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Greg McElroy broke down a fun SEC East rivalry slated for this Saturday.
Tennessee hosts Georgia this week, looking to bounce back from a crushing loss to Missouri last week and pick up its first win over the Bulldogs since 2016. Georgia is looking to keep its record unblemished as it closes out the season against the Vols and Georgia Tech before taking on Alabama in the SEC Championship.
McElroy think that Tennessee needs to start by slowing down the run. If it can do that, it then needs to stop the pass, which will be a hard task against Carson Beck.
“This is going to be very interesting,” McElroy said on Always College Football on Saturday. “If Tennessee can take away the run, will they be able to kind of slow down the pass? I don’t think so. I think Carson Beck is that good.”
For Georgia, McElroy believes it will have to stop Tennessee’s run game, which has been great this season. He also said the Bulldogs have struggled more with the run game than in recent years.
“They’ve been really good on the ground this year,” McElroy said. “They’re 9th in college football right now with 213 rushing yards per game. Georgia on the other hand, this is one area where they’re very different from where they’ve been in the past… There have been moments where it’s pretty good, but then again, there have also been moments where you’re kind of left wondering, are they quite as good in the front 7 as they have been in the past. I think the answer is no.”
Ultimately, McElroy is leaning towards Georgia in this one. While the Vols have home field advantage, Georgia is the favorite for a reason, and McElroy sees them leaving Knoxville with a win.
“All the trends point to Georgia in this one, that’s where I’d lean as well,” McElroy said. “I think Georgia handles their business, I think they’re peaking at the right time and getting better and should handle their business on the road against a Tennessee team that I think will hang in there for a while, but I think ultimately, they’ll get pulled away from in the second half.”
