Tennessee football at Georgia: 10 keys to the game for Vols and Bulldogs

1. Georgia’s safeties vs. Vols’ wide receivers

Look, with Cedric Tillman back, Tennessee football is going to torch Georgia’s cornerbacks. They just aren’t as elite as they were at that position last year. However, Georgia’s safeties, Christopher Smith and Malaki Starks, are elite and All-American caliber. Will they be able to avoid getting burned by the Vols’ receivers?

This is what the game comes down to. Last week against Kentucky, the safeties were caught off-guard multiple times on big passing plays to Jalin Hyatt. Of course, against Alabama, Hyatt went off for five touchdowns. Georgia should have a better pass defense than both, but it’s not like the others are bad.

In fact, Alabama is only two spots behind Georgia in the national ranking of fewest passing yards allowed per attempt, and that’s after having those numbers skewed against them by already playing the Vols. You could make a case that Alabama’s secondary is better.

Can Georgia disprove that Saturday? It will come down to Smith and Starks. If they stay in coverage, then they can at least contain Hyatt. Slowing down Tillman, Bru McCoy and Ramel Keyton will be the next and more difficult step, as the Dawgs have already allowed two 6’3″ wideouts go for over 100 yards against them. This is the battle to watch.