Georgia comes to Neyland Stadium Saturday afternoon looking for its ninth straight win over Tennessee. The Bulldogs look more gettable then they have in a number of years, entering the rivalry showdown as just 3.5-point road favorites.
The Bulldogs bring new starting quarterback Gunnar Stockton into a raucous Neyland Stadium for his first career road start and Georgia’s passing attack has been uninspiring in two lopsided wins over Marshall and Austin Peay to begin the season.
But it’s Tennessee’s passing attack that has been unable to get going in its last three meetings against the Bulldogs. The Vols threw for 332 yards in a lopsided 41-17 loss against Georgia back in 2021. Since then, Tennessee has thrown for 195 yards, 147 yards and 167 yards respectively. That trend has to change if Tennessee’s going to end its losing streak against the Bulldogs.
“In this football game there’s one-on-ones that guys are going to have to win all over the football field,” Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel said earlier this week. “You’re talking about the wide receivers, that’s going to happen at the line of scrimmage as well. You got to play with fundamentals and technique and get off of it. That’s press man and all the coverage variations that they have. You also have to be able to recognize those things as well. And protecting the quarterback, winning the line scrimmage, is going to be important.”
Tennessee’s issues in the passing game have been multi-faceted against the Bulldogs. The Vols have completed just two passes over 20 yards in the last three meetings. The longest completion was a 28-yard catch from Jalin Hyatt back in 2022.
Sustaining multiple long touchdown drives against Georgia is extremely difficult. Even last season when the Vols rushed for 146 yards, their most against Georgia in Heupel’s tenure, they were only able to sustain a few drives and score 17 points.
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Tennessee completing just one pass of over 15 yards made the margins too small for its offense to consistently find success.
Senior tight end Miles Kitselman and junior receiver Chris Brazzell are back for Tennessee this season, but the Vols will lean on a new look receiver room this season. Second-year receiver Mike Matthews and Braylon Staley combined to play six snaps in Athens last season.
The inexperienced duo has heard the outside noise and Tennessee is banking on the younger, more athletic group to give its offense a spark that it hasn’t had in this series.
“I think they all got chips on their shoulders. I think they all keep receipts,” Tennessee receiver’s coach Kelsey Pope said. “They’ve heard some of the stuff, like we all have. But that’s the good thing about being an athlete, is you can channel that stuff the right way. In the end, you can have the world in your hands and you can have the last say so.”
A successful passing game takes many components. Tennessee needs its offensive line to play well and Joey Aguilar to step up in his first major test. But the Vols’ receivers have been far outmatched against Georgia the last two seasons. They need them to take a step forward this week if they’re going to buck the trend in the series.
Kickoff between Tennessee and Georgia is set for 3:30 p.m. ET at Neyland Stadium. Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Holly Rowe are on the call for ABC.
