Tennessee football coach Josh Heupel has done an excellent job in his first season. He has made the Vols competitive and exciting to watch. He has not been scared to make necessary changes like switching quarterbacks. The quarterback change is the main reason the Vols have a chance to make it to a bowl game.
The Georgia Bulldogs (the number 1 team in the nation) come to town this week, and they will be the most formidable challenge the Vols have faced this year. They have an elite defense and an offense that makes the right plays at the right time.
Coach Heupel has a lot of respect for Georgia’s defense.
“Statistically, maybe as good as anybody who’s ever played the game as a unit. They always have a good scheme. They’re well-coached, extremely talented, and extremely deep. For us, we’ve got to play really efficient. You have to have balance in this football game. You can’t hurt yourself. You have to take care of the football,” Heupel explained.
The Vols offense is one of the best in the nation. If the Vols are going to pull off the upset, the offense will have to play well. As good as Georgia is, they have not faced an offense as good as Tennessee.
Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker has had an incredible year. He has thrown for 21 touchdowns and only thrown two interceptions. He will have to play the game of his life for the Vols to win.
The fast-paced offense and the crowd noise will be a unique challenge for Kirby Smart and Bulldogs.
“We run crowd noise like everybody in the country does, but it’s not necessarily Rocky Top. It’s a tough place to play. You look across the league this year, and you see a little more struggle with that. Auburn was a tough one, and so is Tennessee. I put those two places among anyone in the country in terms of atmosphere. The speed. It’s obvious, right. The hardest thing to prepare for with that is duplicating it; simulating that tempo and chaos is the hardest thing,” Smart said.
Heupel has gotten one signature win so far this season by beating Kentucky on the road. He can add to that if he leads the Vols to victory against the Bulldogs.
While Georgia is undefeated, an up-tempo offense such as Tennessee’s can make them very vulnerable, and if a team can put a complete game together against them, they can beat the Bulldogs. Tennessee may also need to force two or more turnovers to swing the momentum of the contest. If the Bulldogs cannot establish themselves on offense in Saturday’s game, we could have a matchup filled with drama down in Knoxville.
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