Tennessee defensive coordinator John Chavis is giving his unit the "Shock Treatment" this week.

Chavis is making sure preparations for Georgia quarterback D.J. Shockley are focused and intense, with good reason.

Shockley has quarterbacked the Bulldogs to the top total offense ranking in the SEC (468.2 yards per game) with his scrambling and accurate passing ability this season.

Chavis indicated Shockley is the most-dangerous quarterback the Vols will have faced to this point for a number of reasons.

"He's playing very, very well in (Georgia coach) Mark Richt's system,'' Chavis said. "But it's not just him; it's the players around him in the Georgia offense. He's doing a great job using that talent around him.

"We're going to have to play real well to stay on the field with them.''

The fifth-ranked Bulldogs face off against the eighth-ranked Vols at 3:30 p.m. Saturday in a game with SEC East title implications.

Tennessee held Georgia's offense in check last season en route to a 19-14 win in Athens, but that was with Bulldogs' senior David Greene under center most of the game.

While the immobile Greene struggled throughout a 15-of-34, 163-yard passing performance, Shockley sparked Georgia, completing 4 of 6 passes for 46 yards in his limited playing time. Shockley marched Georgia 63 yards on seven plays and threw the Bulldogs' only TD pass.

This season, with the Georgia offense tailored around his skills, Shockley is off to a roaring start. He leads the SEC with a 163.8 pass efficiency and has completed 59.8-percent of his passes with eight touchdowns and two interceptions.

Shockley has been sacked only four times for minus-16 yards, and he has a net total of 151 yards rushing. That spells double trouble for defenses caught playing man-to-man coverage with their backs to the line of scrimmage.

Vols' cornerback Jason Allen pointed out that UT's defense is no stranger to mobile quarterbacks, having faced UAB's Darrell Hackney, LSU's JaMarcus Russell and Ole Miss' Michael Spurlock.

Still, Allen said, Shockley presents another challenge.

"We know what he's capable of doing,'' Allen said. "He can throw the ball deep or scramble. He's not as big as Hackney, but he's got the capability to do all the same things.''

Hackney riddled the UT secondary by completing 27 of 38 passes for 282 yards with a TD and an interception in the Vols' season-opening 17-10 win over the Blazers. Hackney also broke off a 16-yard run.

And Hackney did it with far less talent around him than Shockley is afforded.

Chavis said the key to keeping Shockley in check starts up front with the Vols' vaunted defensive line.

"The pressure we get up front could help a lot, because it allows us to blitz when we want to and not necessarily because we have to,'' Chavis said. "We'll definitely have our hands full.''