Jordan Jenkins (59) and Garrison Smith (56) celebrate a sack of LSU quarterback Zach Mettenberger. (Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports)
There was a time when the Georgia-Tennessee game was a huge game in relationship to the Southeastern Conference championship.
Between the two teams they have won 25 conference championships and 12 national championships.
The series is loaded with great moments — the 1968 17-17 tie in Knoxville that was the controversial first game played between two southern teams on artificial turf.
No Georgia fans will forget Larry Munson’s 1980 call of true freshman Herschel Walker running over Tennessee’s Bill Bates on the way to his first collegiate touchdown … “My God a freshman!”
In 1998 Georgia finished in the Top 10 with a 10-2 record but lost to the Vols 38-13.
Great players have made great plays in this series—Walker, David Greene, Jamal Lewis, Erik Ainge and Peyton Manning among them. So who will step up this year as the Bulldogs visit the Vols? Who will be wearing new Smokey Gray uniforms for the first time? It could be Aaron Murray, Todd Gurley, Chris Conley or Ramik Wilson for Georgia. If someone steps up for Tennessee it could be Rajion Neal, Justin Worley, Marquez North or Brian Randolph.
The Bulldogs are a heavy favorite but that doesn’t always guarantee a win. Just ask Mark Richt.
“It’s Tennessee week. That’s a big game. Going to Knoxville is never easy. Coaching in this league for 13 years now, I’ve been there a few times and have probably run every gamut of emotion from elation to getting your tail kicked,” said Richt.
“We know it’s going to be a great atmosphere and there will be over 100,000 people screaming for the Vols. We know we have our work cut out not only to handle the noise and handle the communication aspect of it and the emotional aspect of it, but also we are playing a good football team. Coach (Butch) Jones has them going.”
It could be a trap game for the Bulldogs after their classic 44-41 win over LSU last week.
“You don’t ever want to let down, but we’re playing Tennessee so I don’t foresee a letdown. If we were playing somebody else, you might start talking that way, but not when you play Tennessee.”
“I think everyone needs to understand, I think we do, but when you are building a culture, when you are building an environment, when you are working on changing habits, it takes time,” said Tennessee coach Butch Jones. “We talk about playing disciplined football; we talk about learning how to play winning football. I think before we really get started there is an inordinate amount of positive things that are going on in our football program right now.
“I think in the world that we live in today everyone wants to focus on negativity, but let’s focus on the positives.’ First of all Rajion Neal had the most yards rushing by a running back at Tennessee since 2009, he had 169 yards. This football team, Team 117 has had three 200-plus yard rushing games. We had three combined from the span 2010-2012. We currently lead the SEC and we are eighth in the country in fewest penalties, a little over three penalties per game. We lead the SEC and we are fourth in the country in fewest penalty yardage. We are tied for number one in the country for interceptions with 11. We lead the SEC and we are third in the country with 15 forced turnovers. We lead the SEC and we are tenth in the country with points off of turnovers.
“Our first two touchdowns on this past week’s game were scored by two true freshman, both making their first career touchdown receptions. Right now we have played a total of 14 true freshman and 22 freshman overall,” said Jones.
“As we continue to progress, the evolution of this football team is understanding what it is to compete for 60 minutes. It is a 60-minute game. I spoke to our team about this; there is a different between playing the game and competing. We are searching for competitive greatness. High achievement takes place in the framework of high expectations. We have extremely high expectations for every member within our football family and our football program.”
High expectations aside, games usually come down to players and there is little doubt that Georgia has the edge in talent, especially at quarterback, where Murray is one of the best in the nation.
“I thought Aaron played good during the (LSU) game, when the game was over I thought he had played good, and then I watched the film and I thought he played great,” said Richt.
“He was on top of everything — all the checks, all the protections. The balls were extremely accurate. He had very few balls that were not catchable. I think what happens is that when you get your expectations so high, unless it’s perfect, you’re not happy. If he was a second year guy, we might say “oh my goodness,” but I think we’re getting to the point where we’re expecting him to hit every target. We expect him to make every check, and we expect him to know the protection all the time, so when he does it, it’s not that big of a deal. After I remove myself from it and looked at it as a coach and watched every single snap, I was really impressed with the guy.”
Jones understands that the Vols are serious underdogs.
“I think we all know what we are up against with the Georgia football team coming in here Saturday at 3:30; Extremely, extremely talented,” said Jones. “Their quarterback is as good as any quarterback in the country, he is a Sunday quarterback, he can make all the throws, very skilled on the perimeter.
“Big physical offensive line with two, really three, running backs. I look at their football program, they have tremendous depth in all three phases offensively, defensively and special teams. It is going to be a great challenge for us, just like every week. It is another opportunity,” he said.
“We said we needed to have win three, we got win three. We are 3-2 and there are a lot of positive things moving forward and we just have to continue to get better and work on being a much more disciplined football team especially in the areas of taking care of the football.”
The Bulldogs’ defense has taken a hit this season, but Richt believes it is getting better.
“They’re getting there. Our defense is getting there. I thought we made a lot of progress on first and second down. I thought we won first and second down most of the day, and we got into third and long quite a bit,” said Richt. “The problem, obviously, is that we couldn’t get off the field there. We still have to iron some things out on the perimeter, but that’s just learning, as far as knowing exactly what we want done and how we want it done.
“There were two plays, quite frankly, where two young safeties weren’t sure what to do at the moment of truth. Should I hit him or should I go for the ball? If I hit him, should I hit him high and get kicked out of the game? I think we were probably thinking too much. I think we over-coached the targeting stuff. I said that you’re allowed to hit them as hard as you want, just don’t hit them in the head and don’t launch at them. Hopefully that will help,” Richt said.
It should … Georgia 42, Tennessee 10
The SEC Crystal Ball went 7-1 last week, Here is what’s on tap for the rest of the SEC this week:
Alabama 48, Georgia State 7
Auburn 30, Ole Miss 27
Florida 34, Arkansas 30
LSU 42, Mississippi State 17
South Carolina 41, Kentucky 14
Vanderbilt 21, Missouri 17
