After a pair of drama-free non-conference wins to begin the season, the challenge gets real for Tennessee football this Saturday as they open up SEC play against rival Georgia at Neyland Stadium. ESPN’s College Gameday is coming in town for the showdown as the eyes of the college football world focus on Knoxville this weekend.
Each week, the RTI team will provide game predictions for Tennessee’s matchup. We move on to the Georgia Bulldogs.
More From RTI: Tennessee Football Preview – Vols Looking For Statement Win Against Georgia on Saturday
Ric Butler
I picked Georgia to beat Tennessee in my original preseason predictions, but here we go already throwing that all out the window in just the third week of the season. I’ve been impressed by UT through the first two weeks, while still keeping note of the fact that the Vols have only played Syracuse and East Tennessee State so far. I’ll go ahead and get this out of the way so I can start talking about what needs to happen, but I’m picking Tennessee in this game. Fortune favors the bold, eh?
The fact that this game is coming so early in the season is what makes everything so unpredictable. When these two teams have met in the Heupel-Smart era, it’s been late-season contests. Most of the tricks are out of the bag. This time, though? Not so much the case. Both coaches and smart and savvy – it’s hard to believe that there isn’t a host of schemes and plans that have specifically been saved for this game.
I believe this game comes down to the three big X-Factors at play: Can Georgia QB Gunner Stockton handle the pressure that Neyland Stadium will bring? Will Tennessee’s wide receivers be able to create separation to open up the offensive game plan for the Vols? Will one team be plagued by a key turnover in the second half?
I have less to say about this game than usual. I think the easy answer would be picking the team that has dominated this series over the span of this current era. But, I don’t know. Something’s led me to be bold with this pick. People talk about the Neyland Effect. I think it does come into play this game. I think Joey Aguilar is a guy who can step into a moment like this. Make no mistake – Tennessee’s injuries could be a problem in this game, down two starting cornerbacks and potentially more impact defensive players. Perhaps that’s a key difference-maker on the UGA side. I’m confident this game will be close, but I’m picking Tennessee. Someone wins or loses the game at the end.
Prediction: Tennessee 27, Georgia 24
Ryan Schumpert
Georgia has been Josh Heupel and Tennessee’s kryptonite. For all the great things Heupel has done at Tennessee, a win over Georgia alludes him. For my vantage point, it feels like the next hurdle Heupel will clear at Tennessee is a win over Georgia or a big time rivalry win on the road. He’ll get three chances this season to check one of those two boxes with the first coming Saturday.
The 3.5-point spread is the lowest it’s been between these two teams since Tennessee last knocked off the Bulldogs in 2016. Why does Georgia looked susceptible? First-year starting quarterback Gunnar Stockton has not been overly inspiring to this point in the season and this is his first career road start. The offensive line in front of him has a lot of new faces and is banged up entering this game. Georgia will surely be really good this season. The question is whether they can be great. Frankly, it’s been tough for me to get a feel for Georgia through two games against Marshall and Austin Peay. They have not looked great but it would not shock me if they flip things into gear this week.
My biggest question for Tennessee is its offense, and specifically passing attack. The Vols have yet to eclipse 17 points against Georgia under Heupel and haven’t thrown for 200 yards or a passing touchdown in the last three meetings. Heupel has tinkered with his offense this offseason and has made some changes. Maybe that will open things up for Tennessee’s offense against the Bulldogs. But I just have to see it to believe it in this series.
My other big question is about Tennessee’s run defense. If the Vols are going to pull off a rivalry win, they have to make Stockton beat them. They have to bottle up Georgia’s rushing attack and make the Bulldogs’ offense do the bulk of their damage through the air. That feels more plausible but simply has to happen.
There is the Neyland Effect to take into account too. Tennessee has been stellar at home under Heupel with Georgia being the one team to beat them multiple times in Neyland Stadium. But Kirby Smart team’s typically don’t beat themselves and I still have questions about this Tennessee team.
Prediction: Georgia 27, Tennessee 14
Ryan Sylvia
Maybe it’s recency bias speaking, but I don’t remember feeling this good about Tennessee’s chances to beat Georgia in a long time. While the Vols may end up having better teams in 2022 and 2024 (the verdict is still out on this squad), this definitely feels like the best team Josh Heupel has fielded in the years UT hosts Georgia and doesn’t have to go down to Athens.
On top of a very real homefield advantage, I’m just not convinced the Bulldogs are at the standard they’ve set in the past years. This starts up front on the offensive line. Whether you want to blame injuries or just poor play, UGA hasn’t gotten the protection or push up front it’s used to against the likes of Marshall and Austin Peay. With Gunner Stockton also not being a downfield threat in the slightest, it makes you think Tennessee’s defense could find a lot of success.
Offensively, I’m still very curious about what Joey Aguilar and this offense will look like in SEC play. So far, so good, but that was against a poor Syracuse defense and an FCS team in ETSU. With Georgia being by far UT’s toughest test yet, I’d expect some of the production to drop, particularly through the air. I do think the run game can still be a strong factor.
With all that said, it’s still tough for me to pick Tennessee to win this game. If the Vols won, I wouldn’t be totally shocked, but I would definitely be somewhat surprised given the lack of success Heupel has had on the offensive end against Kirby Smart. I expect a lower-scoring game, and probably the best one with UGA since Heupel got to Knoxville, but with the Bulldogs surviving.
Prediction: Georgia 24, Tennessee 20
