Tennessee’s offense is, understandably, the headline going into Saturday’s SEC East showdown between the No. 1 Volunteers and No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs.
Quarterback Hendon Hooker, the Heisman Trophy front-runner, and the 8-0 Volunteers lead the nation with 49.4 points per game. But Tennessee’s defense and its ability to force turnovers is also notable – the Volunteers have a plus-8 turnover margin so far this season, No. 1 in the SEC (tied for No. 11 in the country).
Tennessee has lost the turnover battle only once this season, in its 52-49 win vs. then-No. 1 Alabama, when it was a minus-1. The Volunteers are No. 14 in the country with 16 turnovers gained.
For context, Georgia has a turnover margin of zero, having lost nine turnovers and gained nine. In the Bulldogs’ 42-20 win vs. Florida last Saturday, they lost one fumble and quarterback Stetson Bennett threw two interceptions – the fumble by running back Kenny McIntosh and the second interception by Bennett contributed to the Gators scoring 17 consecutive points to start the second half, though Georgia ended up pulling away for the win.
Georgia coach Kirby Smart said although the Bulldogs aren’t putting an extra emphasis on taking care of the ball this week compared to others, it’ll certainly be key against the Volunteers.
“It’s incredibly important,” Smart said. “I don’t know if there’s an extra emphasis because I would never say that we emphasize one week more than another. You know, you can’t not emphasize turnovers, right? Like, that’s the emphasis; that’s what we start every practice with. That’s what we hang our hat on. That’s what we protect our program with, is the ball. So I can’t say it’s extra, but it’s certainly important.”
The Volunteers also have the No. 9 run defense, holding teams to 92.9 rushing yards per game, on average.
“Toughness,” Smart said of Tennessee’s defensive line and coach Rodney Garner, who used to coach the same position group at UGA. “You know, he’s old school when it comes to striking people and playing with physical toughness. You know when you’re playing against one of his defensive lines, they’re not going to run from contact. They’re not going to shy from contact. They’re not going to back down from a challenge. And it’s not because of what they’re going to do this week, it’s because of the way he’s molded them and the way he’s coached them. You know, he coaches tough, he coaches hard. And he hadn’t changed that with the change in generations of players. He’s always done that. Even when I was a (graduate assistant) here, he was coaching them hard.”
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