Kirby Smart: Tennessee is a huge rivalry game for Georgia

Kirby Smart believes Tennessee is a huge rivalry game for his Georgia Bulldogs. While it may not be the premier rivalry for either squad, Smart believes it’s still one that gets the juices flowing.

In his press conference earlier this week, Smart detailed that while Tennessee and Georgia have all kinds of rivals, it’s must-see when the two schools face-off.

“It’s a rivalry game,” stated Smart. “We’ve said it for years. Tennessee has all kinds of rivals, and we have all kinds of rivals. It’s a unique part of being in the SEC. Tennessee and Georgia is one of those.

“It’s been one at times that’s been lopsided. I know when I played here it was lopsided their way, we could never beat them. They’ve had ups and downs.”

As Smart mentions, the Bulldogs never defeated the Volunteers while he was a player at Georgia. However, he’s had better luck as a coach — winning four consecutive games with Georgia over Tennessee.

However, Tennessee has a new coach in Josh Heupel at the helm. Later on, Smart praised the job that Heupel is doing in his first season in Knoxville.

“I do know this — Josh is doing a really good job,” stated Smart. “He’s done a tremendous job of recruiting and getting the players that are there to buy-in. And they’ve bought in. They’re playing really hard, really physical. Play with a lot of confidence. So we need to play a really good game.”

As you can see, Smart isn’t taking Tennessee lightly. While Georgia will be favored over anyone for the foreseeable future, the Bulldogs aren’t overlooking the Volunteers.

Smart: ‘They’ve been hitting on all cylinders.’

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. 

Furthermore, 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.

When Georgia and Tennessee face-off this weekend, it won’t be a walk in the park for Kirby Smart. The Bulldogs will have another shot to showcase their dominance when the clock starts ticking.