NEED TO KNOW
Neyland Advantage
The Vols have proved that Neyland Stadium is one of the most feared venues in the country in the Heupel era. Tennessee is 17-4 at home under his watch, outscoring opponents 913-427. Three of the four losses at home under Heupel have come against teams ranked in the top 15, including a pair of No. 1-ranked Georgia teams. UT has defeated 12 straight unranked teams at home and is 13-1 versus unranked foes in Neyland under Heupel (L vs. Pitt, 2021). The Vols have won at least five home games for the third straight season, a first for the program since 1995-2001. A win on Saturday would give Tennessee 13 victories at home over the past two seasons, representing the most since winning 13 from 1998-99.
The Wright Stuff
Junior running back Jaylen Wright leads the nation's 11th-best rushing offense (205.7 ypg). The Durham, North Carolina, native has rushed for a career-high 938 yards on 126 carries and leads all FBS running backs with 7.44 yards per carry (min. 100 att.). That is second among all FBS players behind only LSU's Jayden Daniels. Wright is 62 yards away from becoming the Vols' first 1,000-yard rusher in a season since Jalen Hurd had 1,288 on 277 carries in 2015.
Negative Plays Aplenty
UT is once again among the SEC and national leaders in tackles for loss as well as sacks. The Vols' 86 TFLs this season rank second in the SEC and sixth nationally. The Big Orange have recorded at least four TFLs in 23 straight games dating back to last year. Tennessee also ranks second in the conference and eighth in the FBS with 34 sacks this season and has posted at least one in 15 consecutive games.
Vols in the CFP Rankings
Tennessee dropped three spots to No. 21 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings following last weekend's loss to No. 1 Georgia. The Vols have been ranked in each of the last 10 CFP rankings dating back to last season.
Last Time Out
Tennessee scored on the game's first play - a 75-yard burst by RB Jaylen Wright - but top-ranked Georgia outscored the Vols 38-3 the rest of the way in a 38-10 final in Neyland Stadium, which was sold out for the 12th straight game. The loss snapped the UT's 14-game home winning streak, which went down as the program's longest since claiming 23 straight home wins from 1996-2000. Tennessee was down eight starters due to injury - four on offense and four on defense - including WR Bru McCoy (season-ending), WR Dont'e Thornton Jr., LT John Campbell Jr., LG Andrej Karic, LB Keenan Pili, CB Kamal Hadden (season ending), STAR Tamarion McDonald and S Wesley Walker. Wright finished with 90 yards on nine carries, and QB Joe Milton III was 17-of-30 for 147 yards. Milton saw his consecutive games with a touchdown pass streak end at 14, the third-longest in school history. Georgia scored on four of its five possessions of the first half. CB Doneiko Slaughter registered a career and game-high 11 tackles, while LB Aaron Beasley added nine tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack and a fumble recovery. Squirrel White was the Vols' leading receiver with five catches for 45 yards. PK Charles Campbell made a 37-yard field goal to end the first half.
