Coming off a bye, Tennessee football is looking for its first FBS win against the Georgia Bulldogs. Here is our UT Volunteers preview against the UGA Dawgs.
Here we go again. Tennessee football has to take the field again after a bye week with a 1-3 record, no wins against an FBS program, two losses to Group of Five programs at home, and their most recent outing being a 34-3 loss to the Florida Gators, their only Power Five opponent on the year. Now they have to face the Georgia Bulldogs, a top five undefeated team.
Can it get more difficult for the Vols? Well, yes it can. In addition to all of that, they are facing a UGA team that not only may be the most talented team in the nation but one that also is coming off a bye week after beating the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, a top 10 program.
Oh, and there’s drama for Tennessee football. They enter this game reportedly changing quarterbacks from Jarrett Guarantano to Brian Maurer while also dealing with the embarrassment of the Jeremy Banks police video and his dismissal.
Simply put, the Vols have a lot of things working against them as they get set to play Saturday night on national television at home. Jeremy Pruitt is starting to receive a good bit of criticism in his second year, and some of it is warranted.
Now, though, they expect to somewhat right the ship coming off the bye. And this is a major test for them right out of the gate. Before we break things down further, here is all the information you need for the game.
No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs at Tennessee Volunteers
When: Saturday, Oct. 5 at 7 p.m. E.T.
Where: Neyland Stadium; Knoxville, Tenn.
TV: ESPN
Live Stream: WatchESPN
Line: Georgia -24.5
Over/Under: 51.5
Smart’s success with the Georgia Bulldogs was a big reason that the Pruitt hire was such a selling point for Vol Nation two years ago after the Greg Schiano disaster. Tennessee football was trying to replicate that finding a Nick Saban defensive coordinator who helped him lead the Alabama Crimson Tide to the national championship.
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Given the fact that Pruitt also helped Jimbo Fisher win his one national title as the Florida State Seminoles’ defensive coordinator, he actually had a better resume than Smart when he was hired. The two are connected, as Pruitt was Alabama’s defensive backs coach from 2010 to 2012 when Smart was their defensive coordinator.
However, at this point, Georgia is in a much better place than Tennessee football. And there is not a lot of faith in the Vols to even make this close given how bad they have looked through the first four games of the year.
Those games include home losses to the Georgia State Panthers and BYU Cougars, and their only win is over the Chattanooga Mocs, an FCS program. Given the fact that Georgia has a ranked win and two wins over Power Five schools, they are obviously much more proven.
However, this is probably their first true road game, as the Vanderbilt Commodores in Nashville to open the season didn’t count. Could that make a difference in the game? If it does, it will likely be miniscule. But Tennessee football needs something to have a chance to win.