy recruiting weekend with five official visitors, Richt said Sunday night that he was still contemplating personnel changes.

That includes senior Joe Tereshinski, who might or might not start for the second week in a row at quarterback.

Tereshinski completed 12 of 20 passes for 164 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions that led to Tennessee touchdowns. He also lost a fumble.

"He was about like the rest of the team," Richt said. "Some very good things and some things that weren't quite so good. It wasn't a whole lot different from the rest of the bunch."

Georgia has nearly three weeks before it plays Florida in Jacksonville, Fla., on Oct. 28.

Florida plays at No. 11 Auburn on Saturday. Tennessee (5-1, 1-1 SEC) still has Alabama, South Carolina, Louisiana State and Arkansas on its SEC schedule.

"The seniors have to get together and pull this team together," Tereshinski said. "The SEC Championship game, it's still there. Some things might have to happen later on but it's early and a lot of teams still have to play a lot of teams with great potential. We've got to worry about ourselves."

Tennessee scored five touchdowns and a field goal on six consecutive possessions as the Bulldogs failed to put much pressure on Erik Ainge, who picked apart the Bulldogs with 268 passing yards and two touchdowns. Georgia had only one sack and that came on a safety blitz from Tra Battle.

Georgia had four second-half turnovers when the Volunteers rolled up 37 points in what defensive coordinator Willie Martinez said was the worst half he has experienced at Georgia.

NICE RETURNS: Punt returner Mikey Henderson has two touchdowns in only 12 returns this season.

Only three other punt returners in NCAA I-A have scored twice this season: Oregon State's Sammie Stroughter, Army's Jeremy Trimble and Cal's DeSean Jackson