When Georgia takes the field today in Knoxville, their season can go one of two ways for the Dawgs — onwards and upwards or down the tubes. A Bulldog win would put the team in position to face Florida in three weeks for what is basically a defacto SEC East championship game. Whether Georgia would win that game or not is another story, but after all the Dawgs have been through so far in 2009, just a chance to play for the division title that late in the season would be a welcome site.
Of course, Georgia could still beat Tennessee and Florida and still not win the East, especially if Auburn beats UGA and South Carolina runs the SEC table. But in all probability, a Bulldog sweep of their two biggest division rivals would hand them the East title and a ticket to the Georgia Dome on the first Saturday of December.
A loss today would be devastating to Mark Richt and his program. It would put the Dawgs at 3-3 overall and 2-2 in the conference with arguably their three toughest games still remaining on the schedule (Florida, Auburn, Georgia Tech). It would also essentially eliminate the Bulldogs from the SEC championship game and relegate the team to re-setting their goals at what is the halfway point of the season.
A loss would also turn up the heat on Mark Richt to make some changes in his coaching staff after the season. And if Richt were to refuse to do make such changes, it could get ugly in Athens.
And that is how big this game is for UGA football.
STATS, HISTORY, AND OTHER NONSENSE
As has been well-publicized this week, these two teams have not met without either of them being ranked since 1937. Of course, UGA and Tennessee have only met 25 times during that period.
Tennessee leads the all-time series between the two programs 20-16-2 as well as 8-6-1 in games played at Neyland Stadium. The Vols have won three of the last five after losing four in a row to start the 21st century. It has been a streaky series with Georgia winning four straight from 1973-1988, Tennessee winning nine in a row between 1989-1999, and Georgia winning the next four.
Mark Richt is 5-3 against the Vols and is 3-1 in Knoxville.
Looking at the numbers, it would appear that Tennessee has a distinct advantage in this matchup. The Vols are ranked higher than Georgia in almost every single team statistical category. The gap is especially wide in total defense (5th vs 11th) and rushing offense (6th vs 12th).
However, Georgia has played a BCS conference opponent each week while Tennessee has padded their stats in games against Ohio and Western Kentucky. In fact, the Vols have yet to defeat a BCS conference opponent in Year One of the Kiffin era.
INJURY REPORT
Linebackers Marcus Dowtin and Akeem Dent are doubtful for Saturday’s game along with wide receiver Tavarres King and running back Caleb King. Safety Quintin Banks is questionable and offensive lineman Chris Davis is probable.
For Tennessee, linebacker Nick Reveiz is out for the season while tight end Brandon Warren was kicked off the team this past week. Offensive lineman Josh McNeil is doubtful while fellow lineman Vladimir Richard is questionable. Defensive end Chris Walker and linebacker Greg King are also questionable.
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