Why the Tennesee-Georgia Game Will Define the Vols' Season

The 2010 season was expected to be long and painful for the Tennessee Volunteers.  It has not been pretty so far, but I expected it to be a lot worse.  The Vols put together a respectable effort against Florida after hanging with Oregon for a half.  At this point that does not seem that bad. 

Last week, the Vols stole defeat from the jaws of victory.  The debacle against Louisiana State could destroy any confidence this team had built, or the team can look at the positive side of things and say "Well, we were one play away from beating a top-15 team on the road as a 17 point underdog.

Tennessee plays a favorable schedule with winnable road contest against Georgia, Vanderbilt, and Memphis and home games against Kentucky and Ole Miss.  It is possible they can win all five of these games.  If that happens, Derek Dooley is sure to be SEC Coach of the Year. 

Personally, I think this team will win four out of the five games and make the postseason. If they find a way to win all five, this season will be a huge success given the circumstances surrounding Tennessee Football.  With a strong possibility of the league having two BCS teams and less bowl eligible teams than usual, a 7-5 Tennessee team could end up in Atlanta, Nashville, or maybe even Jacksonville for the holiday season. 

Had you said it would be this easy for the Vols to go 8-5 and make a New Year's Day Bowl before the season, you would have been laughed out of the country.  

I think of the five games I believe this team will win, this is the most important.  Losing to Georgia would crush this team.  If they rebound from the disaster in Baton Rouge, it could be the turning point in Tennessee Volunteer football.

If Dooley some how pulls off a winning season it would do wonders for his future with the program.  He may be fortunate that the Vols schedule all of a sudden seems a whole lot easier, but if he is to lead this program anywhere, this is a great place to take command. That is why it is imperative that Tennessee win this game against Georgia.  it may be the difference in a 4-8 season and an 8-5 season.

With all that has gone on at Georgia, the Dogs are in desperation mode more so than Tennessee.  Georgia's last two losses have shown that they do not seem to cope well with desperation games. 

If Tennessee can become the next struggling program to take advantage of a crippled Georgia squad, it may be a great leap forward in fixing the mess that has been left by the recent coaching changes.  A loss could only dig Tennessee deeper into the SEC cellar.