Ad Disclosure
Georgia football: 5 things I want to see from the Bulldogs against Tennessee
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
After a 3-game homestand and an open week, No. 3 Georgia returns to the road to face the Tennessee Volunteers. Things haven’t gone well for the Vols in 2019: They lost to a Sun Belt team for the first time in program history; dropped their first 2 games, which hasn’t happened since 1988; and limped into their off week by getting blown out at Florida. Oh, by the way, it might find itself embroiled in a quarterback controversy.
And that’s just covering on-the-field issues.
Simply put, the Volunteers aren’t a good football team right now. That’s no reason for Georgia to let its foot off the gas pedal and risk suffering a loss that could derail its season and put its national championship hopes to rest. Here are 5 things I’d like to see from the Bulldogs on Saturday against the Volunteers:
An aggressive running game
To be honest, the Georgia running game was good, not great, against Notre Dame. When you’ve averaged 286 yards on about 37 carries in your first 3 games, 154 yards on 31 carries is a letdown, especially against a team like the Irish that had struggled against the run coming into the contest. Tennessee’s rushing defense so far this season? Just below an average of 150 yards allowed. (Florida recorded just 128 yards on 37 carries in a 34-3 win despite 2 rushing touchdowns.)
Still, the Dawgs are averaging 253 yards rushing (12th in FBS), so it will be up to Georgia’s offensive line to open up lanes for D’Andre Swift and Brian Herrien against the Volunteers’ defensive front.
More Lawrence Cager
The grad transfer from Miami went off against Notre Dame, hauling in 5 catches for 82 yards and 1 touchdown. But was that performance a one-off or a sign of things to come? When Cager came in, the hope was that he would help shore up a receiving corps that was missing Riley Ridley, Mecole Hardman, Jeremiah Holloman and Terry Godwin.
While Jake Fromm has spread the ball around, you can’t point to a primary receiver. Repeating that performance against Tennessee, or at least coming close, can hopefully serve as the next step toward Cager developing into a legitimate No. 1 receiving option for Fromm, making the Dawgs’ offense that much more lethal headed into the latter stages of the season.
A big special teams play
A kick or punt return for a touchdown? A blocked kick? Maybe I’m being a little greedy, but it would be cool to see a big special teams play.
Maybe part of that is a desire to see Tyler Simmons atone for his muffed punt against the Irish. Simmons, by the way, has averaged 16.8 yards on 8 punt returns this season, his first as the team’s No. 1 option in that department. And the Dawgs, while returning 2 punts for a touchdown last year, haven’t returned a kick for a score since Terry Godwin did it in 2016 — but that was a 43-yarder on an onside kick attempt by South Carolina. I’m not saying it will happen at Neyland on Saturday, but it would be fun to see, wouldn’t it?
Consistent pressure on the quarterback
Is Jeremy Pruitt employing a little gamesmanship against his former program or is losing confidence in Jarrett Guarantano? Probably the latter. Yet despite comments to the media (definitely the latter), Pruitt hasn’t named a starting quarterback for Saturday’s game. There’s a chance that true freshman Brian Maurer or redshirt freshman J.T. Shrout could be in line for their first career start.
That shouldn’t change the Dawgs’ strategy to make life miserable for whoever ends up back there. Tennessee has allowed 9 sacks in 3 games against FBS opponents. That presents an opportunity for players like Azeez Ojulari, Tyler Clark and Nolan Smith to add to Georgia’s sack total through 4 games (12) and force the Vols’ quarterback to make rushed decisions into the jaws of a stout Bulldogs secondary.
A convincing win
As I wrote a few days ago, Georgia has 3 very winnable games this month, with South Carolina coming to Athens next week and Kentucky visiting on Oct. 19 before the Dawgs’ second open week. The argument can be made that the Vols are probably the weakest of the 3 opponents they’ll face. While the result won’t be a Murray State-styled 63-17 beatdown, the Bulldogs should be able to flex their muscles against Pruitt and his squad.
And they might need to: after that pre-open week win against No. 10 Notre Dame, the last thing the Bulldogs need to do if they want to work on an airtight Playoff résumé is come out flat on the road against a struggling Tennessee team.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
