Tennessee football heads on the road Saturday night to face No. 12 Georgia in Athens in one of the biggest games in the SEC this season. The Bulldogs need a win to stay alive in the College Football Playoff race while Tennessee needs a win to stay alive in the SEC Championship race and to control its own destiny in the playoff race.
Each week, Rocky Top Insider will take you behind the scenes with a question and answer with a media member who covers Tennessee’s opponent.
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What is different about this Georgia team compared to the last three years?
“The obvious difference is no Brock Bowers and Ladd McConkey. Bowers specifically was such a special player that opened things up for everybody else on the field and made life easier on the quarterback. Having a guy like McConkey on top of that only added to the offensive firepower. It’s more than just those two guys too, losing valuable offensive players like Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint, Daijun Edwards and Kendall Milton. Georgia expected to pick up right where it left off last season offensively with Carson Beck returning, but replacing those key pieces has proven to be much more difficult.”
What’s gone wrong for Carson Beck this season?
“Can I just say see above? In all seriousness, I think what made Beck so impressive last season is that he was doing what he was as a first year starter. He came in to a great spot and had the weapons around him to make him feel like he didn’t have to be the guy. I’m guessing a little bit here, but I’d bet with the drops Georgia has battled and lack of a true No. 1 receiver Beck feels like he has to make up for some of that as the star quarterback. There have been some times he makes poor decisions and puts the ball in harm’s way. That’s led to the interceptions – and three games (Alabama, Texas, Florida) in which he threw three interceptions. He also had multiple against Mississippi State. Georgia has been able to overcome the mistakes a lot of times, and I do think the fact he’s throwing more interceptions has to do some with simply putting the ball in the air more this season. Saturday he was improved but still not perfect. I think coming back to Sanford Stadium should do Beck well, although if he struggles, the crowd could turn on him quickly and he’s shown things can spiral.”
The pass protection issues seemed pretty glaring against Ole Miss. Has that been the case for most of the season or more of a one game issue?
“Georgia’s offensive line is beat up. Five different regulars in the rotation have either missed a game or battled injury behind the scenes. That includes All-American Tate Ratledge and the two both guards (Dylan Fairchild and Micah Morris) as well as center Jared Wilson and left tackle Earnest Greene. Kirby Smart has told reporters this week that many of those guys aren’t practicing as much as they might need to during the week but trying to gut it out on Saturdays to give Georgia its best chance of winning. This past Saturday though, the offensive line was the primary problem. This was a unit that came into the year having high hopes returning four different players with some sort of starting experience. They haven’t lived up to what they imagined to say the least, but Saturday was by far the worst it’s been. Whether that was because of injury or the opponent (or a combination of the two) I can’t say. I’d likely guess the combination option. However, to win this week will take a much better performance, both protecting the quarterback and being able to establish the run game so as to not put UGA in obvious passing situations.”
What’s the strength and weakness of Georgia’s defense?
“We’ll start with the strength, and that would be the Georgia defensive front. Mykel Williams has battled injuries and hasn’t been super consistent, but in flashes, he’s been effective. So too has Jalon Walker, more consistently from the hybrid inside/outside linebacker. Williams and Walker combine for 12 tackles for loss with Williams being limited to 20 or fewer snaps three times this year and missing two games entirely. They are surrounded by others that can have an impact like Nazir Stackhouse, Warren Brinson, Christen Miller and Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins on the line of scrimmage plus CJ Allen, Raylen Wilson, Chaz Chamblis and Damon Wilson at the second level. Smael Mondon is coming back from injury and adds to the depth of the linebacker room. This is a Georgia defensive front that can wreak havoc on a game.
As for the weakness, that would be in the secondary. Just like losing Brock Bowers and Ladd McConkey to the NFL has proven to be a challenge for the offense, so too has the departure of Kamari Lassiter, Javon Bullard and Tykee Smith to the next level for the defense. There’s no shortage of talent with guys like Malaki Starks, KJ Bolden, Daylen Everette, Julian Humphrey and Joenel Aguero all being top-100 prospects in their respective recruiting classes, while walk-on Dan Jackson brings some fight to the group. However, there have also been times where the DBs leave you wondering what went wrong consistently, especially when it comes to the 50/50 balls going the way of the other team more often than not.”
What is a key or a couple keys to this game?
“Georgia has got to block better at the line of scrimmage. Without that, there’s literally pressure on Carson Beck with guys in his face that can lead to bad decisions and figurative pressure on his shoulders to try and make things happen. It won’t be easy with a banged up unit and a talented group across the ball, but the Bulldogs need to try and establish the run some Saturday.
Flipping it over to the defense, pressure on the quarterback – whoever that may be for Tennessee – is important. There’s already going to be enough asked of the Georgia defensive backs going up against this Josh Heupel offense that puts them on islands. Help them out by getting after the quarterback – something we’ve seen work both against a Heupel offense (think back to Georgia-Tennessee in 2022) and for this team (the Bulldogs piled up seven sacks against Texas earlier this season).”
Score prediction?
Kirby Smart’s teams tend to play their best when their back is against the wall or they are doubted. There’s been no greater doubt of the Bulldogs in the past few seasons than them not being in the bracket this week. While you won’t hear Smart and Georgia players say anything about that beforehand, I do believe it’s something that’s motivating behind the scenes – just as the doubt going into Texas did. The return to home for the first time in over a month will be welcomed, and I think Georgia plays better because of that. There are problems with this UGA team that I think will prevent it from winning a National Championship in the end, but I do think they’ll come out with the win this week.
Georgia 24, Tennessee 17
