ATHENS, Ga. — You might recognize this team.
It rarely mounted more than a trickle of a pass rush. Its defense missed tackles and got beat on long and short passes.
Its special teams gave up a 42-yard kickoff return. Its offense failed to convert on third-and-2 and fourth-and-2. One receiver dropped two passes.
Get my drift. The Georgia Bulldogs could have passed for the Tennessee Vols on Saturday afternoon at Sanford Stadium.
But you couldn’t tell it on the scoreboard, which read: Georgia 45, Ole Miss 17.
“The score absolutely didn’t tell what kind of game it was,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said. “The game was not on TV, so people will say we just whipped Ole Miss. That’s not the case at all.”
He was preaching to the choir, a media assemblage that was still trying to figure out how a 17-17 game late in the third quarter had become a 28-point mismatch.
Ole Miss had a huge say in the turnaround. It’s ranked last in the SEC in defense for a reason.
Georgia ravaged it for 328 yards rushing, including 50- and 41-yard touchdown runs by Thomas Brown. Although he’s only 5-foot-8, he presents a big challenge for UT as well next Saturday in Neyland Stadium.
Brown and fellow tailback Knowshon Moreno are short, quick running backs, who are strong for their size and have the ability to run through or fake defenders, as they demonstrated repeatedly against the Rebels. Remember the damage a similar running back, Cal’s Justin Forsett, inflicted on the Vols in the season opener?
But Georgia’s pass defense reminds you of something else. It reminds you of last year’s Georgia defense — the one that swooned in the second half of UT’s 51-33 victory.
The Rebels opened the game with an eight-play, 86-yard touchdown drive. They followed that with a 72-yard drive to the Georgia 1, only to turn the ball over when quarterback Seth Adams fumbled a snap on first down.
By then, the Rebels had established they could run or pass on the Bulldogs. In case anyone forgot during halftime, they opened the second half with an 18-play, 84-yard drive that took more than nine minutes and tied the game at 17-all.
“They might not have a good record (1-4), but they’ve got a good offense,” Georgia defensive coordinator Willie Martinez said of the Rebels. “Missouri couldn’t stop them. They played Florida tough. They’re good.”
After watching Ole Miss lose to Florida 30-24 and outplay the Bulldogs for almost three quarters, I’ll admit to underrating the Rebels’ talent. Why, these guys might even fool around and win an SEC game.
But Georgia’s defense, like Florida’s, lacks experience. It also lacks a couple of other elements that had been evident since Richt took over the program in 2001.
There’s no Charles Grant, David Pollack, Quentin Moses or Charles Johnson to rush the passer. Adams wasn’t sacked and was seldom hurried on his 35 pass attempts.
There’s also no hard-hitting safety like Sean Jones, Thomas Davis or Greg Blue to bruise receivers and running backs. There’s not even a Tra Battle, who hit way harder than a 175-pounder should.
Georgia starting strong safety Kelin Johnson missed most of the Ole Miss game after suffering a concussion in the first quarter. Georgia’s strong safeties are supposed to cause concussions, not get them.
Given the success Adams had against Georgia (24-for-35 for 228 yards), you should expect UT quarterback Erik Ainge to pick up where he left off last season against the Bulldogs.
And given the way UT has tackled this season, you also should expect Brown and Moreno to pick up where they left off Saturday afternoon.
Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knews.com.
© 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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Comments » 65
nicksjuzunk#646117 writes:
Georgia is a paper tiger. So is Alabama.
Tennessee's defense will step up to the plate. Ainge will throw like he's playing against small children.
Tennessee puts up big points and wins comfortably.
Let's get it on!!!!
utmdm writes:
I agree they are not as improbably Vol wins as many of the flamers on the site suggest.
Per Rivals we have one commit in the top 150 and one commit on the JUCO top 50. Although we are fairly high on several of the JUCOs.
Question is - how much do we need players with 2 years left? Can they learn our system before their elibibility runs out? I am tired of hearing that about our HS recruits?
utmdm writes:
On the FL Aub game they gave the graphic of 66% of the 2 deep for FL are Fresh/Sophs. What is ours?
footballrules writes:
Georgia will hammer Tenneessee!!! Just like Flordia did!! Fire Fulmer!
utmdm writes:
If Tenn continues to tackle as they have you are right. We can only hope the lightbulbs as to wrapping up will flip on.
CrankE writes:
I wonder what we'll all be saying this time next week if UT beats UGA, and UF is on a two game losing skid?
nicksjuzunk#646117 writes:
CrankE: Right on!! If Auburn holds out... 17-3 now, LSU should beat FL and then the East gets reaaaaal interesting. We can still win this thing yet!! Get back on the wagon boys before you get left behind!!
If... Auburn holds on.
bruteforce7#630403 writes:
O my goodness did we just see what happend to Te bow and co. Wow we could be right back in the driver seat because Florida looses agian to LSU. I put my fat paycheck on that one. Lets go vols and take care of them dogs. The Eagle is soaring high above superman tonight. Congrats to the Auburn Tigers.
yeavols#228407 writes:
FLORIDA 17 AUBURN 20 FINAL...At least we won't get any more Gators in here..Pretty sad when you have to root for another team instead of the merits of your own.
chadbuckles#235104 writes:
Speaking of Focus!!! WE MUST have faith in our team...Everybody!!! We along with everyone else are breathing life again.
bruteforce7#630403 writes:
chadbuckles
Right on man!!!
UTFAN1993 writes:
UF should fall in the rankings to at least 10, since they lost to a non top 25 team, right?Kentucky may move to #10
Ralph_Crampton writes:
The Gators were reduced to just a so-so team..poor defense against the run and pass...does anyone out there agree with me> Sure they have good material...but their defense left something to be desired.
Ralph_Crampton writes:
Guys if the Vols had more quickness we could right in the mix..but I don't know how you can coach speed.. on offense and especially defense..
bruteforce7#630403 writes:
bigfan502
Yeah I agree with ya. They had great calls in that game that should have won them the game and they still couldn't muster it up. I think they are very average and our D made them look great.GO VOLS
UTFAN1993 writes:
Cal will be # 3 now.
vol4good#206163 writes:
Wow, the football does turn. TN could be in the catbirds seat with a win over GA. I never would have thunk it after the way TN played at Fl. So is AU that good or is South Florida really "that" good. How can a team that hasnt had a top 20 recruiting class, compete with the likes of AU and W. Va? Mabye coaching and motivation does count for something!
AKVOL writes:
Wait! Florida has lost two in row to Auburn and tonight, they were two TD favorites. Time to fire Urban Meyer and his staff.
utmdm writes:
Yep UMs gotta go. Running the program.
UTFAN1993 writes:
Looks like it's time to fire at least 10 coaches in the top 25.They didn't win all of their games this year. Time to go!!
tnmantravel#531151 writes:
vols defense looses this saturday's game vs uga..... can't stop the run....another hershel will appear.... can't out coach richt
chadbuckles#235104 writes:
Yep, fire everyone, looks like Phil has his job pretty safe considering he didn't loose this weekend, nor did he loose to teams that were unranked??? As did everyone else!
Thank you AU.
I love Gods humor when he makes people eat crowe. Dang, I wish we had Stoops as our coach. Its his fault that his punt returner dropped that ball. Fire Him!
utmdm writes:
Big Fan, How much is lack of quickness and how much is lack of confidence? The commentators mentioned how Auburn's defenders did not breakdown early, but used their speed to run straight through to the tackle to counter FLs speed.
GA is doable. We may not win them all, but we have a good at shot at all (esp after seeing all that has happened today) if we hold down the mistakes. GO VOLS!
UTFAN1993 writes:
I haven't heard anybody call for SABAN'S head yet, for loosing this weekend. Fire him too. You should be able to win ALL of your games when you get paid $4. million.
utmdm writes:
Saban has to go and he should refund at least half the $ as he broke his contract by not winning them all.
utmdm writes:
And Weis should refund at least half of last years $ since he has not won any this year. Obviously he was not earning his pay since the end of last season.
utnutt writes:
LETS NOT GET CARRIED AWAY WITH "IF WE BEAT GEORGIA WERE IN THE CATBIRD SEAT" REMEMBER KENTUCKY IS IN THE SEC EAST AND HAVE NOT BEEN BEATEN. I HATE TO THINK THAT RANDY SANDERS MIGHT ACTUALLY BEAT US THIS YEAR. WE HAVE SEVERAL GAMES TO PLAY. I JUST DONT THINK WE CAN BEAT EVERY SEC TEAM WE HAVE TO PLAY GA, SC, ARK, KY AND ALA. P.S. I TYPE IN CAPITAL LETTERS IM NOT SCREAMING AT YOU FOLKS.SORRY IF OFFENDED ANYONE.
footballrules writes:
kentucky will hammer tennessee
UTFAN1993 writes:
Anybody think that Carolina will take care of Kentucky on Thursday?
BigUn writes:
Seems what the Fulmer homers are missing out on in thinking they are cute saying if you want to fire Fulmer, then every coach that lost today should be fired too, is that Fulmer hasn't just lost one game. OU got upset by they didn't lose by 39 points!!! Neither did Texas, who's special teams looks like Fulmer flew to Austin this week to help "coach them up", nor did UF who lost by 3, but at least looked like they belonged on the field with whoever they were playing and not like they weren't outclassed and outcoached.
So keep drinking the Fulmer kool-aid sheep, then if we beat UGA you can come back here and tell us how great Fulmer is and how there are no problems that need to be fixed and how winning 8 games is great and stuff like that.
nicksjuzunk#646117 writes:
eVOLution: Let's not mention anything about LSU losing.
I think the Florida loss is just what TN needs to get fired up for next week. There is nothing like news like that when you think the championship is already gone!!
I am still waiting for everyone to start with the "Florida lost so they must not be that good. So we must be REALLY bad if they beat us like that!" Go ahead, I've got a week till game time to laugh.
After TN turns it on Georgia, I think it looks good. Kentucky, and I never thought I would say this, scares me the most. AL, and ARK are close. I think the rest are ours.
Since this is the year for upsets... does anyone want to jump on the "Extremely Optimistic Wagon" and call for a Vol victory over LSU in the SEC championship? It's lonely up here and I just passed a sign that said "Sanity, three miles back" but I want to enjoy the ride!!
bloodrunsorange writes:
We have the speed! The speed is starting to play! This week we will see some more of the real speed we have. If the speed continues to get better the East is not out of our grasp! QUIT IF YOU LIKE, BUT QUITTERS NEVER WIN! It doesn’t take any guts to complain and hide in a post. It does take some intestinal fortitude to give it your all until the fat lady sings. GO VOLS!
chefjorge writes:
Football is completely weird. Every single team, it seems has a loss in them. The inconsistency, while maddening, does give us Vol faithful a little hope. My wise old uncle claims it has a whole lot to do with the fact that kids are a lot less disciplined than they used to be. We've got a good schedule in front of us for making hay and impressing people. It's tough, but not ridiculous. Cal beat a seriously good team in Oregon. A team that went to the big house and embarrased a down Michigan team, but still....We were in the Cal game save a couple of plays. I live in Washington (the state) and was talking to a die-hard UW Husky fan that said that in 1988 people were calling for Coach Don James's head. They said that the game had passed him by. I've said the same thing about Fulmer, and while I am upset about the general performance over the last six years or so, I'm left wondering if getting rid of Phil is the right thing to do. Don James proceeded to dominate the Pac-10 and won a National Campionship in 1991 with one of the best teams ever fielded in college football. They split the National Championship with Miami that year, but would have taken the U to the woodshed if the two teams had played. Steve Emtman was one of the greatest college defensive linemen ever. They were absolutely dominant. Don James was building a dynasty that would have resembled USC's today were it not for getting into hot water with the NCAA over stupid stuff that was pretty overblown.
I do feel like a strong performance for the remainder of the season is crucial. We always beat Kentucky. They might beat us, but they're going to have to overcome demons to do it. We generally beat SC, Spurrier or no. We beat UGA between the hedges last year with authority, so we can beat them too. Oh yeah, there's the Tide too. Eff them. Their win against Arkansas was a fluke. They lost to the team we're going to beat next weekend. They can't lose enough for me. After that it's gravy. Think about it, 10 and 2 doesn't seem all that ridiculous.
firefulmer writes:
Georgia is very beatable, but our stupid coaches (even though they've had two weeks) will not have our players motivated or ready to play. It's probably safe to say that they have not improved at all. It will be the same old boring type of execution/performance!! Remember, the Vols get worse as the season progresses, so I will say that we struggle to score 20 points. Right now, TN is not a good football team.
imnotwithphil writes:
Our defense won't be able to stop their offense - and they will figure out a way to pressure Ainge. Final Score: Dawgs 45 Vols 30. Remember folks - Ole Miss was competitive against the hated Gators... we were not.
yeavols#228407 writes:
Do you really think for 1 minute we are going 10-2 after yesterday's losses? Sure, it would be nice and I would be the first to shut my mouth and apologize, but after 10 years of nothing..I just don't see it. I did have high hopes this year because it was either now or never. I guess it's Kentucky's moment to shine
firefulmer writes:
From what I have seen of Georgia, they don't look that great, BUT the Vols will make them look like National Title contenders. Stafford will look like a Heisman Trophy candidate, AND I am a 100% positive that our pathetic excuse for a coach will clap his hands after every Georgia touchdown.
waterskier3#226480 writes:
now we're a championship team again???????? because another team lost... this team is going to lose 2 more games because the issues are deeper than in the past..
how bad are we???
auburn beats fla, auburn has two losses at home
fla barely beats ole miss
fla puts up 60 on tn at home.......
now put down the kool-aid... reality check...
this is another reason to fire fulmer this is a prime year to win the east.. fla was going to down, ga is average and sc no offense, kent no defense... so we should be undefeated and primed for a run but we worse than everyone else...
vols76 writes:
To: TNGEOFF...I give you the stats to your question you explain it.....against rank teams since the Championship with week off before the game.....4 wins 6 losses....over all record after week off 9 wins 6 losses...4 of those loses went to Florida....our record since the Championship game against Georgia 3-5(all without a week off before the game)....
missrvrvol writes:
How are we "back in it"? Kentucky is still undefeated. Does someone else know something like we have improved our defense and special teams all of a sudden?
yeavols#228407 writes:
YA..like i said..it's sad when you have to fly on the coat tails of another team like Auburn defeating Florida instead of rooting for the merits of your own team. This is it FULMER FAITHFUL...The pressure is on..perform or shut up as I will do if you perform.
footballrules writes:
It seems like fulmer has payed alot of bloggers off on this website!! Buy hey I guess its fun loosing to Flordia every year, and now just about every team in the SEC East owns the Vols b/c they know whats coming, and wow it really helped getting cutcliff in here and throwing 5 yard hitch routes and still running up the centers you know what!! And of course Tennessee is going to play better off the bye, or quite possibly worse b/c the staff needs about 2 weeks to prepare for every opponent the vols face. No one over their can develop talent or can recongnize it if it slapped them upside the head. Look at what Auburn did to flordia opend gaping holes in the defense and ran the ball and threw it well. The vols should have had a field day in flordia but that just shows you how far behind the program is now, and what a good coaching staff can do...Auburn defense was scary fast...when is the last time a vol defense was even close to that fast???...And I know Auburn has lost some games this year but so did the vols before we went down to the swamp, but the coaching staff in place now will never be able to take it that far...they maxed out in 98 and got very lucky that year to go undefeated!! You should thank Matt Stoner or whatever his name was
for fumbling the football that year..and send him flowers every year, and if Flordia State would have had Chris Weinke starting that game we would have been toasted buy peter warrick...so get over fulmer he is just fooling you guys and it works every year!!! Sorry just wanted to bring vols fans back to reality!
Ironcity writes:
My fear is in two weeks our Defensive Coordinator will have twice as much time to screw up our defense. Our only hope is Georiga relies on their QB to beat us and we get a few picks. I understand that odds are even money in Vegas that UGA will have either a punt return, a kick return or a fumble/interception return for a TD.
asleep#212036 writes:
Here's the deal. The reason Florida lost is because you can never, never, never, never mail in a win in the SEC. Same reason Mississippi State beat Auburn on the plains and South Carolina beat Georgia in Athens. And by the way, ask Brandon Cox and Tommy Tuberville how well 5-yard hitch routes can work if you can keep the other team from scoring 59 points! Ainge is for real, it's the D that is horrible. I just don't know if we can score enough points to beat Georgia or Kentucky. The film doesn't lie - we just don't have the speed/experience in the secondary to handle a spread offense and we're not alone. Michigan, Texas, Nebraska, Penn State, and Florida State have all struggled with it and we, along with them, had better figure it out in a hurry because it is the offensive wave of the future. I do think if we don't win at least 9 games, Fulmer will resign. I just hope Hamilton and company will look outside Knoxville for the replacement. It took Alabama 3 decades to figure it out but things are looking better in T-town. Maybe we are smarter than that. Go Vols!!!
debaser11 writes:
Tennessee failed to get even one single vote in the AP this week!
abingdonvolsfan2 writes:
First of all I wanted to say that seeing Auburn beat Florida last night in the swamp was sweet redemption for all Tennessee fans! As for the Georgia game next weekend you might be right maybe Tennessee can pull off a victory but rest assured that we will loose at least three more games to either Kentucky, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi State, Arkansas, or Vandy! That being said the only reason I feel that Tennessee has a chance against Georgia is the fact that the Bull Dogs have played very inconsistent this season but if they decide to bring their "A" game the Vols are in trouble!
utnutt writes:
MAYBE SANDERS REALLY WASNT THE PROBLEM. MAYBE FULMER IS THE PROBLEM. HOW MANY YEARS IS IT GOING TO TAKE FOR THE AD TO FIGURE THIS OUT. OUR D HAS BEEN GOOD IN THE PAST AND THIS YEAR IT STINKS TWO YEARS AGO OUR D WAS GREAT AND OUR O STANK UP THE PLACE BAD. IF FULMER IS SUCH A GOOD RECRUITER THEN WHY DONT WE HAVE ONE GREAT RECEIVER LIKE SWAIN OR MEACHUM OR PRICE ECT. DONT WE RECRUIT RECEIVERS EVERY YEAR. THE ONLY GUY WE HAVE THAT HAS GREAT SPEED FULMER WONT PLAY. WHATS UP WITH THAT.ALSO YOU HAVE TO WIN YOUR BOWL GAMES THATS THE LAST CHANCE TO IMPRESS RECRUITS.FULMER HAS DONE HORRIBLE IN BOWL GAMES. DONT KID YOURSELF ANYONE COULD HAVE TAKEN THE 96,97AND 98 TEAM AND WON AT LEAST ONE CHAMPIONSHIP.
utnutt writes:
I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO KNOW HOW MANY SEC EAST CHAMPIONSHIPS A FULMER COACHED TEAM HAVE WON OUTRIGHT AND NOT HAD TO COME IN THE BACKDOOR BECAUSE SOMEONE LOST. HAS FULMER EVER BEEN ABLE TO WIN ONE WITHOUT HELP. I KNOW SOME OF YOU FOLKS ARE GOOD WITH FINDING INFO ON PAST SEASONS HELP ME OUT HERE PLEASE. I CANT EVER REMEMBER FULMER WINNING A DIVSION CHAMPIONSHIP WITHOUT HELP.
hglover40#234154 writes:
2002-2007
SEC rec avg/class champ/app champs
LSU 31-9 8.5 2 1
Auburn 31-9 13.8 1 1
GA 29-11 6.3 3 2
Florida 28-12 10.8 1 1
UT 26-14 10 1 0
Arkansas 21-19 26.3 2 0
BAMA 19-21 16.8 0 0
Looks like the only SEC coaches doing more with less(or at least less according to Rivals.com) are Tubberville and Nutt).
Mr_Brownstone writes:
auburn and ole miss exposed how bad ut really is. we have fallen. lets wake up and bring in a coach that can develop players.
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