Volunteer Country

Tennessee Football is Better Equipped to Face Georgia Now Than in Years Past

The Tennessee Volunteers are a different team from what Georgia is used to seeing when they play them. This year‘s matchup could go better for the Vols because of those differences.

Tanner Johnson

Tennessee defensive lineman James Pearce Jr. (27) celebrates Tennessee defensive lineman Omarr Norman-Lott’s (55) sack during an NCAA college football game between Tennessee and Mississippi State at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn., Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024.
Tennessee defensive lineman James Pearce Jr. (27) celebrates Tennessee defensive lineman Omarr Norman-Lott’s (55) sack during an NCAA college football game between Tennessee and Mississippi State at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn., Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. / Caitie McMekin/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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The Tennessee Volunteers are a different team from what Georgia is used to seeing when they play them. This year‘s matchup could go better for the Vols because of those differences.

For the first three years of Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel’s tenure in Knoxville, the Volunteers have not come close to beating Georgia. The Vols have beaten Aalabama and Florida multiple times, destroyed LSU in Death Valley, and knocked off Texas A&M since Heupel’s arrival in Knoxville. But Georgia is the only SEC team that the Vols have not been able to compete with.

In 2021, Tennessee performed admirably against the best defense in the country and a Georgia team that went on to win the national championship. The Vols lost 41-17 but they scored more points on Georgia’s defense than any other team did for the entire regular season. Even though Tennessee lost convincingly, there were signs that Heupel’s offense could work against Georgia head coach Kirby Smart’s defense.

In 2022, the Vols came into the match up with the Georgia ranked No. 1 in the country and with an 8-0 record. Nevertheless, Tennessee was still an underdog in this game and was beaten convincingly by Georgia 27-13. The Vols offense, which had looked unstoppable all season, ran into a buzz saw in Athens and was unable to handle the pressure from George’s generationally great defense.

The 2023 matchup was not close at all. The Vols lost 38-10 and struggled to move the ball aside from a long rushing touchdown on the first play from scrimmage. This was the least competitive of the three games that Heupel and Smart have had against each other, and signified the continuation of Tennessee’s pattern of struggling against the Bulldogs.

But this year, Tennessee has advantages that it has not had in the past against Georgia. This time, Tennessee has a dominant defense that has not given up more than 19 points this season. Meanwhile, Georgia struggles to run the ball and has one of the most turnover-prone quarterbacks in the country in Carson Beck. The Bulldogs’ defense also is not what it has been in years past. 

The Bulldogs have a defense that has defense has surrendered point totals of 41 to Alabama, 31 to Mississippi State, and 28 in a loss to Ole Miss. If there was ever a season where Georgia’s defense was vulnerable under Smart, it would be this season. Even though Vols quarterbackNico Iamaleava is questionable to play on Saturday, Tennessee has a chance to knock off the Bulldogs for the first time since 2016.

This time, the Vols match up better with Georgia on the lines of scrimmage than they have in many years. That gap closing could be enough to get the job done in Athens.

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Tanner Johnson
TANNER JOHNSON

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