Georgia Bulldogs (3-2 SU, 3-1-1 ATS) at Tennessee Volunteers (3-1 SU, 3-1 ATS), Saturday October 8th, 2011. 7:00PM EST, College Football Week 6
Neyland Stadium Knoxville, Ten
By Jay Horne, College Football Handicapper, Predictem.com
Point Spread: UGA (pick'em)/Vols (pick'em)
Over/Under Total: 57
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The Tennessee Volunteers return to SEC action this week when they welcome the Georgia Bulldogs to Neyland Stadium for Saturday night football. The Volunteers are 4-1 on the season, but dropped their only conference outing on the season to Florida 33-23 a few weeks back. However, the Volunteers captured national attention by completely demolishing the Cincinnati Bearcats 45-23 in the 2nd week of the season. Coach Derek Dooley has had the Volunteers in the rebuilding stages in Knoxville and most think that Tennessee will be legitimate contenders in the SEC East again in the next 1-2 years. Still, the young Volunteers football team has played surprisingly well at times this season and they definitely have the opportunity to play the "spoiler" role in the SEC this season.
The Bulldogs are hoping Tennessee does not "spoil" any chances of Georgia making it to the SEC Championship Game this year. Despite losing to South Carolina in their SEC Opener, the Bulldogs have won two straight conference games since that time and have a very manageable schedule the rest of the way which is the reason SEC Championship type hopes are still on the table. Last week, Georgia took care of business at home against Mississippi State 24-10 to move to 3-2 on the season. This week, the Bulldogs take just their 2nd road trip of the season when they travel to Knoxville to battle the Volunteers in attempt to stay on the path towards Atlanta.
Luckily for Georgia, the Bulldogs defense has started playing very well over the last few weeks. The Georgia defense has given up just 23 points in their last 3 games after giving up 80 points in the first two games. Yes, the defense is playing better and the offense continues to improve with each passing week. Freshman running back Isaiah Crowell burst onto the scene in Athens and provided a spark to the offense. Crowell is simply a playmaker with quick speed and homerun capability in the backfield. On the season, Crowell has averaged 5.2 yards per carry for 515 yards and two touchdowns. However, his passion on the field is contagious and this Georgia offense really feeds off his momentum. Georgia had major concerns surrounding the running game entering the season, but Crowell has silenced those concerns thus far this season.
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Georgia QB Aaron Murray is regarded by many as the best quarterback in the SEC. While Murray's numbers have been solid with 13 scores for 1,100 passing yards, he has also thrown 6 picks which have been uncharacteristic so far this year. The passing offense simply has not had the go to guy this season that A.J Green was over the past two years. Therefore, Murray has forced more passes this year which has led to more turnovers. Still, the Bulldogs are putting up 256 yards per game through the air this season which is still a respectable number without any big playmaker in the receiving game.
While the Georgia offense has had a decent amount of success this season, it will be the defense that receives another big test this Saturday. The Tennessee offense has shown to be greatly improved in 2011 sporting the 21st ranked scoring offense in the nation averaging 37 points per game. QB Tyler Bray leads the SEC with a 176.1 quarterback rating and has vaulted to Tennessee passing offense to the 11th best passing unit in America averaging 336 yards per game. Bray's numbers have been stellar completing 68% passing for 1,328 yards with 14 touchdowns and 2 picks. WR Da'Rick Rogers has come up big in the receiving game as a result of the Volunteers new potent air attack. Rogers leads the team with 27 catches for 442 yards and an SEC best 6 touchdowns on the season.
The most interesting match-up this Saturday will be how the Bulldogs secondary matches up against the Tennessee passing offense. Georgia currently owns the 4th best pass defense in the nation holding opponents to just 151 yards per game. However, this is the same Bulldogs defense that fell victim to Boise State QB Kellen Moore in the season opener. Therefore, it will be interesting to see how Bray and the Tennessee passing stacks up against the Georgia defense this Saturday night.
Jay's pick to cover the point spread: The UGA offense has been fairly plain over the last two weeks and was not very impressive against two of the worse defenses in the SEC. I think Tennessee's offense may be just a bit under rated and I like how they match up against the Georgia secondary. Expect the Volunteers to score some quick points and force the Bulldogs to play catch-up the rest of the game. Take the Vols!
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