Tennessee football at Georgia: 10 keys to the game

8. Third and fourth down efficiency

As we already mentioned, the biggest reason Tennessee football struggled at the South Carolina Gamecocks in the opener was because of third down issues. The Vols converted one-of-12 third down attempts that game, and about half of those were third and manageable: five years or less. They dramatically improved against the Missouri Tigers, going six-of-13.

Now, that makes for seven-of-25 on the year, and the Georgia Bulldogs are 15-of-34 on third downs, which is roughly similar to UT’s ratio in the Mizzou game. However, you have to wonder which team from Rocky Top will show up.

To be fair, it’s a different story when you add fourth downs. The Vols converted all four attempts last week, meaning while they failed to get a first down on third down 18 times, they only failed to get a first down when a third down was brought up 14 times.

Because Jeremy Pruitt and Jim Chaney play two-down football lots of times, as all four attempts were quarterback sneaks, that has to be a factor. Georgia, to even up the stats, has converted on two of three fourth downs.

What that means is of the 25 times a third down was brought up for the Vols, they eventually got a first down 11 times. Of the 34 times a third down was brought up for the Dawgs, they eventually got a first down 17 times. That’s definitely a better ratio for Georgia, but it’s only 50 percent to 44 percent. The team that can get first downs the most when those come up will have the advantage.