Kirby Smart breaks down key to slowing down Tennessee offense

Georgia is a 20-point favorite over Tennessee this weekend, but the Volunteers offense is the toughest test the Bulldogs defense will have this regular season. 

In a Monday press conference, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart explained the problems the revamped offense presents.

“They’ve got a really good group of wideouts,” Smart said. “Extremely physical, big, size, speed. They’re really fast on tape. We know the players they’re running past. Those are good football players they’re running past and making explosive plays.

“They’ve made a lot of plays down the field. They would’ve had more of these earlier, but they overthrew some early in the season where they just missed them. They’ve been hitting on all cylinders, and they’ve been extremely explosive with what they’ve done.”

Since stepping in for quarterback Joe Milton, Hendon Hooker has been nearly unstoppable. The Virginia Tech transfer boasts the best passer rating in the Power Five and has 21 touchdowns passes with just two interceptions.

Tennessee can score in a hurry. In last weekend’s 45-42 win over Kentucky, the Volunteers had four touchdown drives of three or fewer plays. The first two times Tennessee had the ball, they scored on a 75-yard pass and a 72-yard pass.

Pass first? Not quite

While controlling the big play offense will be critical to avoiding the upset, Smart issued a cautionary message about passing game tunnel vision.

“To say that it’ll be all in the secondary, I think that’s not very wise,” Smart added. “You gotta control the run game. Everybody thinks these guys are pass-first. They run the ball really well. They’re stubborn about it. They wear you down. Body blow after body blow after body blow to the point where you can’t rush the passer or you can’t stop the run, and it’s the big runs that lead to the explosive passes.”

Tennessee is averaging 217 rushing yards and 240.6 passing yards per game. Since starting SEC play, they have run 150 pass plays and 248 run plays. In total, they are the third-best scoring offense in the conference, posting 38.2 points per contest. 

Of course, Tennessee has yet to face a defense of Georgia’s talent. They hung with Alabama for a half before the Tide’s offense took control of the game. Georgia’s offense is not quite as explosive as Alabama, but the defense is making up for it. Through nine games, Georgia had 66 points off of turnovers and has allowed just 59 points all season. 

Hooker will need to be smart with the ball if the Volunteers want to be in the game late. While he only lost one fumble against Kentucky, he dropped the ball three times.

Georgia-Tennessee kicks off at 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS.