Tennessee out to clinch bowl berth
Punching ticket against No. 1 Georgia is tall task
Tennessee football is one game away from securing a bowl berth in Josh Heupel‘s first season.
The Vols (5-4, 3-3 SEC) have three games remaining, starting with No. 1 Georgia (9-0, 6-0) on Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS).
Here is what to know about the matchup:
Hendon Hooker is rolling
Hendon Hooker keeps raising the bar on his play as the season rolls deeper. The Vols quarterback threw for a careerhigh 316 yards and four touchdowns in Tennessee’s 45-42 win at Kentucky.
The Virginia Tech graduate transfer has thrown 19 touchdowns and one interception since taking over as UT’S starter against Tennessee Tech on Sept. 18.
Hooker is No. 4 nationally in passing efficiency. He trails Coastal Carolina’s Grayson Mccall, Oklahoma’s Caleb Williams and Georgia’s Stetson Bennett.
Georgia’s defensive line for Heisman
Georgia defensive lineman Jordan Davis is getting national attention for his play. But the senior isn’t the only Bulldogs defensive lineman making life impossible for opposing offenses.
Sophomore Jalen Carter and senior Devonte Wyatt have created havoc up front. Carter and Wyatt are ranked among the top 20 interior defensive lineman on Pro Football Focus. Carter is the fourth-ranked interior defensive lineman.
Can Tennessee fix its third-down woes?
Tennessee’s third-down defense ranks at the bottom of the SEC, allowing opponents to convert at a 48.4% clip.
The Vols also have allowed the most third-down conversions in the nation with 75, while facing the fourth-most third downs with 155.
The Vols have been especially poor on third down in their past three games. Ole Miss, Alabama and Kentucky combined to convert 38 of 58.
UT coaches and players pointed to poor tackling as part of the reason for the struggles, which led to long drives at Kentucky. Kentucky ran 99 plays against Tennessee.
Points are at a premium
If a player scores a touchdown against Georgia, he should be allowed to keep the ball.
Georgia is allowing 6.6 points per game, fewer than half of the secondranked scoring defense. The Bulldogs have allowed six touchdowns in nine games. Penn State is second-best in the
nation with 14 touchdowns allowed.
The Bulldogs have not allowed more than 13 points in a game; South Carolina and Kentucky each scored 13. Georgia has limited opponents to fewer than 10 points in six games.
Georgia has two shutouts this season. It blanked Vanderbilt on Sept. 25 and Arkansas on Oct. 2.
Tennessee’s offensive line is intact
Tennessee had its expected starting offensive line against Kentucky for the third time in nine games. Tackle Cade Mays returned from injury, giving UT its normal offensive line for the first time since Sept. 25 at Florida.
The Vols had been without center
Cooper Mays for five of the first seven games.
Tennessee started the group of Darnell Wright, Jerome Carvin, Cooper Mays, Javontez Spraggins and Cade Mays to open the season. Cooper Mays hurt his ankle in the season-opening win against Bowling Green.
Wright, Carvin and Spraggins have started every game. Carvin has started at both left guard and center.
Prediction
Georgia 34, Tennessee 14: Tennessee’s offense is good enough to score more against Georgia than any other team this season. But it doesn’t matter. Georgia’s defense is elite and its offense gets the job done.