Tennessee football enters Saturday against the Georgia Bulldogs with low expectations. But it’s a sure bet the UGA Dawgs will not blow the Volunteers out.
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After Tennessee football lost to a bad Florida Gators team and then looked hideous against the UMass Minutemen the very next week, expectations for the program under Butch Jones have tanked. Fans are not happy with the program.
Meanwhile, the Georgia Bulldogs are riding higher than ever with a dominating 31-3 win over the Mississippi State Bulldogs and an impressive road win over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. So they look like a program on the rise under Kirby Smart.
So it shouldn’t come as a shock that there’s a consensus to pick the Dawgs to blow out the Vols this weekend. Vegas is hedging a bit, but even they are going with this theory.
Sportsbook Review betting odds show that while the Dawgs opened a six and a half point favorite over the Vols, that line has now moved to range anywhere from seven to eight and a half. The standard line has mostly been seven and a half.
Although that’s keeping it within a touchdown, it still seems like a pretty high line considering the fact that Georgia is coming to Knoxville.
Well, no matter what the lines say, you can bet this game will not be a blowout. That just doesn’t happen when Tennessee football faces Georgia.
Don’t get me wrong, there have been blowout games since this century began. But in recent years, that hasn’t been the case.
Every game since 2011 has been decided by one possession, and the last two came down to the last play. It didn’t matter where the teams were either.
Georgia was one play away from the national title in 2012 while Tennessee went 5-7. The Vols still only lost to the Dawgs by a touchdown on the road.
The year before, 2011, Georgia won the East as well while Tennessee football still went 5-7. But again, that game was a touchdown difference.
In 2013, the Vols went 5-7. Georgia was very close to winning the East. But that game went to overtime.
It doesn’t matter where these teams are standing, this game is always close. On top of that, it’s worth noting that the Vols do have some talent. And they have plenty of horses to keep up with the Bulldogs.
There’s no reason to read too much into how they looked against UMass last week. Remember, UMass has played other teams close. And the Vols did not care about that game. It was a trap game between a heartbreaking loss at Florida and a huge game against Georgia.
This week, if Neyland Stadium begins rocking, the Vols have plenty of advantages. Even if Georgia is the better team, playing in Knoxville with a freshman quarterback can be tough. And that’s what’s likely to happen.
Next: 5 Georgia wins that turned around Vols seasons
So there’s no reason to believe you won’t see a completely different Tennessee football team Saturday. We actually have the Vols winning in our SEC predictions, but that’s not a guarantee. The sure guarantee, though, is this game will be close. And there’s no reason to think otherwise.