Tennessee faces an uphill battle on Saturday hosting Georgia on Saturday as a huge underdog. We go behind enemy lines with Anthony Dasher from UGASports.com to get a further look at the ‘Dawgs.
1. How is this Georgia team different compared to the 2018 team?
It's a deeper team than what we saw last year, especially on the defensive side where Coach Smart was able to address some of the depth issues at middle and outside linebacker. Athletically, this may be the most talent I've seen Georgia accrue in all the years I've been covering the program. Will that translate into a championship of some description? The jury is still out on that.
Otherwise, it's a similar team to last year, although new offensive coordinator James Coley and new defensive coordinator Dan Lanning are adding their own little tweaks from what we saw from Jim Chaney and Mel Tucker last year.
Despite some questions at receiver, more wideouts (10) have caught passes for Georgia than all of last year (nine) and the 12 sacks the Bulldogs have through four games is already half of the total (24) Georgia had all of last year.
2. What do you see as UGA’s biggest advantage in this game?
Just looking from the outside in, it's probably safe to say that Georgia has the overall talent edge, despite the fact the two programs recruit many of the same players.
However, if you're looking for one individual edge for the Bulldogs to hang their hat on it's probably quarterback Jake Fromm.
Fromm has competed in some of the bigger environments in college football and hasn't been phased. Granted, he hasn't won them all, but his overall experience, knowledge of the Bulldogs' offensive system and overall history of success would seem to be a big advantage for Georgia in this particular game.
3. Is there an area of concern for the Bulldogs that Tennessee could exploit?
This is a tough one, because on paper, Georgia would seem to have the edge in most areas, but there are spots that have Georgia's coaches concerned. The Vols have big, physical, experienced receivers, led by Marquez Callaway and Jauan Jennings, and could prove a handful for Georgia's secondary providing Jarrett Guarantano and Brian Maurer can get them the ball.
Tennessee's secondary has also played pretty well, and could be a challenge for a Bulldog receiving corps that's currently playing a number of young players.
4. How many Georgia fans are expected to travel to Knoxville this weekend?
I'll start off by saying I don't believe for one second that Georgia will bring enough people to go around "checkerboarding" Neyland Stadium. That said, it's not going to surprise me - assuming they can find tickets - to see upwards of 30,000 show up for the game.
I'll give Georgia fans credit, they travel. Two years ago at Notre Dame, 40,000 made the trip to South Bend, with approximately that same amount making the trek to Pasadena for the Rose Bowl against Oklahoma.
In the season opener at Vanderbilt, Commodore Stadium was three-fourths Bulldog fans. Granted, that stadium only holds a smidge over 40,000, but 30,000 is a pretty good estimate that made it, so it wouldn't shock me to see the same amount show up in Knoxville.
5. Who is one player on each side of the ball that Vol fans may not be familiar with, but should be?
Offensively, I'll go with wide receiver Lawrence Cager, a grad transfer from Miami. Cager goes 6-5 and 220 pounds and is really starting to develop a rhythm with quarterback Jake Fromm. Watch out for Cager and the back shoulder pass.
Defensively, there's probably a few but I'll for with freshman outside linebacker Nolan Smith. The former five-star player is starting to play more and more for the Bulldogs, and he's starting to produce with five tackles, including 1.5 sacks for losses of 10 yards. Smith goes 6-3 and 235 pounds. He'll be an All-SEC player before his career is done.
