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Tennessee Volunteers vs Georgia Bulldogs: Battle For Athens

By Kyle Schmidt

KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 30: Sony Michel #1 of the Georgia Bulldogs splits the defense for a 21-yard touchdown run in the third quarter of a game against the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium on September 30, 2017 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Georgia won 41-0. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 30: Sony Michel #1 of the Georgia Bulldogs splits the defense for a 21-yard touchdown run in the third quarter of a game against the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium on September 30, 2017 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Georgia won 41-0. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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Saturday the Volunteers will travel to Athens to take on division rival Georgia Bulldogs. The Bulldogs are ready to defend their home field against UT.

After an embarrassing home loss to the Florida Gators, Tennessee will be looking to get back in the win column.  Unfortunately for the Volunteers, they will be taking the #2 Georgia Bulldogs in Sanford Stadium.  This is the second game of a brutal five-game stretch for the Vols.

Tennessee will have their hands full with the Bulldogs and if they expect to have any chance at all they will have to take better care of the football.  Here is a look at what the Volunteers are up against Saturday in Athens.

Georgia Offense

Coming into this game, the Bulldogs offense is ranked #33 overall, averaging a total of 477.5 yards/game.

The leader on the offensive side of the ball is true-sophomore quarterback Jake Fromm.  Fromm has completed 72% of his passes this season and has already thrown for 9 touchdowns and only 2 interceptions.  Look for him to try and take advantage of Tennessee’s young secondary early.

As good as Fromm has been for the Bulldogs, they are still a run first team.  At this point in the season, they have run the 160 times and only attempted 90 passes.  On the ground alone, they are averaging a total of 250.3 yards/game on the ground.

Despite losing Sony Michel and Nick Chubb last year to the NFL Draft, they still have one of the best rushing attacks in the nation. The leader of the rushing attack is junior running back Elijah Holyfield.  Holyfield splits carries with D’Andre Swift and James Cook.

If Tennessee wants to be able to slow down this Georgia offense, they are going to have to play better defense than they have all year.

Georgia Defense

After four games, the Bulldogs defense is ranked 12th overall, holding opponents to less than 300 yards/game.  On the ground, Georgia is holding opponents under 120 yards/game.  Through the air, they have held opponents to less than 175 yards/game.

Although the Bulldog defense only has 3 sacks so far this season, Tennessee’s offensive line has struggled to protect the quarterback.

In the secondary, the Bulldogs have intercepted the ball four times, while also forcing four fumbles.  Coming off a game in which the Volunteers turned the ball over 6 times, they are going to have to do a better job of taking care of the ball if they are going to even think about keeping this one close.

What to Expect

After just four games into the 2018 season, Vols fans are already starting to get restless.  If the Volunteers want to keep their fans engaged for the remainder of the season they need to come out in this game and play with a purpose.

Georgia opened as a 32.5 point favorite and if the Vols don’t figure things out early on, this game will get away from them in a hurry.  To have a chance at winning this game, the Tennessee Volunteers will have to play a flawless game.

Not only will they have to play better on offense, but on defense, they will have to tackle better and they will have to create turnovers.  Although it is very unlikely, the Vols usually play Georgia close and an upset in Athens would give a new sense of hope to Volunteer Nation.

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