Tennessee football heads into its Saturday meeting with Georgia as the underdog. According to Vegas betting lines, the Bulldogs are 3.5-point favorites for the contest. That hasn’t stopped a national college football writer from calling his shot and picking the Vols in an upset win.
Pat Forde of Sports Illustrated went through all the notable games on the Week 3 schedule and picked a winner and final score. In the case of UT-UGA, he settled on the Vols winning 24-21.
What gives Forde the confidence to make this pick comes down to two aspects. First, Georgia is unproven. The Bulldogs have just faced Marshall and Austin Peay at home, and haven’t looked great in the process. The other reason is UT’s lack of success in the series. In Forde’s eyes, UT is ‘overdue.’
“Josh Heupel is 26–4 at home, and the Bulldogs are completely untested after playing Marshall and Austin Peay,” Forde wrote. “And, as noted, the Volunteers are overdue in this rivalry.”
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Kickoff between Tennessee and Georgia is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET and will air on ABC. ESPN’s fan-favorite College GameDay program will air from campus on the lawn of Ayers Hall. Fans are also encouraged to coordinate colors for the annual ‘Checker Neyland’ game.
The Vols will start new quarterback Joey Aguilar in his third start with Tennessee. So far, Aguilar has produced 535 passing yards on a 66.1% completion percentage to go with five touchdowns. He’s yet to throw an interception, either, but has connected on touchdowns from 73 and 53 yards out.
On the ground, Aguilar didn’t record a rush attempt against ETSU. In the opener against Syracuse, he scampered for 34 yards on six carries. He is yet to be sacked, as well.
“He handled the game with low decision-making for the most part really well,” Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel said after the ETSU win. “Some things that he’ll learn from just being able to control the game with some checks that he can be better in. But all in all, really strong performance from him again.”
