It comes down to the early season matchup with Georgia

#51
#51
It's a "must not-lose" game. The national respect earned with a win will be huge. It's the next step in climbing the recruiting ladder. If Kirby is over there with that God forsaken smile late in the 4th of this game, then we're still not back yet. The two Alabama & Florida wins are still wonderful, but it's time for more. We need to take a patch out of their asses and let them see how it feels to scamper back down to Athens toting that L. Heupel needs this one. We all do. GoVols. 🍊
 
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#52
#52
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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Don't get me wrong! I think this class is great. However, with having the BEST QB in the 2026 class committing a year ago, I am surprised we don't have ELITE WR's lining up (I do realize we MIGHT still get Keys🤞).
 
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#54
#54
overseasorange2 said:
Don't get me wrong! I think this class is great. However, with having the BEST QB in the 2026 class committing a year ago, I am surprised we don't have ELITE WR's lining up (I do realize we MIGHT still get Keys🤞).
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You mean like this guy?

Aug 24, 2025 - Rocky Top Insider

www.rockytopinsider.com www.rockytopinsider.com
watch-five-star-tennessee-football-commit-salesi-moa-makes-incredible-catch-in-comeback-win/

 
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#55
#55
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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LMAO.........wow.
 
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#56
#56
ConantheVolbarian said:
Georgia has always had more talent than us. Even when we beat them more often than not.
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True but they have never had a coach as good as Kirby Smart. Vol fans will just have to face the reality that Smart at UGA is the new Saban at Bama for us. It sucks but it is what it is. The main problem is UGA has the talent at DB to neutralize our WRs. And you aren’t just lining up and running the ball on UGA.
 
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#58
#58
It's the best shot he is going to get in taking the program to the next level.
The one team in the SEC you haven't beat, in your house, when all of your guys should be healthy.

Not saying it's an unmitigated disaster and coach should be fired if we don't get it done...just saying it's an incredible opportunity.

FWIW - just like Florida in this spot on the schedule, I think this game sets the tone for how the rest of the year goes. Take a big beat down and it'll be a struggle to win 7...close loss puts you in 8 to 9 territory...win and you are riding it to 10 or 11 easily.
 
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#59
#59
NighthawkVol said:
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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I think we get it done this season.......
 
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#60
#60
ConantheVolbarian said:
Heupel has gotten us over a lot of humps. We've won 2 out of the last 3 against Florida and Alabama, been ranked #1 for the first time in two decades, and even made the playoff. But there's one traditional SEC East foe that Heupel hasn't taken down yet.

Let's face it, Heupel coached teams have performed poorly against Georgia for the most part. This year we get them at home early in the season with both teams having question marks heading into the season. The point I'm trying to make is we have an opportunity to get a win against Georgia finally or at least put a scare in them.

In my opinion, if we can't at least be within 7 late we have some soul searching to do. Not saying it's lose and the whole season is a bust. But it's year 5. We should be competitive with Georgia by now. If we can't match up well with them this year we never will
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I’m with you on the thinking, brother. But these days Georgia always seems to have better players and coaching when we play them.
 
#64
#64
ConantheVolbarian said:
Heupel has gotten us over a lot of humps. We've won 2 out of the last 3 against Florida and Alabama, been ranked #1 for the first time in two decades, and even made the playoff. But there's one traditional SEC East foe that Heupel hasn't taken down yet.

Let's face it, Heupel coached teams have performed poorly against Georgia for the most part. This year we get them at home early in the season with both teams having question marks heading into the season. The point I'm trying to make is we have an opportunity to get a win against Georgia finally or at least put a scare in them.

In my opinion, if we can't at least be within 7 late we have some soul searching to do. Not saying it's lose and the whole season is a bust. But it's year 5. We should be competitive with Georgia by now. If we can't match up well with them this year we never will
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Never is a long time. Programs ebb amd flow.
 
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#65
#65
TheDirector said:
Number of Tennessee players drafted since Heupel became coach (2022 Draft) - 17
Number of Georgia players drafted since 2022 - 46
Number of Alabama players drafted since 2022 - 34
Number of Tennessee players drafted in 2025 - 4
Number of Georgia players drafted in 2025 - 13
Number of Alabama players drafted in 2025 - 7
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So, you're saying we have a chance, right? NFL took most of their talent and evened things up for us?
 
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#67
#67
WillisWG said:
same as it ever was...Jimmies and Joes. CJH has beaten teams with better talent, that is a rare feat in the SEC.

SEC (2021-25) recruiting classes, according to 247Sports’ Composite Team Rankings

View attachment 766500

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Exactly. CJH has gotten us from a bottom feeding program (where we had fallen) to be a top 10 contending program - meaning that even on a down year like this one, we could expect to realistically challenge for a playoff spot and be top 10 at the end of the season. Doesnt mean we will succeed but it does mean that we will be in the mix for it.

What people dont realize though is the vast difference between a top 10 program and a top 3 program. We are absolutely not a top 3 program (or top 5). When you look at the deep rows of talent at GA, TX, Bama, Ohio State and the money they spend, its not in the same category.

It is simply about talent. If you dont have the jimmies and joes, there is only so much you can do with schemes. If you have buttloads of money, you can buy things like young Manning or Ohio State's entire roster last year.

Its the SEC, so on any given Saturday, anything can happen - but over the season, over the years, the teams with top talent win. CJH has shown that he can achieve higher than the talent he has - and Danny White has made UT sports amazing - but we have still not quite entered that rarefied level where we have the best talent on the field in every game.
 
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#68
#68
Every once in a while you have to steal a game and get some breaks and cash them in. Losing 8 years in a row to them inbred leg humpers really sucks. Heup ended the losing streaks to Florida and Bama it’s time to end the one against Georgia. Georgia was sloppy last year in the first quarter and we couldn’t press our advantage more when we jumped on them 10-0. It unfortunately seems at the moment Bobo and Kirby can counter anything Heup and Banks does.
 
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#69
#69
Need WR’s to beat mauling press coverage and better players up front to block GA front and blitz scheme. They’ve never really felt threatened by us. Plus, they get up to play us and always will. You take their talent level, highly motivated players playing to win, plus elite coaching, is a tall task for our Vols. But I keep hoping though.
 
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#70
#70
Big Orange Captain said:
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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Yea, Bobo is one thing we got going for us in three weeks…
 
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#72
#72
hUTch2002 said:
Unfortunately, we didn’t get the UGA team that went to Oxford, or the one that almost crapped the bed against UK. They were fired up and focused coming off that Ole Miss loss.
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I think the schedule makers are doing us a favor, sending them to Neyland early in the year. We’ll have our best shot in years.
 
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#73
#73
overseasorange2 said:
Don't get me wrong! I think this class is great. However, with having the BEST QB in the 2026 class committing a year ago, I am surprised we don't have ELITE WR's lining up (I do realize we MIGHT still get Keys🤞).
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Our receiver group should be the best in the nation. We're the damned WRU. But the wr coach who's recruiting these kids is more important than the current high school qb commit. Which is why Brian Hartline is worth his weight in chalupas. TOSU is paying him 2m per, and that ain't enough.
 
#74
#74
Big Orange Captain said:
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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Bennett?
 
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