By Jordan Mayton from VFL Insider
Vols Game Preview
Tennessee Volunteers (3-1) vs #7 Georgia Bulldogs (4-0)
Saturday, September 30, 3:30 PM (ET) on CBS
Neyland Stadium – Knoxville, Tennessee
What to watch for:
We’ve stated for the past two weeks that Tennessee would find its identity. They were a team of mystery. You never knew what you would get from them week to week. That remains the same.
The Vols edged UMass last week, but put up one of their worst performances during the Butch Jones era. Some attribute the close game to schematics, others to the hangover from the loss to Florida the week earlier. One thing is for certain though, Butch Jones does not have this team motivated.
UMass is stacking the box and winning. This is soft from Tennessee
— Austin Stanley (@AustinStanley81) September 23, 2017
That’s a very bad thing. One key attribute of Tennessee’s teams under Jones is that they don’t ever seem to quit. Take the comeback wins last season against Georgia and Florida. The Vols looked down and out in both contests, but late game heroics against the Bulldogs and extra effort against the Gators led to two consecutive victories for Team 120.
Sure Tennessee kept themselves in games against Georgia Tech and even Florida, but last week’s contest really said something about Team 121. Jones simply didn’t have them motivated to play.
Equate that with a red hot Georgia team and you’ve got a recipe for disaster.
The Bulldogs come into Neyland Stadium looking for revenge after Tennessee’s hail mary victory Between The Hedge’s last year. Tennessee couldn’t have drawn the Bulldogs at a worse time. Georgia reeled off a dominant win against 17th-ranked Mississippi State last week.
It’s now or never for Jones. Several Knoxville media sources believe the fifth-year head coach to be on the hot seat.
Jones has to get Tennessee’s offense on the same page, get his play calling down and get his team motivated for the Vols to have a chance.
Tennessee is a 7.5-point underdog to Georgia at home and Butch Jones is a key reason why.
