KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee heads to Georgia looking for its Big Orange defense to put the squeeze on Carson Beck between the hedges.
Coach Josh Heupel, in his fourth season leading the No. 6-ranked Vols, has his most capable defense yet.
The Vols have yet to allow an opponent to score 20 or more points this season with only one (Kentucky) managing a first-quarter touchdown.
Kirby Smart and his No. 11-ranked Bulldogs will look to change that trend with the experienced Beck under center at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Heupel knows that Beck, 20-3 as UGA’s starting quarterback, has been picked off 12 times in Georgia’s last six games.
But the Tennessee head coach, once a national championship quarterback and Heisman Trophy runner-up while playing at Oklahoma, knows there’s more to UGA’s pass game struggles than Beck.
“Playing quarterback, man, sometimes what people see isn’t just the quarterback play,” Heupel said on Monday. “It takes all 11 playing together. He’s a really good football player.”
To Heupel’s point, injuries have led Georgia to start three different offensive line combinations in the past four games.
To boot, the Bulldogs have had more than their share of dropped passes in recent games, many of them stemming drives or negating what would have been first downs.
Heupel, who watched Beck go 24-of-30 passing for 298 yards and 3 touchdowns in Georgia’s 38-10 victory over the Vols in Knoxville last season, firmly believes in the Georgia quarterback’s importance and ability.
“He’s an extremely talented quarterback that’s played extremely well throughout the course of the season,” Heupel said. “He’s the key that turns the ignition for them on the offensive side of the football.”
Smart praised Beck’s performances in two of the last three games, at Texas (30-15 win) and at Ole Miss (28-10 loss).
But Tennessee, with its defensive balance, presents one of the biggest challenges of the season.
The Vols have allowed only six plays of 30-plus yards (second in the nation to Texas, five).
Tennessee is also among national leaders in other key defensive categories:
• Total defense, 5th (271 yards per game
• Scoring defense, 5th (12.6 points per game)
• Yards-per-play allowed, 3rd, (4.23)
• Rushing defense, 9th (100.0)
• Tackles-for-loss, 7th (7.9 per game)
• Red Zone defense, 5th (66.7 percent)
• First downs allowed, 9th (146)
As Heupel noted, it will be up to Beck to provide the offense spark needed for his Georgia offense to prevail and remain in standing to make the College Football Playoffs.
The Bulldogs bring a 28-game home win streak — the longest active streak in collegiate football — into the action.