Tennessee and Georgia, two teams that have historically played in a late-schedule spot over the last few decades, will have the Week 3 afternoon spotlight this Saturday when the Top 15-ranked border rivals clash in Neyland Stadium. This matchup is overflowing with intrigue, given that neither team has faced a notable opponent yet considering the season is still relatively young. Tennessee did play Syracuse in the season-opener, but it won’t be like what the Vols go up against this weekend.
Georgia, meanwhile, has only gone up against Marshall and Austin Peay to begin its season. The Bulldogs have won both games without drama, but their 28-6 win over the Governors last Saturday in Athens did get the college football media talking.
Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt explained his concerns with the Bulldogs coming out of their win on Saturday on the latest episode of The Joel Klatt Show on YouTube.
“Georgia, man, I don’t want to be concerned about Georgia, but, like, come on,” Klatt said on Monday. “It’s not just the score, either. The beat an FCS Austin Peay team 28-6. Here’s what concerns me more. Why did Gunnar Stockton need to throw the ball 34 times against an FCS opponent? What? I don’t understand that. He was in the game well into the fourth quarter, still throwing the football. That’s a problem. That’s a concern.”
Klatt’s not ready to throw Georgia off the college football mountaintop any time soon, but he did list a few more striking things to him from that game.
“Should we panic? No. Am I going to move them way down? No,” Klatt said. “I’m just saying, they better develop. Concerned about the way they finished the half. Georgia ran five plays from the one-yard line at the end of the first half, didn’t get into the endzone. How? You should be able to just hand the ball off and drive an FCS defensive line into the endzone – 10 yards into the endzone.”
Klatt’s episode of The Joel Klatt Show on YouTube, from which these quotes come, was more about breaking down the Week 2 slate rather than looking ahead to some of the marquee games in Week 3. That means that we haven’t been able to hear his thoughts on the Tennessee side of things heading into Saturday’s game quite yet. That’s expected to come later in the week.
But we do know that the Fox Sports analyst is leaning toward picking the Volunteers, based on a recent interview he did with The Next Round. While being questioned about Georgia on the show, Klatt referred to the same 34-passes storyline that he had previously discussed on his own podcast. He was then asked about picking a winner for Saturday’s SEC clash.
“I kind of like Tennessee,” Klatt said. “At home, they’ve looked really solid; they’re clearly internally motivated. Aguilar looks like a quality player… Georgia better watch out. I’m really, really thinking about just picking Tennessee straight up in that game.”
Joel Klatt on Georgia’s passing game:
“Georgia’s starting QB had to throw 34 passes against Austin Peay! If Julian Sayin or Dante Moore would’ve thrown 34 passes against Austin Peay, they would’ve scored 873,000 points.”
Are the Dawgs in trouble Saturday at Tennessee?… pic.twitter.com/PeQnCbfdZy
— The Next Round (@NextRoundLive) September 8, 2025
We’ll have to wait and see if Klatt decides to change his mind to Georgia or sticks with his early lean of Tennessee as the winner this Saturday. But it does appear that this is a game that’s making people think a little longer and a little harder about a winner.
The big thing about this game, from both the Tennessee and the Georgia side of things, is that we’ve only seen a fraction of the playbooks from them. That’s what happens when you haven’t played an SEC game yet. Josh Heupel undoubtedly has offensive things that he’s been saving through the first two weeks, while Kirby Smart is in the same boat with his defensive schemes and plays. That very aspect could make this game hard to predict and could be a reason for the shifting line in the early part of the week.
Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for more coverage of the Tennessee-Georgia game as excitement builds toward Saturday afternoon in Knoxville.
Check out the full Georgia segment from The Joel Klatt Show on Monday below.
