nicksjuzunk
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The Vols head down I-75 to the always difficult venue of Sanford Stadium to face off with a freshly beaten Georgia Bulldog team that is desperate to stay relevant this season. Last time the Vols came to town, it was an epic showdown with number 1 Tennessee getting fairly well beaten by a motivated Georgia team. Let's see what it looks like this time.
Keys to Victory:
1. Pressure Carson Beck: It was a wild scene in my brain as I listened to the announcers talk about how Carson Beck was considered the number 1 QB in the country earlier this season, and could climb back into the 1st round again with some solid performances. My brain cells were burning mucho fuelo, trying to make sense of it, and I never got there. He's kind of trash. Yep... I'm coming in hot. He has passed for 459 and 439 on two different occasions this year, but this dude has an embarrassment of riches. 17 picks and 12 interceptions. We are talking Will Levis type of numbers here. He is not a handsome man either. And this is coming from a not a handsome man myself. It takes one to know one, and he is not one. Listen man... in the past 3 weeks, he has been sacked 8 times and thrown 7 interceptions. James Pearce needs to be all over that game tape because Ole Miss's James Pearce clone absolutely ate up that beat up Georgia OL. While Beck is capable of putting up some big numbers, you are going to need to dab me up with a little extra moonshine to think he does it against an aggressive Tennessee defensive line and a secondary that is in no mood for tomfoolery.
2. Ball Security / Unsecurity: Come... lean in closer... a bit more... turnovers will be big here. Tennessee has to take care of the ball better, especially in the redzone. Sampson lost a fumble on an perfectly executed ball dislodger last week. I mean, he had that thing wrapped up perfectly and it still popped. Georgia has turned it over 15 times this season, approximately 1.66 times per game. TN would like to be at least +2 in the turnover margin.
3. Dominate the Ground: Remember when Georgia would just roll out whatever 5* running back they had and just dominate? Well... that's not going to be what you see this week. While the Vols pop at 235 yards per game, Georgia, believe it or not, is 104th with 124 yards per game. Trevor Etienne became the latest to take the money and run from Florida to Georgia and has been warm slaw. Sure, he's injured or whatever, and so was Dylan Sampson when he was still churning out yards, so you get no tears from me. Georgia has a strong run defense, but the Vols are stronger. Miss State was concerningly strong running up the middle at times on Saturday. Tennessee will need to be better and have a convincing edge in the running game.
4. Press the Kicking Game: This does not set up to be a shootout. Flipping the field with effective punting and returns on the other side of the equation will be key. Seeing Boo Carter average 10+ over the course of 7-8 punts would be a tremendous benefit. Max Arnold, got his groove back, and we will likely need it. Redzone efficiency has not been stellar. We are 111th, scoring only 77% of the time and touchdowns only 54% of the time. That will not win championships, and it will not win this game. Tennessee needs 7 75% of the time on Saturday and they need Max converting on the other 25%
Prediction: It's been 4 years and 4 days since Georgia has lost back to back games. There are a lot of irrelevant statistics that say Georgia wins this game. It's become tiresome to hear the media count this as a loss all year long. This is a matchup of two very flawed, talented teams, and it will come down to matchups and turnovers. I think Nico is ready to go. I am concerned about some of the other walking wounded, but we should know more later this week. UGA is beat up on the offensive line and Carson Beck is not handsome, and he may be lacking confidence after another 1st round worthy performance vs Ole Miss. I love the fact that Ole Miss looks very much like Tennessee in offensive and defensive philosophy, and they just laid out the blueprint. Does this help Georgia to learn and prepare better for Tennessee? Maybe. Heck... let's see how this shakes out.
TN 24
UGA 23
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