ATHENS -- Tennessee coach Josh Heupel made it clear he was not happy with a pair of calls that went against his team at Georgia on Saturday night.

The No. 7-ranked Vols (8-2, 5-2 SEC ) fell to the No. 12 Bulldogs (8-2, 6-2) by a 31-17 count in Sanford Stadium, falling in the rivalry game for the eighth consecutive time.

Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava was 20-of-33 passing for 167 yards, unable to complete a pass longer than 17 yards as he was sacked five times.

“That guy’s a warrior, he’s going to keep getting better,” Heupel said. “Guys around him play for him and believe in him.”

Heupel, however, also noted two calls that went against his defense in the second half.

The first call Heupel made an issue of came on a second-and-24 from the Georgia 15 after Carson Beck completed a 16-yard pass to Nitro Tuggle, when UT was called for a 15-yard face mask penalty that led to a first down.

Heupel turned his microphone toward reporters when asked about the call and said, “can you repeat that?”

Heuepel later made issue of Tennessee being called for 12-men on the field later in the drive after Beck threw incomplete on second-and-7 from the Tennessee 20.

“Do you want to ask about the 12-man on the field (penalty),” Heupel later added, without being asked about it.

Neither call was pivotal in itself, but Heupel was clearly agitated his team came up short with what would have been Tennessee’s first SEC Championship Game appearance since 2007 within sight.

Tennessee was penalized nine times for 70 yards, while the Bulldogs had seven penalties for 59 yards.

“This group, practiced well, practiced hard, prepared hard, they did a lot of the right things in the lead up to the game,” Heupel said. “What happens on the field defines tonight, that’s the reality of it.”

Heupel, who praised Georgia quarterback Carson Beck in the lead up to the game, noted the Bulldogs passing success, as Beck was 25-of-40 passing for 347 yards and two touchdowns against a UT defense that hadn’t given up 20 or more points all season.

“Give credit to Georgia, they did what had to be done the second half to get a win …. " Heupel said. “They had a big night, created explosive plays down the football field, some of them were contested plays, some of them guys were open down the middle.

“All in all, we just weren’t playing well enough.”