News

Bottom Line: UT’s problems this season haven’t been on the offensive side of the ball. This is a group that’s averaging nearly 35 ppg and is leading the conference in passing (surprisingly given their WR issues). The fact that they are 11th in the SEC rushing is more a factor of them getting down big in a couple of games and having to throw more. They have seemed to shy away from the run more than you’d expect, which is very odd given UT’s history of pounding the ball. They do a good job of protecting the QB, mostly because they throw those quick, short passes. UT’s WRs aren’t a deep threat type of scary. They’re more of a ball control, well-coached type of scary. Look for our CBs to play much closer at the line of scrimmage than we saw last week against the likes of the speedy Wallace and the week before against DJ Hall. UT’s running game hasn’t been overly effective but we’ve struggled at times this season defending the run. I think you’ll see them deviate from their pass-happy attack (they pass the ball roughly 65% of the time) to this point and try and run it at us, especially with the absence of Marcus Washington. We’ll need more production from our DEs if we’re going to shut their O down.

Key Matchup to watch when they have the ball: Ole Miss ran off tackle on us all day and you got the feeling their massive OL was just blowing our DEs off the ball. Fulmer would love nothing more than to grind it out like that, but I think you’ll see a more motivated UGA D this week. Watch our DEs against their OTs in both the run and the pass. If we can get some pressure on Ainge (difficult to do with their short drops) and do a better job shoring up those off tackle runs, we’ve got a good chance of slowing their potent offense.

UT Defense

The real shocker this year has been the play of the UT defense. This defense has been lit up like the Hot Donuts Now sign at Fulmer’s closest Krispy Kreme, yielding 37.5 ppg (110th nationally) and 439 yards per game (95th nationally). This is a unit that’s struggling against the pass (11th in the SEC in pass yardage defense and 12th in pass efficiency D) and the run (9th in the SEC). Like Ole Miss, this is a defense we should be able to move the ball against.

The UT DL sports a pair of bookend senior DEs in Antonio Reynolds and Xavier Mitchell. They each have 12 tackles on the season but combine for 0 sacks, 4 TFLs and only 2 QB hurries. The starters at DT combine for a mere 7 starts on their career. Neither has done much to distinguish themselves. There’s talent there, as Demonte Bolden was highly regarded coming out of HS, but they won’t remind anyone of guys like Henderson, Haynesworth, etc. that manned the middle in the past. The most effective DL on the team, Robert Ayers, doesn’t start but sees plenty of time, enough time to lead the DL in tackles and the team in TFLs (6.5) and sacks (3).

MLB Jarod Mayo leads the team in tackles (26) and is an experienced player after starting every game last season. WLB Rico McCoy, a So., is 2nd on the team in tackles. SLB Ryan Karl has started 17 games (including all of 2006) on his career. He had a big game in Athens last season, tipping the pass that UT intercepted to start the 3rd qtr. None of these guys really jumps off the page at you and given their defensive struggles this season, it’s understandable.

The Secondary is led by Sr. safety (and former CB) Jonathan Hefney, a kid with incredible speed and cover skills for a safety. At 5-9, 185, he’s small for an SEC safety. Opposite him is true freshman Eric Berry, a GA native whose father played at UT (and a kid we REALLY wanted last year but really never had a shot). Berry has a 96-yd INT return for a TD this season and, like Hefney, provides incredible athleticism and cover skills. He’s young though and is still learning. Another true freshman will be joining Berry in the secondary at CB, where Brent Vinson will be making his first career start. Vinson has played at WR and CB this year. He’s got good size (6-2, 190) but is very green and didn’t play CB in a game until late in their 3rd game. The fact that he’s starting is as much a testament to the other options as it is to his abilities. Smallish So. CB Marsalous Johnson rounds out the starters. Hefney is the best player in this secondary by far. His 20 tackles are 3rd on the team and he’s proven he’s a capable player for 4 years now. The rest of this group is more than a little suspect at this point although ultimately this will be a VERY talented goup.

Bottom Line: UT has struggled mightily this year. They’ve given up yardage and points to everyone they’ve played. They’ve been an equal opportunity defense, giving up yards on the ground and through the air. With our developing ground game, look for us to make them stop us running the ball on 1st and 2nd downs as we try to build a lead. The recent success of the running game will make the play action passing more effective, but we’ll need that young OL to protect (something they did with flying colors in their first road test). Much like Bama, UT doesn’t have the DL to really scare you in terms of QB pressure. Unlike Bama, UT is incredibly young in the secondary, so I think our veteran receivers should find some space back there for Stafford to throw to.

Key matchup to watch when we have the ball: Watch Southerland. He had a phenomenal game last week, leading on several of those tosses and stretch plays and just sealing the edge for Brown and Moreno to pop through, often to incredible success. Richt made the statement that our OL didn’t play well enough to merit 300+ yards rushing on their blocking along. Southerland and our TE combo (Chandler and the man-child Figgins) will play key roles in keeping the LBs off our RBs. Also, Southerland made only his 3rd catch of the year last week. He’s been asked to block more this season, but don’t forget how dangerous that guy is in the flats out of the backfield. Our FBs have always played well in Knoxville, from Verron Haynes to Jeremy Thomas to Southerland himself two years ago.

The UT Game Overall

Don’t underestimate the importance of this game being the 2nd road trip for our young team. They were able to go into a raucous Tuscaloosa and walk out with a win. That makes going to Knoxville a little more bearable. This is a football team that will get better and better as the year goes on, especially at the OL (if they can stay healthy). Being able to go through the noise and general mania that accompanies an SEC road game is invaluable from an experience standpoint.

I fully expect both teams to move the ball. UT has a solid offense, led by a veteran QB. They’ve also had a week off to scheme for this. I would expect us to give up yardage and make Ainge drive the field against us. Their running game hasn’t been as effective as in years past, but they might go to it in an attempt to keep our offense off the field. As big a blowout as last year’s game was, we only punted one time…granted we turned the ball over a couple of times, but we scored a lot. We have a much more dynamic offense this time around and UT’s defense is considerably weaker. Last year’s debacle wasn’t a defensive meltdown, at least not completely; the offense put them in a horrible position time and time again. Numerous 2nd half turnovers and special teams miscues saw us turn a 10-pt halftime lead into an 18-pt loss. 4 2nd half turnovers will generally kill anyone’s lead. We have to continue to protect the ball. It’s something we’ve generally been able to do this year. We haven’t created a ton of turnovers and if we can somehow pull in a few of those, it would greatly improve our chances.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Richt’s stellar record on the road as a head coach. That record includes a sporty little 3-0 mark in Knoxville. He’ll have the team ready to play. He always manages to do it.

Lastly, I think it’s incredibly important to remember the number of big special teams plays that have marked this rivalry in recent years. Damien Gary’s punt return for a TD in 2001, Thomas Flowers’ return for a TD in 2005…heck, even in last year’s loss we had a kickoff return for a TD from Brown and a punt return for a TD from Henderson. This is odd considering UT’s legacy of great punters. They are currently 91st nationally in net punting (10th in the SEC). I know they’ve already given up one punt return for a TD this year (Jackson for Cal had that nasty run), don’t be surprised to see another one this Saturday, there’s certainly a precedent for it and Mikey’s due for a long one.