Playoff football arrived early in the Southeastern Conference where two losses became the new cutoff line for the 12-team College Football Playoff.
No. 12 Georgia enters uncharted territory and leans into head coach Kirby Smart’s history of avoiding consecutive losses with No. 7 Tennessee coming to Athens, Ga., on Saturday night for what amounts to a playoff elimination game.
Georgia (7-2, 5-2 SEC) is coming off a 28-10 loss at then-No. 16 Ole Miss. The Bulldogs fell to a non-Alabama team for the first time since 2020, which was also the last time the Bulldogs had two losses in a season.
Looking to avoid a second straight defeat for the first time since Smart’s debut season in 2016, Georgia’s current ranking places it outside of the 12-team playoff bracket. That’s because No. 13 Boise State would be the 12th team in the field as it stands as the fifth-best conference champion.
Winning the final three games on the schedule likely would be enough for Georgia to fit into the field of 12. The Bulldogs fell nine spots in Tuesday’s CFP rankings and at No. 12, hold the lowest ranking entering a game since they were No. 13 in November 2020.
The Volunteers (8-1, 5-1) enter on a conference-best, four-game game winning streak and beat common opponent Alabama, 24-17. The Crimson Tide outlasted Georgia 41-34 on Sept. 28.
Georgia hasn’t lost to Tennessee since 2016. Volunteers’ quarterback Josh Dobbs connected on a 43-yard Hail Mary as time expired for a 34-31 shocker.
The Volunteers hope to have the services of quarterback Nico Iamaleava, who sustained a concussion and missed the second half of Saturday’s 33-14 victory against Mississippi State.
Iamaleava remained in concussion protocol on Thursday and is listed as questionable for the contest.
Earlier in the week, Volunteers head coach Josh Heupel was confident that the sophomore will be good to go.
“I feel like he’ll be in great shape for Saturday. … I certainly feel like he’ll be in a good spot,” Heupel said.
Georgia will be without leading rusher Trevor Etienne due to his rib injury. He has rushed for 477 yards and seven touchdowns.
Freshman Nate Frazier will be the main ball carrier against the Volunteers. He is second on the team with 333 rushing yards and has scored three touchdowns on the ground.
If the Bulldogs are going to beat Tennessee for an eighth straight time, they’ll need more from quarterback Carson Beck.
After a 24-touchdown, six-interception season in 2023, Beck entered this season among the preseason Heisman Trophy favorites, but the fifth-year senior’s campaign has left much to be desired.
In Saturday’s loss at Ole Miss, Beck threw for 186 yards and an interception while fumbling twice. Beck is now tied with an FBS-most 12 picks this season, including nine in his past four games. Despite the underwhelming numbers, Smart won’t entertain the idea of making a change under center.
“Absolutely not,” Smart said. “We’ve got the quarterback we’ve got who is completely competent, capable and understanding of our system that gives us the best chance to win.”
Georgia’s 10 points represent its lowest output since Week 1 of 2021, when the Bulldogs beat Clemson 10-3. Smart knows his offense will have to step up against a Tennessee defense that allows just 12.6 points per game — fifth fewest in the country.
“(Tennessee) is playing defense at an extremely high level,” Smart said. “They get after people with four guys rushing. They platoon a lot of guys. They’ve got elite rushers on the edge, which we all know about, but nobody talks about how hard they play internally.”
The Volunteers’ defense has yet to allow 20 points in a game, its most coming in its only loss, a 19-14 defeat at Arkansas on Oct. 5.
Since that upset, Tennessee has smothered opposing offenses, most recently holding Mississippi State to 271 total yards. Offensively, Iamaleava threw for 174 yards and two touchdowns before exiting in the second quarter.
With Tennessee eyeing its first CFP appearance, Heupel understands his team will have to earn a season-defining win.
“Obviously getting ready to go play a great opponent,” Heupel added. “You look at them really in every phase of the football game, extremely talented, coached extremely well. They play hard. They play fundamentally sound. They make you earn it in every way. … In these games, you’ve got to do ordinary things at a really high level consistently. For us, that means you’ve got to prepare at an elite level. You’ve got to practice really well and put yourself in a position to go play good football.”
Georgia beat Tennessee 38-10 last season, and leads the all-time series record 28-23-2.
