Leonard Floyd licks his chops when he thinks about facing Tennessee and its young offensive line. “On the inside,” that is.
“I’ma just save it for Saturday,” he said.
The Georgia outside linebacker likes the edge the defensive front will have come Saturday. Tennessee’s offensive line tops the SEC in a statistical category no team wants lead: sacks allowed. The Volunteers are tied for most allowed with LSU at nine.
Floyd didn’t know that until he was told during media availability on Monday, as he had planned to watch Tennessee’s line once he got home that evening.
“Oh yeah?” he said of the stat. “That’s good news for me.”
The Bulldogs’ defense, on the other hand, has recorded eight sacks in its first three games.
Despite the favorable matchup, the annual eastern division game comes down to something intangible for Floyd. Hate.
“Once you come to Georgia, you already hate Tennessee,” Floyd said.
The sophomore’s first meeting with Tennessee took place in Knoxville last year. A win is a win, as was the Bulldogs’ 34-31 overtime victory, but Georgia escaped far from unscathed as one player after another dropped with injury. That game last October took out several of Georgia’s key players on offense.
“We’ve got bad blood for them regardless just because they’re Tennessee,” Floyd said.
You could tell he really loathed this team as he talked about them. He spoke with confidence Monday evening when discussing what the Bulldogs’ pass rush could accomplish in its second SEC game of the season, and went as far as to say Tennessee quarterback Justin Worley will have “no time” in the pocket come Saturday.
After Georgia’s 66-0 shutout of Troy, such high self-esteem is warranted.
“We’re coming off a big win and everybody’s got high spirits around here,” inside linebacker Ramik Wilson said. “Everybody’s forgot about the loss to South Carolina so we’re ready to go.”
