A pair of rivals moving in different directions will get together this weekend when the no. 3 Georgia Bulldogs pay a visit to the Tennessee Volunteers. The action gets started at 7:00 EST on Saturday, October 5 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee. Fans can watch the game on ESPN.
According to the Week 6 college football odds, the Bulldogs are favored by 24.5 points on the road. The over/under for the game is set at 52.5 points.
It’s been two weeks since Georgia survived their close game with Notre Dame and the Bulldogs are ready to get back on the field. Georgia’s three other wins all came by lopsided margins, so it must have felt good to pull out a close game. At 4-0, the Bulldogs are in the driver’s seat in the SEC East and with regard to the College Football Playoff. On paper, Georgia should breeze through their October schedule before facing a challenging November slate. However, they don’t want to take their foot off the gas after their biggest win of the season.
Tennessee is also coming off a week off, although their bye week followed a 34-3 loss to Florida. Remember, the Vols started the year with back-to-back home losses to Georgia State and BYU, so they currently sit at 1-3 with their only win against FCS opponent Chattanooga. If Jeremy Pruitt has made progress in his second season in Knoxville, it isn’t showing up in the win-loss column. The Volunteers now have the misfortune of playing both Georgia and Alabama over the next three weeks. Things ease up for the Vols in November, but they are still five wins away from a bowl bid with eight games to play.
Recent history doesn’t appear to be on Tennessee’s side in this rivalry. Despite both teams owning 23 head-to-head wins against the other, the Volunteers have just two wins in their last nine games against the Bulldogs. Many of those games were close, but Georgia has blown out the Vols each of the last two years, winning by a combined score of 79-12.
It’s been a difficult season for Tennessee, and I just don’t see it getting any better. The Volunteers were dominated by Florida a couple of weeks ago, and their opponent this week is probably more talented. After the home losses to Georgia State and BYU, the crowd at Neyland Stadium probably isn’t too optimistic at the moment and could grow quiet at the first sign of trouble. Admittedly, this is a lot of points to swallow in a rivalry game. But Georgia is more than capable of blowing out Tennessee, so I’ll lean toward the Bulldogs.
Pruitt is hoping that the element of surprise will give him an advantage, as he’s chosen not to name his starting quarterback ahead of the game. Jarrett Guarantano was briefly benched during the second half of the loss to Florida after a dreadful first half. Pruitt now says that Guarantano is splitting the practice reps with freshmen J.T. Shrout and Brian Maurer, who both have had brief and unsuccessful stints on the field this year.
Despite Guarantano’s struggles this year, making a change at quarterback may not benefit Tennessee that much. Starting an inexperienced freshman against the Georgia defense would be akin to throwing either Shrout or Maurer to the wolves. Not even Notre Dame’s Ian Book could get into a rhythm and find sustained success against the Bulldogs, so it’s a little crazy to think that one of the Tennessee freshmen can do it. The element of surprise may not mean much, especially given out good the Georgia defense is at stopping the run. Odds are, the Tennessee offense won’t generate much of a ground game to support whichever quarterback plays.
On the other side of the ball, the Tennessee defense is in a tough position. It could be up to them to keep the Vols in the game. The Volunteers haven’t been terrible defensively this season, although there have been plenty of mistakes, not to mention depth issues. On the bright side, they were able to force three turnovers against Florida and limited the number of explosive plays they gave up.
That being said, the Georgia offense will be their biggest challenge of the season, and it’s not even close. The Bulldogs boast a potent rushing attack, an NFL-caliber quarterback, and a talented set of wide receivers. Notre Dame was able to slow down the Georgia offense at times, but the Bulldogs have steamrolled every other team they’ve faced this year. Even if they can get the home crowd behind them, it’s tough to envision the Volunteers consistently getting stops and forcing punts against the Georgia offense.
The last time Georgia visited Neyland Stadium, they beat Tennessee 41-0. There’s little evidence that the Volunteers are better than they were back then. It’s also possible that Georgia is better. If nothing else, quarterback Jake Fromm has grown up a lot since that victory. While it’s nice to see close and competitive rivalry games, I don’t see that happening with Georgia and Tennessee. They’re on completely different levels and I think the Bulldogs will earn another blowout win that covers the spread with ease.