CFB - Georgia at Tennessee (3:30ET – CBS)

With Florida in danger of suffering a second conference loss this weekend

2007-10-05

With Florida in danger of suffering a second conference loss this weekend, the door of the SEC East Division has opened to the four other capable clubs within. Two of those teams, Georgia and Tennessee will go head-to-head on Saturday.

In the series between these two, home-field advantage has been anything but, as the visitors own a mark of 5-1 SU & 6-0 ATS in the L6. The Bulldogs are also on runs on 6-1 ATS overall and 6-0-1 ATS in their L7 as road underdogs, so Tennessee (2-2 SU & ATS) could have its hands full. Making matters much worse, HC Phil Fullmer’s club is just 1-10-1 ATS in its L12 home SEC games.

Go ahead; try to beat Mark Richt on the road as coach of Georgia. Richt is one of the fine tacticians in college football and makes very sound adjustments. After the loss to South Carolina in Athens, Richt and the offensive coach’s conceded a talented yet young sophomore quarterback in Matt Stafford was going to get killed with such an inexperienced line facing the sprinters with bad intentions in the SEC. They altered the plan to more screens and quick releases to help both parties and the results have been excellent for a team needing a boost. The Bulldogs defense has been stingier than expected all season.

Moving the football and scoring points is not the issue with this year’s addition of the 2-2 Tennessee Vols. Erik Ainge has the offense pumping out 34.5 points a game, throwing for 285.7 YPG and rushing for132.2 yards. What is holding Tennessee back is a defense that has given up 37.5 PPG and is slower than a stout German beer being poured out of a tap. Tackling is significant problem that is not going away with practice. Pure fundamental tackling and reaching being out of position have led to this being a major issue on the Knoxville campus. Tennessee is 0-8-1 ATS when opponent is in revenge mode.

Last season the Vols hung a season high 51 points on Georgia, winning by 18 points as 2.5-point favorites. The visitor is now 5-1 ATS since 2001. Tennessee will have the value of coming off a bye week, nevertheless the Bulldogs are barking as road dogs with 10-3-1 ATS record under Richt.

Prediction – Georgia by 1

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