For the first time since 2020, Georgia has two losses in one season. The last time the Bulldogs lost three in one season was in 2018 and the last time the Dawgs lost back-to-back games was the final two games of that same 2018 season.
Georgia averaged over 40 points per game in both 2022 (41.1) and 2023 (40.1), but this season, the Bulldogs are averaging 30.6. Kirby Smart’s initial season as head coach is the only season in which Georgia averaged less (24.5). Last week against the Rebels was also one of the worst games statistically for the Dawgs offense in this era.
Georgia will now face Tennessee on Saturday night at home. It will be the Bulldogs first home game since October 12. Georgia has won 28 straight games at home and the Bulldogs are 47-4 overall “between the hedges” under Smart. The first loss in that stretch was against Tennessee on a Hail Mary pass. That was the only loss Georgia has had in the series under Smart. If you look at the series decade-by-decade, you can see that Georgia’s domination started even earlier.
Tennessee comes in ranked seventh this season and seeks its first SEC Championship appearance since 2007. Last season, Carson Beck dominated the Vols’ defense. He completed 24-of-30 passes for 298 yards and three touchdowns and no interceptions. Beck has had the interception bug lately as he has 12 picks in the last six games (with 10 touchdown passes). The 12 interceptions Beck threw are the most in one season since Aaron Murray had 14 in 2011. Last week, UGASports broke did an overall game split and this week it is broken down by location and opponent ranks.
Dominic Lovett led the Dawgs with four receptions last week, but Dillon Bell did a little bit of everything. He had three receptions and he also had Georgia’s longest rush at 12 yards. For the season, Bell has been one of Georgia’s important and versatile threats.
Trevor Etienne leads the Bulldogs in every major rushing category this season, but Nate Frazier is had some good numbers as of late. Here is how, Frazier rates among other freshmen in the conference.
Georgia's freshman running back from 1980 had a memorable game against Tennessee. In his collegiate debut, Herschel Walker came off the bench but still managed 84 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
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Tennessee’s head coach Josh Heupel has often been tabbed as one of the best offensive coaches in college football. However, when he and the Volunteers has faced the Bulldogs – the orange team has slowed down.
Over the last few seasons, one of Georgia’s strengths on defense has been depth. This season, the Dawgs have four players with 40 or more tackles and 10 total defenders with at least 20. There are 22 Bulldogs with at least part of a tackle for loss. One area where Georgia has not put up big numbers this season on defense is interceptions. Georgia is tied for 12th in the SEC with just six interceptions this season. Last week, Dan Jackson became the first Bulldog in 2024 to have his second pick this season. Getting interceptions is nothing new for Jackson. He is one of the leaders in terms of picks in the Kirby Smart era. (these are stats under Smart only and not prior and not from other schools)
Kirby Smart still ranks tied for sixth all-time on Georgia's career interception list with 13 with his very first one coming against Tennessee and a quarterback named Peyton Manning.
As of the time that this article was written, it is not known whether Tennessee’s quarterback Nico Iamaleava will play or not. The redshirt freshman has 11 touchdown passes this season (seven in the first four games) and four interceptions. If he doesn’t play Gaston Moore should be the quarterback. He has played sparingly over his career and has 42 career passes with two touchdowns and three interceptions. But Georgia and its fans should know the name Dylan Sampson. He is the only player in the SEC with over 1,000 rush yards. He also leads the conference with 20 touchdowns on the ground and is just the tenth player in SEC history with at least that number in a season. He only ran twice last season against the Dawgs and gained nine yards.
