Do we have a realistic chance to beat Georgia?

[CAVPUT]

Do you think this is the year we beat Georgia? A win sets us up to roll into Tuscaloosa undefeated and controlling our own destiny in the SEC championship race. And obviously this is the only other losing streak Heupel hasn’t ended yet so yea a win would be massive for him the team and us fans . Unfortunately i’m just not that confident we can pull it off with the injuries we are already having on the defense. And Kirby just really gets his team motivated for Tennessee it seems maybe cause he never beat us as a player at georgia i dunno. I think much like 2022 we will have to outscore our opponents but we haven’t scored more than 17 points against Georgia under Heupel. A loss isn’t the end of the world we know from last season that going 10-2 in the SEC will get you in the playoff but man it would be nice to beat those leg humpers and shut there arrogant fans up for a change.

 

[TheRealUT98]

Not trying to be the wet towel, but even with their new QB, Georgia just outclasses us across the field.

On offense: they have an experienced and healthy OL and good weapons to get the ball to at RB, TE, and WR. Kirby is also the best coach in the country right now. Stockton doesn't have to play his best game to beat us, because he is surrounded by talent.

On defense: its a Kirby Smart led team. They have studs everywhere. They are smart. They prep and know how to beat our pace and space offense, like they have the last 4 years.

TheFilmGuy on Youtube (a Georgia homer, keep in mind) has said it best: teams simply do not beat Kirby by out scheming him. You have to have the jimmies and joes along with the X's and O's. This is why I doubt Heupel will beat him. Until we are within spitting distance talent wise, we will struggle. Their roster is LOADED with talent. Georgia is going to be a contender this year.

I agree with this. It’s awful but they’re too talented and well coached for us to overcome in my opinion. I hope I’m wrong

 

[thistime]

We have a realistic chance of beating everybody on our schedule.

 

[YorkVol]

I think Syracuse was a bigger test for us than Marshall was for UGA, so that is a factor in our favor. ️

APSU and ETSU are pretty even, so a wash.

UGA has Bama after us, so they may not take us as seriously, and that could give us a slight edge in terms of focus. ️

We don't match up blue chip to blue chip, so they do have an edge there. ️ ️

Playing in Neyland early in the season should give us a big ️

The pluses have it, we have a chance.

 

[Orangeslide]

Kirby always has his team ready to play us, we are their Super Bowl so to speak. Kirby’s defense seems to own our offense. The games have never been in doubt, they are clearly the better team and the better coached team. Like him or not, Kirby is the best coach in the SEC and probably the country. I know at some point we gotta snap the losing streak to them, but the talent level is still lacking to them and our injuries will not help. Sadly, I think they beat us again. I sure hope the Vols prove me wrong, I will gladly admit my mistake. Go Vols!

 

[LegionnaireOfTheMiserable]

Teams of what I think our caliber is beat teams of what I think Georgia’s caliber is pretty regularly. But we have matched up horribly with what Georgia does every year. It will be especially tough if we are playing 3rd and 4th stringers at defensive tackle and corner.

If Stockton is bad, the OL outperforms the last 8 Georgia performances, and the Neyland crowd makes an impact, we might have a chance if the corners and tackles don’t kill us.

 

[Orangeslide]

I think Syracuse was a bigger test for us than Marshall was for UGA, so that is a factor in our favor. ️

APSU and ETSU are pretty even, so a wash.

UGA has Bama after us, so they may not take us as seriously, and that could give us a slight edge in terms of focus. ️

We don't match up blue chip to blue chip, so they do have an edge there. ️ ️

Playing in Neyland early in the season should give us a big ️

The pluses have it, we have a chance.

Georgia always takes us seriously. Their defense has smothered our offense for the most part since Josh has been here. They do not give up any big splash plays against us. Mainly 2 deep, and press man under on our WR’s. And they swallow us up in the run game. Gonna take some really special Neyland magic to pull out a win. The spread is currently sitting at Georgia -7.

 

[RandomUTfan]

I like the Vols because we will be at home and I'm not convinced they can beat us through the air.

 

[Big Orange Captain]

I think Syracuse was a bigger test for us than Marshall was for UGA, so that is a factor in our favor. ️

APSU and ETSU are pretty even, so a wash.

UGA has Bama after us, so they may not take us as seriously, and that could give us a slight edge in terms of focus. ️

We don't match up blue chip to blue chip, so they do have an edge there. ️ ️

Playing in Neyland early in the season should give us a big ️

The pluses have it, we have a chance.

I can guarantee Kirby and georgia won’t overlook us they never do

 

[Volizona]

I want us to turn the tide again before I move on to water aerobics, bingo and shuffle board. I still think of the 90s when we won 10 in a row and really didn’t worry that much about the Dawgs. Time to end their streak.

 

[Volizona]

You think wayyyy to highly of Kirby.

90% of the time he brings a machine gun to a knife fight, that’s why he has the record he does. When the talent is close to equal, he almost always loses.

In 2016 before he had time to start “under the table’ing” all of the 5* recruits in the country, he was 8-5 with losses to Butch, Derek Mason, and an obliteration by Hugh Freeze.

He’s not that good of a coach, he just lives in a recruiting hot bed and started paying them early.

Agree. The definition of ‘coaching’ includes X’s and O’s, developing and motivating players, making the right adjustments and so on. Yes, recruiting is part of the responsibility of a college and you could say Kirby is a great recruiter (although the state/school recruits itself to a certain extent), but the way ‘coaching’ is defined in Websters, does not have anything to do with recruiting. I’m one that doesn’t believe Kirby is the best coach just because he gets the most talent. Same thing with Fulmer. He was a great recruiter but an average game day coach. I honestly believe that UT would have fewer wins that Heupel if he coached our team the last 4 years instead

 

[GoVols15]

I am all Vol but the definition of realistic is ...Being realistic means recognizing and accepting the truth of a situation, dealing with it in a practical way, and basing your actions and expectations on facts rather than ideals or hopes. A realistic person assesses circumstances as they are, with a sensible and down-to-earth perspective, focusing on what is possible and achievable, not just what is desired.

The answer is no. Possibility yes.

 

[RandomUTfan]

I am all Vol but the definition of realistic is ...Being realistic means recognizing and accepting the truth of a situation, dealing with it in a practical way, and basing your actions and expectations on facts rather than ideals or hopes. A realistic person assesses circumstances as they are, with a sensible and down-to-earth perspective, focusing on what is possible and achievable, not just what is desired.

The answer is no. Possibility yes.

"Realistic" is entirely subjective.

 

[cgrish]

Lol. I think we can

Imo never overlook any game

 

[KnoxRealtorVOL]

Nearly 100% of successful college coaches do the same thing. Show me one historically successful college football coach who had little or no talent edge.

He also does not "almost always" lose when the talent differential is small.

Really? Can you show your work here?

He’s 1-6 against Bama, he was 0-2 against peak LSU (when UGA was also at peak), he basically has 2 occasions when he beat an equally talented team.

So we’ll call him, at best, 3-8 when the talent is equal.

 

[BradstarVols]

I have the same thought as a Dawg fan, but I was surprised to see that advanced stats metrics loved our week 1 performance—even adjusting for opponent, pace, and garbage time. We’ll see. I don’t trust Stockton to stand in and sling it, and I thought he lacked the ability to see the whole field like Beck. The passing concepts looked simple and a little sloppy, too.

Maybe it’s first game cupcake eating, and I know y’all are banged up in the secondary. But I will have to be convinced by our passing game.

I will say this, though: Beck got very sloppy with the ball last year, and Stockton was, too, against Texas. There was none of the “sling it and hope” we saw last year.

Good luck this week, fellas. We look forward to our regularly scheduled fist fight the week after.

Yeah I get the sense that GA will use Stockton's legs a lot and sprinkle in passes to keep D's honest until he shows he can actually sling it. Just my perception, but I could be wrong. Hope both teams are injury free up until the game and during the game. Good luck!

 

[Hairy Vols]

Lol. I think we can

We can not. We will be playing Randy Sanders ghost and anything can happen.

 

[05_never_again]

Really? Can you show your work here?

He’s 1-6 against Bama, he was 0-2 against peak LSU (when UGA was also at peak), he basically has 2 occasions when he beat an equally talented team.

So we’ll call him, at best, 3-8 when the talent is equal.

Not including his first year, I'd have him:

2017: 2-2
2018: 1-3
2019: 1-1
2020: 0-2
2021: 2-1
2022: 3-0
2023: 0-1
2024: 2-1

11-11 is hardly "almost always loses."

Besides, you're kind of missing the point of what college coaching is. You say he brings a machine gun to a knife fight as though that is a point of critique, or something that detracts from his record. Bringing a machine gun to a knife fight is the entire point. Good coaches create unfair fights. Basically every legendary coach in college football history played 95% of their games with more talent than their opponent.

CFB is a recruiting and developmental game. It isn't as much about out-scheming the opponent like the NFL.

 

[Carl Pickens]

I'm only about 20 miles from Athens. Close enough to see the cracks in the foundation and hear the creaks of instability. Smart does not have Saban's ability to establish and maintain a positive culture of success.
The culture at uga is becoming increasingly toxic.
Pretty sure UNC had more "stars" on their roster plus what most would consider a better coach than TCU.

What are you hearing about the toxicity of the culture?

 

[Carl Pickens]

You think wayyyy to highly of Kirby.

90% of the time he brings a machine gun to a knife fight, that’s why he has the record he does. When the talent is close to equal, he almost always loses.

In 2016 before he had time to start “under the table’ing” all of the 5* recruits in the country, he was 8-5 with losses to Butch, Derek Mason, and an obliteration by Hugh Freeze.

He’s not that good of a coach, he just lives in a recruiting hot bed and started paying them early.

Yeah, he’s just a chump with a loaded roster

 

[Hairy Vols]

Yeah, he’s just a chump with a loaded roster

And he's ugly!

 

[chuckiepoo]

Watching the Marshall game now. 1st half 02:00 wsrning. 21-0, Dawgs. Have not been impressed.

…review of third down run by Marshall. Looked like he made the thirty to me. But Jawga…

 

[Volfan574]

Im hoping the defense gets better before we play Georgia. If we can keep them around 24 points I like our chances.

 

[Dro]

Its the best chance and most realistic chance they have had so far, every time we've had a team good enough to beat them we've had to play them on the road (22 and 24)

This uga squad is not the juggernaut that the b2b title teams were. still very solid but they have question marks at qb and wr still which i was not impressed with vs marshall.

I expect this game to be similar to last years game which was tied at half. We'll see if home field and a better qb that can run the offense gets us over the hump this time.

 

[chuckiepoo]

This uga squad is not the juggernaut that the b2b title teams were. still very solid but they have question marks at qb and wr still which i was not impressed with vs marshall.

That defense is pretty stiff though.