HEARTBREAKING: The Head Coach of Tennessee Vols has terminated his employment with the team following a background debate with…….
HEARTBREAKING: The Head Coach of Tennessee Vols has terminated his employment with the team following a background debate with…….
The College Football Playoff race has been running rampant in late November when the Vols and Bulldogs traditionally face off.
But that race takes a fast turn this season. Tennessee football hosts Georgia in Neyland Stadium on Sept. 13. It has been nearly seven years since the premier SEC programs faced off in September.
“There is no urgency change,” senior defensive back Andre Turrentine said. “I think the standard has always been the standard. That’s continued to be the standard. We attack every game, we prepare for every game the exact same way, no matter the opponent.
“This is the next opponent on our schedule. So we prepare that way.”
Tennessee has two impressive wins under its belt to this point in the season, averaging a margin of victory of 37 points. Georgia has dominated its lower level of competition, taking wins over Marshall and Austin Peay.
The pair of SEC foes will get their first taste of conference play at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday. It’s a matchup that is rooted in physicality.
“They are extremely physical as a football team,” head coach Josh Heupel said. “They’re well coached across the board. But the line of scrimmage, the combination of those things with their skill sets, their talent, the athletic traits they have, I think it’s a combination of all those parts.”
Gunner Stockton is in his first year as the Bulldogs’ starting quarterback, but he handled the reins in the CFP last season when the former starter, Carson Beck, went down with an injury. After Beck’s offseason departure to Miami, it has been Stockton’s job.
He has guided Georgia to 36.5 points per game with 454.5 yards per contest. Stockton’s thrown for 417 yards and two touchdowns while protecting the ball. When he takes the field in Neyland Stadium, it will be his first true road game start.
But for Tennessee’s defense, it begins at the line of scrimmage.
“We feel like you have to stop the run to even be able to rush the passer anyway,” defensive lineman Dominic Bailey said. “So, we know we got to stop the run — any game, every game.”
Georgia has done the bulk of its work on the ground through two games. More than half of the Bulldogs’ score has come from the rushing attack, punching the ball into the end zone seven times with 429 rushing yards to show. Nate Frazier and Dwight Phillips Jr. lead the unit with 116 yards and 115 yards, respectively.
Meanwhile, Tim Banks’ defensive unit has seen a dip in production after a strong 2024 season. Lapses in third and fourth-down conversions against Syracuse had the Vols’ defense desiring better results. After the Orange converted 5-of-14 third-down attempts and 3-of-4 fourth-downs, Tennessee held ETSU to 2-for-15 on third downs and 0-for-1 on fourth.
The defense will still have to improve with the biggest challenge yet next on the schedule.
“I feel like just like everybody just has to raise their level of play,” linebacker Arion Carter said. “It really is not a rise to the occasion type of deal. It’s really just fall back on your level of training and what you’ve been doing over the last couple weeks.
