Kirby Smart, Georgia prepared to take on Tennessee offense

ATHENS, Ga. — Over the last several weeks, the Tennessee Volunteers’ offense has bulldozed its way through college football, averaging 553 yards per outing, coming in at No. 1 in the country (2nd in passing yards per game, 25th in rushing yards). They bring that high powered attack into Athens this Saturday to take on Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs.

So what is it that makes the Volunteers offense so good? Is it their veteran and dynamic presence at quarterback in Hendon Hooker? Is it their elite level receiving core which includes names like Jalin Hyatt and Cedric Tillman? Is it an often overlooked run game? Or is it head coach and play-caller Josh Heupel?

Well, the answer to that question is… yes.

During Tuesday’s press conference, Kirby Smart addressed a question in which Tennessee’s offense was referred to as “pass-happy”. While the question was intended to ask about how Georgia’s linebackers would have to adjust to that, Smart explained how the Volunteers’ offense actually worked.

“Tennessee is not necessarily a pass-happy offense,” Smart stated. “I don’t know if y’all have watched them, but they run the ball really well. I think you could say that statistically they have explosive passes. They are a running team that chunks it deep. They do a really good job with explosive pass plays. They commit to the run. There is a toughness there. Their backs run really tough.” 

So far in the 2022 season, Tennessee has run the ball on more than 58% of all of their offensive snaps (347 out of 598). For reference, Georgia has run the ball on just under 49% of all offensive snaps. (286 out of 586).

So why do the Volunteers get the reputation of being a “pass-happy” team despite the fact that Hendon Hooker has 48 less pass attempts on the season than Stetson Bennett? The answer is entirely to do with how the Volunteers maintain balance through their wide receiver splits.

The first picture shown below was taken from the Bulldogs’ win over the Volunteers in 2021, where the Tennessee offense was held to just 17 total points. The play came from a third down on the Volunteers’ first drive of the second half.

Down below shows Kentucky lining up against the Volunteers last Saturday in a game where the Wildcats allowed 44 points, 245 yards in the air, and 177 yards on the ground.

While there is a slight variation in the formation that the Volunteers employ in each play (two by two against the Bulldogs and double stack against the Wildcats), the bigger difference can be found in the way that the defense is playing the two teams.

The Bulldogs lined up with six defenders in the box, clearly intending on stopping the run game and allowing their defensive backs to play out in space. Kentucky felt more confident in their ability to stop the run with five, but ended up being torched on the ground and through the air.

Earlier this week, Smart spoke about the commitment that defensive coaches have to make to play defenders in the box or out in space.

“It pulls you away from the box,” Smart explained about the Volunteers’ wide receiver splits. “There’s no half in, half out. You’re either all in or you’re all out. It doesn’t allow you to hide or disguise things. It makes you play. It’s been that way for a long time now. He (Josh Heupel) did some of the same things while at Missouri when he was there.”

While Heupel certainly puts his players in a great position to be successful, it makes it a lot easier when you’re scheming for the players that Tennessee has.

Smart broke down why it’s been so easy for the Tennessee offense to have success so far this year.

“Speed, space, scheme, talented arm. You know, you can have the best receivers in the world, and they get open all the time, if you don’t have somebody that can get it to them — they have somebody that can protect them and get it to him. They do a good job of that. Again, that’s the challenge for us this week.”

The last time that the Bulldogs faced Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker, the quarterback went 24-for-37 with 244 passing yards, one touchdown and one interception, adding 17 carries for 7 yards on the ground. However, Smart does not expect to see the same performance from Hooker this year.

“Just another year experienced in the offense. You know, he’s one step ahead of where he was,” Smart said about Hooker. “To think of the reps and the games he’s played since the games last year, he’s just as elusive, he’s got probably the same arm talent. Those two don’t improve. It’s his decision-making and his processing. And the guys around him are playing better, too. I mean, they’re playing much better across the offensive line, they’re running the ball, they got explosive playmakers that are playing better. So they’ve improved around him and he’s improved.”

At the end of Smarts’ teleconference on Wednesday, he summarized the Volunteers offense, explaining where the Bulldogs will be tested most.

“It’s probably a combination of things that you’re playing. Pace of play is really fast so it requires elite communication and you’re facing things that you don’t normally face. So maybe whatever you play all year is not the same. So then when you change something, any time you change something, you create confusion. It would be the layman’s purpose to say, ‘hey, don’t change.’ Well, you have to change because they force you to change because of having a different style offense. When you change and don’t communicate well, in the heat of the moment and you’ve got to make split-second decisions which can be two to three seconds between plays, it causes errors for sure.”

Kickoff time for Saturday’s showdown between Georgia and Tennessee is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS, but coverage of the colossal clash from Athens begins well before that with ESPN’s College GameDay and SEC Network’s slate of game day shows both broadcasting live from the Classic City starting at 9:00 a.m. ET on their respective networks.