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Tennessee football: Five reasons Georgia State could upset Vols

By Caleb Calhoun

ATLANTA - SEPTEMBER 02: Austen Wiley #45 of the Georgia State Panthers holds up his helmet during a kickoff to the Shorter Hawks at Georgia Dome on September 2, 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
ATLANTA - SEPTEMBER 02: Austen Wiley #45 of the Georgia State Panthers holds up his helmet during a kickoff to the Shorter Hawks at Georgia Dome on September 2, 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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The Georgia State Panthers will face Tennessee football at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville on Saturday. Here’s why GSU could beat the Volunteers.

Sure, the Georgia State Panthers were 2-10 last year. Tennessee football may indeed be a 27-point favorite against them. In general, there’s no reason to think the Vols will have any trouble in their season-opener to kick off Jeremy Pruitt’s second year on Rocky Top.

However, let’s not forget that the Vols were 5-7 last year. They lost six games by 25 or more points, indicating that they didn’t even belong on the field with teams they faced half the season. So they looked pretty awful too.

You can say that they have lots of returning talent. And you’d be right. But it’s also true that Georgia State has lots of returning talent. In fact, in his third year as head coach, this is the first time Shawn Elliott has the guys to fit his system playing with experience.

As a result, Tennessee football could face a tougher challenge than expected if they aren’t careful. Upsets happen, and the Vols have suffered worse upsets than this would be throughout their history. Remember the Memphis Tigers of 1996 or the Wyoming Cowboys of 2008?

There are plenty of reasons as to why Georgia State could upset Rocky Top this weekend. Let me state up front that this remains highly unlikely. But we’ve seen teams overcome worse spreads than this to win.

In this post, we’re going to break down a few of those key reasons. They involve coaching, matchup issues and even injuries. Just the right mix of things could create a disaster for any team on any given Saturday, and Pruitt needs to make sure his team takes that into account.

If the Vols aren’t careful, they’re season could be over before it begins. Hey, the last time they opened the season against a Group of Five team, it was against the Appalachian State Mountains, and they needed overtime to win. In fact, they are 2-1 in their last three season-openers, and their two wins are in overtime.

Simply put, these are often very difficult. And that could be the case on Saturday. Let’s analyze why. Here are five reasons the Georgia State Panthers could upset Tennessee football in the Vols’ 2019 season-opener Saturday afternoon.

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