Georgia football vs. Tennessee Tech: Score prediction, scouting report
The first Georgia football gameday in Athens arrives Saturday.
It’s one of six chances this season for fans to catch the No. 1 Bulldogs between the hedges.
Georgia is coming off its 34-3 thumping of a top 15 Clemson team.
So FCS school Tennessee Tech (0-1) could be in for a very long day.
It’s the kind of game that had coach Kirby Smart being asked if he’s peeked ahead to next week and Kentucky.
“Yeah. I don’t have time,” he said. “What I do do is look at all the third-and-one and fourth-and-one plays in our conference, all the explosive plays in our conference, and the tape was extremely long this time, considering there’s 60 and 70-point games out there.”
Those games came from other SEC vs. FCS matchups.
Some scores: Arkansas 70, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 0.
Auburn 73, Alabama A&M 3
Ole Miss 76, Furman 0.
Tennessee 69, Chattanooga 3.
“If I was being honest, I’d tell you I’m not thrilled to be heading to Athens, Georgia this weekend,” Tennessee Tech first-year coach Bobby Wilder said, “so I’ll be dishonest and say I’m very excited to be playing a game in Sanford Stadium in front of 93,000.”
Why Georgia will beat Tennessee Tech
These programs are worlds apart when it comes to resources and talent.
Tennessee Tech is coming off a 4-7 season, but rallied to to take the lead over Middle Tennessee before falling in a 32-25 loss.
Georgia held Clemson to just a field goal and outgained the Tigers 447 to 188 in their opening victory in Atlanta.
“There are so many things that we've got to do better,” Smart said. “There's just a lot there that we want to improve on, and some of what you're doing is dictated by who you play. People just think it's a stat game. It's not a stat game. It's who you're lining up across from and how good that football player is because that does dictate things, the matchups.”
Georgia’s smallest starting offensive lineman is 6-foot-3, 310-pound center Jared Wilson. Tennessee Tech has defensive linemen in its rotation who weigh 232 and 236 pounds and another who is listed at 5-foot-11 and 302.
Why Tennessee Tech will beat Georgia
Come on. Even Wilder would probably laugh at that scenario. The question really is why Tennessee Tech will make the game respectable. A 50-point loss could be respectable. Seriously.
The Golden Eagles showed fight last week after losing starting quarterback and Missouri transfer Dylan Laible to a right arm injury. Sophomore Jordyn Potts, who started six games last season, came in and completed 27 of 38 passes for 256 yards and 3 touchdowns in the opener, gets the start.
If Georgia comes out lacking focus and starts turning the ball over, Tennessee Tech could at least keep it close for a while against a team unlike any other on its schedule.
“I’ve been doing this for 31 years so I feel like I have knowledge of what I’m talking about, this is the best football team in the country,” Wilder said. “They’re not only sound in every area, they’re excellent. In my opinion, Kirby Smart is the best coach in college football.”
Georgia score prediction vs. Tennessee Tech
Georgia 70, Tennessee Tech 3
Given the scores around the SEC last week, I gave Georgia another touchdown to my prediction from a week ago. One theory about all that scoring is that maybe it's the byproduct of helmet communication. Georgia will turn to its backups in the second half. Since this is Georgia, they won't back off their intensity.
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: A look at UGA football vs. Tennessee Tech: Scouting report, prediction
