It comes down to the early season matchup with Georgia

#26
#26
LegionnaireOfTheMiserable said:
Georgia lost a few last year despite having better talent top to bottom than teams like Ole Miss and Notre Dame. They are a particularly bad matchup for Heupel though. 4 games against them, and he is yet to break 20.
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Yep just a bad matchup all around and Kirby gets Georgia up for Tennessee more than any other team other than maybe Florida.,
 
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#28
#28
Dadof2Vols said:
Seems like things said about Satan’s Bama teams until they weren’t said anymore….
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Heupel has done well against Bama even in his first season we were within a touchdown in the 4th quarter in Tuscaloosa. He is 2-2 against Bama and could easily be 3-1. For whatever reason though he just looks stumped against Georgia and Kirby is his kryptonite. I really hope that changes this season.
 
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#29
#29
Proud Army Wife said:
We’re not beating Georgia until we have equal talent, and that’s not happening as long as Kirby is there… unless Faizon comes in here and wows and we start stacking blue chip players. That’s the only way imo. We don’t have the mental edge to steal one either unfortunately.
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You don’t know that. This Georgia team is talented but may possibly be taking another step back compared to previous years.

Missouri and Kentucky had opportunities to walk away with a W last year, and I certainly don’t see us behind them when it comes to talent and optimism towards this season.

The same stuff was said about Bama, also.
 
#31
#31
jasonvol18 said:
The thing about Ga is they are a horrible matchup for Heupel teams. They have had great DB's they can leave on Islands and not fear our WR's.
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Think its been much more about their DL. They do have talented DB's but they have never been unbeatable on the backend. They have been able to control the LOS. When a team can stop us from running without loading the box our offense struggles badly.
 
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#33
#33
Big Orange Captain said:
But Ole Miss beat them last year with considerably less talent
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Except for one small thing….. they had a truly elite QB under center. That’s worth a whole hell of a lot of talent deficiency. We had that with Hooker for example.
Without that one thing, the talent gap is greatly exposed.
 
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#34
#34
Last year’s game was competitive at least and we get them this year at home early in the year and hopefully they’ll be focused on their Bama curse. I think there’s a decent shot we finally get one against them.
 
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#35
#35
Proud Army Wife said:
I don’t care what other teams beat them. The point is, we’ve gone almost a decade without getting it done.
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Yep. It’s Georgia till it’s not. They have just been better on both sides of the ball and that defense isn’t going anywhere as long as Kirby is there.
 
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#37
#37
Proud Army Wife said:
I don’t care what other teams beat them. The point is, we’ve gone almost a decade without getting it done.
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And we beat them 9 straight at one point, but things change eventually.

I don’t think Tennessee will beat Georgia this year, but to act like it’s never going to happen is short sighted. Heupel has beaten Alabama teams that had more talent. The gap between Tennessee and Georgia talent is narrowing. The 2026 and 2027 teams will be very good and will have a good shot to beat Georgia. I’m guessing we pull it off in 2027.
 
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#38
#38
Most winnable UGA game since Heup has been here. Our talent has improved tremendously. Theirs is still good, and better than ours, but the gap is as narrow as it’s been in the CJH era due to our continued improvement and their (understandable) inability to backfill the insane amount of NFL talent they’ve lost to the draft and even to the portal. They’ve got a mid QB who has never started a game on the road, let alone in the place like Neyland, which will be an absolute snakepit.

Vols get this done.
 
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#39
#39
Georgia was very lucky they didn’t go 8-4 in the regular season last year, They almost lost to Kentucky and Georgia Tech they were lucky to win both. This is will be Gunner Stocktons first road game and we need to bring da noise right from the start. I think he’s a serviceable QB but a downgrade from Beck and Beck just torched our D the last couple of years. We definitely got a punchers chance in this game and our defense will be a big reason why. Just hope our offense and JA can jell together and look good in the first couple of games to make me feel better about that side of the ball. Go Vols!!
 
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#40
#40
Let’s face it, since Heupel has been at Tennessee, Georgia has been probably the most dominate program in college football.

They are 32-4 against SEC teams with 3 of the 4 losses coming to Alabama.
They‘ve played in 4 consecutive SECCGs.
They won back to back national championships in 2021 and 2022 and were probably the best team in the nation in 2023 but got upset by their nemesis in the SECCG.
In 2024 they had 3 losses for the first time in 7 seven years but still beat Texas to claim another SEC title.
And their recruiting classes Have been ranked #1, #2 (twice) and #3.

Yea, it’s true that this is a hump Heupel hasn’t been able to over but it’s a pretty significant one and not one that will be easy. We also need to get over the hump and win on the road in Tuscaloosa and in the Swamp.

I hope this year we play a great game, get a few breaks and upset the Dawgs. But they are still ahead of us In just about all metrics. The key will be if we can compete in the trenches because we haven’t been able to do so in any of the games over the last 4 years. But I always have hope - extreme hope - that this year we take the Dawgs down, win in Tuscaloosa and win in the Swamp…
 
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#44
#44
Fatman Photos said:
I think I will just worry about beating Syracuse before I worry about beating Georgia. One game at a time.
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More so than 'one game at a time' is - what will this new offense look like? That's what the Syracuse game will tell us.

We know what we bring defensively. Schem wise at least.

Boo Carter and his status with the team better be in good standing by then. Because he is a great PR and an impact player in defense. Need him to play well that game.

Can Bishop and Lewis wear down that UGA defense? Will Mike Matthews break out?

Can Arion Carter get pressure on Stockton.
Gibson, McMurray, Hood, and Redmond will make or break this game imo
 
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#46
#46
Sarms58 said:
Let’s face it, since Heupel has been at Tennessee, Georgia has been probably the most dominate program in college football.

They are 32-4 against SEC teams with 3 of the 4 losses coming to Alabama.
They‘ve played in 4 consecutive SECCGs.
They won back to back national championships in 2021 and 2022 and were probably the best team in the nation in 2023 but got upset by their nemesis in the SECCG.
In 2024 they had 3 losses for the first time in 7 seven years but still beat Texas to claim another SEC title.
And their recruiting classes Have been ranked #1, #2 (twice) and #3.

Yea, it’s true that this is a hump Heupel hasn’t been able to over but it’s a pretty significant one and not one that will be easy. We also need to get over the hump and win on the road in Tuscaloosa and in the Swamp.

I hope this year we play a great game, get a few breaks and upset the Dawgs. But they are still ahead of us In just about all metrics. The key will be if we can compete in the trenches because we haven’t been able to do so in any of the games over the last 4 years. But I always have hope - extreme hope - that this year we take the Dawgs down, win in Tuscaloosa and win in the Swamp…
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They have declined a bit since their 2022 national title yea i know not much but they aren’t quite as dominant especially on defense. How long will Kirby keep Bobo around as well if they fail again on winning the national championship. This season would be a great time to beat them at home early in the season, im not buying Georgia this season i think they got some legit question marks on offense and defense. Definitely possible that Bama and Texas beat them and Florida too would be great if we can end that streak in Knoxville as well cause next year we go to Athens and they will likely have the number 1 recruiting class coming in. Heup has to get over the Georgia hump
 
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#47
#47
I see two possible ways to beat UGA at home this year:

1. They have a lot of turnovers / we don’t /
We turn turnovers into TDs.

2. JA and our WRs shock everyone with their play . . . And the offense is much better than expected and we can both run and pass.

Option 1 could happen . . . It’s college football. But Smart’s teams are really well coached and usually don’t beat themselves.

Option 2 is very unlikely . . . As I see us much like last year - a run heavy team with a limited passing game and UGA has the talent / depth / scheme / and coaching to stuff our run and play on an island with their DBs.

Our defense will be good / their defense will likely be better. I’m not sure about either team’s offense.
 
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