Whatever success Tennessee hopes to have Saturday in Knoxville (3:30 p.m., CBS), the Volunteers know they’d better be able to run the football.

Nobody knows that better than UT running back coach Jerry Mack, who spoke to reporters Tuesday in Knoxville.

The Vols boast one of the better running back rooms in the league, led by Jaylen Wright, who is fifth in the conference in rushing with 848 yards.’

But just like the rest of Tennessee’s run game, Wright and his cohorts are coming off their poorest effort of the season at Missouri, when they accounted for just 82 yards on the ground. In fact, quarterback Joe Milton was the leading rusher with 36 yards on 10 attempts.

Mack knows the Bulldogs won’t make it any easier.

"When you play a team like Georgia, one thing is, it’s going to be tough to get yards after contact, because they are so physical. They are so strong,” Mack said. “That’s going to be a great challenge to guys like Jaylen Wright, Jabari (Small), and Dylan (Sampson) to make sure they have great pad level and are making sure they continue to drive their feet on contact, because those linebackers at Georgia don’t want to give you anything. They’re stingy and we have to do a great job of matching that intensity.”

Georgia is able to stay fresh by constantly rotating players in and out of the lineup. That's another concern for the Vols.

Even for an offense that likes to use tempo as one of its main weapons, Georgia’s depth could play a key role in deciding Saturday’s game.

“The number one thing that stands out is the ability to rotate so many different people at the line of scrimmage and on that front seven,” Mack said. “When you look at their defensive line and look at their linebacker core, the biggest thing is there are constant new bodies.

"As we go through all the film for the year, there’s always a new linebacker, a new d-lineman. They also do a really good job of shedding blocks. Those guys do a good job of two-gapping and playing through the defender and making sure they shed and get to the ball carrier.”

That’s not all.

“Obviously, the speed is something that jumps out at you as well,” Mack said. “Across the board, all those guys can run."

Mack says it’s hard not to be impressed, especially at linebacker.

“Really physical, a really physical bunch. Not only just those two guys (Smael Mondon and C.J. Allen) but the entire group of linebackers,” he said. “They’re active, they’re athletic. They do a great job of flying to the football in pursuit, and then when they get there, they know how to finish plays.”

Apparently, it does not matter who is in the game.

“No. I feel like you stick one of them in and they all look about the same,” Mack said. “They’re all flying around.”

Georgia’s pre-snap looks are also an area the Vols are working hard this week to make sure doesn’t affect their play.

That onus, of course, will fall on Milton, in his first year as a starter for Tennessee.

“A lot of that is on the quarterback position. Just to make sure he gives the offensive line time to go ahead and ID the fronts like he’s supposed to,” Mack said. “A big part of that is on the quarterback, but as a running back position, we have to make sure that when they do stem, we have to understand how the fits change a little bit. How the protection rules may change some if they do decide to stem. Really more about just when we start a drive and also, too, when it’s a potential clock stopper sometimes, we have to make sure we see the movement and are still alert of our pre-snap keys.”