ATHENS – CBS Sports college football analyst Gary Danielson was asked Thursday what he thought about Tennessee leapfrogging Georgia and Ohio State to claim the top spot in the first College Football Playoff rankings, which were released Tuesday night.
“I don’t get very emotional about it,” the veteran broadcaster said. “So much more can happen. That said, I think that it was great bulletin-board material for Georgia.”
A polarizing figure for many fans throughout the SEC, Danielson’s thoughts nonetheless are reflective of both fan bases this weekend. Intentional or not, the selection committee gave the Bulldogs the ultimate incentive to prove themselves, and Tennessee as well.
And what an uncanny stroke of good fortune for all involved that these two teams, long-scheduled to meet on this date at this place, will meet on the Saturday after the CFP selection committee struck that matchstick of debate.
While defending national champion Georgia was judged to be only No. 3 in that first CFB ranking, the Bulldogs (8-0, 5-0 SEC) remain defending national champions and No. 1 in the polls conducted by the Associated Press (which represents the media) and USA Today (which represents the coaches). Conversely, Tennessee (8-0, 4-0) also is undefeated. Picked to finish third in the East this summer, the Volunteers arrive as college football’s surprise team of the year and the chic pick to win it all.
So, for all practical purposes, it’s a matchup of TWO No. 1 teams battling to be THE No. 1 team.
“It’s a big game, right?” said Georgia coach Kirby Smart, who has tried to maintain a bite-sized perspective. “There’s nothing about a number being in front of it. It would be a big game regardless because both teams are in the East.”
Indeed, only one of these teams can represent the division in the SEC Championship game Dec. 3 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. While that game is not the only route into the playoff, it remains the primary route. And based on the games on the other side of Saturday’s matchup, odds are the Georgia-Tennessee winner will represent the East against an expected one-loss West team. That likely will be Alabama.
Accordingly, we have the latest “Game of the Century” in college football. A crowd of more than 100,000 is expected to descend on the Classic City to watch it unfold. ESPN’s “College GameDay” and “SEC Nation” will produce their nationally televised pregame shows from the UGA campus. “GameDay” will be on the Myers Quad, while “SEC Nation” will be a half-mile away on the lawn of the Richard B. Russell Special Collections Library. CBS Sports, of course, picked up the game for its coveted 3:30 p.m., SEC game of the week time slot.
According to rankings -- officially No. 1 Tennessee versus No. 3 Georgia – it is the biggest game ever contested in the storied, 93-year history of Sanford Stadium. Per UGA’s records, that distinction previously belonged to No. 3 Auburn vs. the No. 4-ranked Bulldogs on Nov. 12, 1983. Tennessee and Georgia once met as the nation’s Nos. 5- and 7-ranked teams Oct. 10, 1998. The Vols won 22-7 that day.
But UGA resident historian Loran Smith makes a great case for No. 5 Georgia versus No. 2 Georgia Tech being the most comparatively dramatic and intensely meaningful game ever contested between the hedges. Like the one this year, that 1942 matchup between the hedges also had national championship implications.
“It’s like beauty being in the mind of the beholder,” Smith said Friday morning. “Try to imagine what it was like in 1942. The Rose Bowl comes out and says to the world the week of the game, ‘we’re going to invite the winner of the Georgia-Georgia Tech game after Thanskgiving to play in our game.’ While Tech was the higher-ranked team, we just destroyed them 34-0 and went on to the Rose Bowl, where we’d beat UCLA and win the national championship.
“Relatively speaking, can this be bigger than that?”
Valid point, indeed. But in the age of the Internet and television, there certainly has been no game more meaningful than Georgia vs. Tennessee in 2022.
Notre Dame’s visit in 2019 remains the greatest modern-day spectacle conducted to date at Sanford Stadium. “GameDay” and “SEC Nation” were here then, too, as was CBS Sports and the largest crowed ever to attend a Georgia home game (93,246). But those teams were ranked third and seventh, respectively, and the game was played in September.
What makes Saturday’s matchup particularly intriguing is the contrasting complexion in the styles of the teams. Georgia is perceived as the team that wins with defense. The Bulldogs enter the game leading the SEC and ranked No. 2 nationally in points allowed per game (10.5). Conversely, Tennessee quick-tempo offense leads the nation in scoring (49.4) and total yards (553 pg).
Accordingly, the world is fixated on the matchup of Georgia’s defensive backs, led by safety Christopher Smith and cornerback Kelee Ringo, against Tennessee wideouts Jalin Hyatt and Cedric Tillman and strong-armed, fifth-year senior quarterback Hendon Hooker.
But missing from that narrative is any mention of the Bulldogs’ on offense. Behind sixth-year senior quarterback Stetson Bennett, Georgia averages 531 yards and 41.8 points itself. And while decidedly less explosive than the Vols’ highlight reel of long scoring pass plays, the Bulldogs go about it a different way, piling up an SEC-best 27.1 first downs per game and dominating time of possession 35 minutes to opponents’ 25. And that’s not just by running the football. Bennett ranks slightly ahead of Tennessee’s Hooker in passing yards per game (293.6 to 292.3) while dumping off the ball to running backs and hitting Georgia tight ends Brock Bowers and Darnell Washington with all sorts of midrange throws.
“They have a great offense, and so do we,” Georgia wide receiver Kearis Jackson. “Most guys overlook that because of how we do things. We do it differently here. But when you’re able to average over 500 yards a game, that’s a big deal, in my opinion. We know what we’re capable of doing.”
Jackson, a fifth-year senior, is among the majority of Georgia players who never have seen their team lose a game to the Vols. The Bulldogs have won the past five in this annual meeting by an average margin of 28.6 points per game. Sixth-year seniors Bennett and outside linebacker Robert Beal will be the only players on Georgia’s sideline who have witnessed a Tennessee win. That came was on a “Hail Mary” pass in the final seconds of the game in 2016, Smart’s first season as coach.
It would come as no surprise if this year’s game came down to such a dramatic final play. The hardest thing to fathom at this point is that there still will be games to be played on the other side of this one. Each team has four games remaining. Georgia has three in the SEC, including two on the road, while the Vols are playing all four within the conference.
But those are in total eclipse thanks to what’s happening here Saturday.
“We can’t treat it like it is the last game of the season,” Georgia defensive lineman Zion Logue said. “We have to treat it like it is another game, prepare like any other week.”
Good luck to both teams on that.
It’s just the biggest home game in the history of Georgia football. That’s all.
