Tennessee Vols Trample Georgia Bulldogs

I hate to use a word like trample, but that’s how the Tennessee – Georgia game went  this Saturday.  I was as surprised as anyone at how the Vols performed offensively and even defensively against the Bulldogs.  I have to get this out of the way first.  Just because Georgia fans are claiming that their defensive coordinator is horrible and that’s the only reason we absolutely ran over them doesn’t mean it’s completely true.  That also does not mean that it is completely false either.  I’m sure it’s no coincidence, but Tennessee’s offense performed in such a way on Saturday that you know that they improved.  How much the Vol offense improved, we’ll see in two weeks against the Tide.

Prediction – Georgia 17, Tennessee 21
Actual – Georgia 19, Tennessee 45

Well, I have to say that I wasn’t even close with how I thought the game would go.  I was fairly certain that Tennessee should win the game, but the way that they came out and performed was something I never would have predicted.  Jonathan Crompton threw for 310 yards and 4 TD, completing 74% of his passes.  Where did he come from? I’m not sure.  Could it have anything to do with the fact that Brandon Warren is now gone?  Possibly, a small part of it may be, but this can’t all be attributed to a negative player.  I don’t know of any way to explain it other than that the coaches may have found where he feels comfortable: with his feet moving.  He played tremendously better when he either rolling outside of the pocket or on a straight play action play as long as his feet kept moving.  I’m not sure why, but if it works, we’ll take it!  Let’s see how the Vols did with my key points.

Three Key Points

• For the third week in a row I’ll say it because it’s always vital and never a constant.  Tennessee has to get the passing game going to keep drives alive.  Last week, we saw some sparks against Auburn late in each half, and the Vol offense needs to capitalize on that for this week’s game.
• Did Tennessee get a passing game going?  I’ll have to check yes on that one.  Crompton came out prepared and delivered an insane performance against an SEC defense.  Much of it was on play action plays, which I’ve stated before is all this team needs to win games.  With the SEC’s leading rusher, Montario Hardesty, running between the tackles, all Tennessee needs their quarterback to do is to make a few short passes and play action passes.  That’s it!  And Crompton did that and much more on Saturday, I can speak for all Vol fans when I say that we were all very impressed.
• Keep drives alive.  One of the biggest things that killed Tennessee against Auburn is that they could not keep the defense off the field.  As a result, the Tennessee defense gave up points because they were so tired early in the game.  If UT can keep the three and outs to a minimum, their chances of winning the game based on their defense alone increase dramatically.
• Tennessee did not struggle offensively all game long.  Sure, Cunningham kicked four punts, but the defense always got some rest on the sidelines.  Plus, the offense sustained some long touchdown drives that also kept the defense off of the field.  Overall, Tennessee did a great job of this as the offense kept the ball moving and gave their defense plenty of time to rest, though they really didn’t need it.
• Cover A.J. Green.  This Georgia offense hasn’t been able to really produce on the ground this season, and Joe Cox is going to be looking for his favorite wide out all game long.  The Vols need to make him throw it somewhere else, and if he refuses to, we might see Eric Berry bring one back all the way.  Also, if Tennessee shuts down the running game and forces Georgia into a one-dimensional offense, we could see the same result.  Big game for UT’s defense.