Photo from Google Images
It was four years ago this past week when Josh Dobbs showed the world of college football it only takes four seconds to teach a dog to sit. The extreme level of mixed emotions between both fans bases was the definition of a bipolar sports fan. Because it never gets old as a Tennessee fan, let’s relive it:
With 14 seconds left in the game, Georgia scores a touchdown and takes a 28-31 lead.
With four seconds left in the game, Tennessee QB, Josh Dobbs launched the perfect
Hail Mary from the 43-yard line to Jauan Jennings (who was surrounded by six Bulldogs) and it was touchdown Tennessee! Vols win in Athens 34-31!
I still get chills watching the replay. (You can see it below)
The ultimate roller coaster of emotions. @Vol_Football's miraculous victory over Georgia in 2016 was one for the ages. pic.twitter.com/a4h5sSmgtT
— CBS Sports College Football 🏈 (@CBSSportsCFB) October 9, 2020
Another key point, Tennessee currently holds the longest win streak in college football with eight games. (Crazy, I know!) This will be Tennessee Head Coach, Jeremy Pruitt’s fourth year facing the Dawgs and the past three scores have been absolute embarrassments to the Vols. Georgia has outscored Tennessee 122-26. The difference this year is that Tennessee is back to being ranked unlike the past three years.
Is Football back at the University of Tennessee? Saturday’s game will be the biggest measure of growth for Pruitt and the Vols. A win for Tennessee will be their ability to keep it close. (Unless they can blow out Georgia between the hedges, but I wouldn’t bet on that.) If Tennessee can’t win, then they can’t take a huge ass whopping. They have to show that they CAN compete.
The SEC coaching incest (figuratively not literally) is definitely a Southern thing and usually all career paths stem back to Nick Saban and doubled salaries. Pruitt and Georgia’s Kirby Smart both have roots to Saban and Georgia. Tennessee offensive coordinator, Jim Chaney, has called plays for both Smart and is now back at Tennessee under Pruitt. Offensive lineman, Cade Mays, left Georgia to become a Vol and you can spend hours reading about the drama to get Cade on the field this Saturday. In other words, the relationships on and off the field are somewhere between ‘bless your heart’ and ‘sleep with one eye open’.
Georgia has been ranked in the top 10 for 50 straight weeks and they have won the last three SEC East Championships. A win for Tennessee would rank the Vols in the top 10 for the first time since 2016.
Can Tennessee QB Jarrett Guarantano beat a ranked team? Can he be the leader on the field? How will he perform when facing the best defensively sound team? In areas where both teams can compete; who will win the run game and who will win at the line of scrimmage? We will find out! It’s a top 15 matchup on Saturday at 3:30 on CBS #14 Tennessee vs. #3 Georgia in Athens between the hedges.
Go VOLS!
(Mom, “hedges” refers to Georgia’s Sanford Stadium. The hedges are iconic for its landscaping of perfectly trimmed bushes that surrounds the field.)