Kirby Smart’s tough sell: Georgia faces difficult challenge in Tennessee Volunteers

One of Kirby Smart’s toughest jobs this week will be selling his Georgia football players on the difficult task that awaits them on Saturday when they travel to Knoxville to play Tennessee.

The Volunteers are going through a very tough patch. They’re off to a 1-3 start, which famously includes a loss to Georgia State in the season opener at Neyland Stadium. Tennessee doesn’t score many points (26.0, 13th in the SEC) and has trouble stopping people (25.3 points, 10th in the SEC).

So Smart is selling the intangibles to his players, many of them members of the team that hammered the Vols 38-12 in 2018 and 41-0 in Knoxville in 2017.

“I think Jeremy (Pruitt, Tennessee coach) is going a great job with the situation he’s in,” Smart said. “I certainly know this, they play hard, they play physical. Look at last year’s game with us, they fought extremely hard, made it a game there in the second half.”

The Vols were hammered by No. 9 Florida 34-3 in their last game and now have the task of slowing down the Georgia offense, which averages 508.8 yards of total offense and 42.8 points. The Bulldogs are No. 3 in the SEC in scoring offense (42.8 points) and second in scoring defense (10 points).

“You look at the games they’ve played this year, they’ve had some self-inflicted wounds,” Smart said. “Otherwise, they’re winning or in those games. You know the way they’re coaching and the way they’re demanding, they’ve got a good staff. They’re going to push these kids and they’re getting them better.”

The Vols are certainly familiar with the Georgia program. Pruitt was defensive coordinator at Georgia from 2014-15 and offensive coordinator Jim Chaney served the same role at Georgia from 2016-18. Tennessee assistants Kevin Sherrer, Tracy Rocker, Will Friend and Brian Nidermeyer all spent time on the staff at Georgia.

“There’s no secrets,” Smart said. “I mean, we know what they do, they know what we do. But that’s the case every week. That’s what the tape is for, so there’s a lot of familiarity there. At the end of the day, the players have to go out and execute. They have to play with a passion and energy and enthusiasm to beat the guy across from him.”

The Georgia defense poses a large problem for Tennessee. The Bulldogs have given up only 40 points and have yet to allow a rushing touchdown. Georgia surrendered only 46 yards rushing in its 23-17 win over Notre Dame. The unit also has 12 sacks, half of its total from 2018. Although the Bulldogs didn’t notch a sack against the Irish, they were credited with 13 hurries.

Linebacker Tae Crowder said the Bulldogs worked hard during their off week and are prepared to resume their quest for another shot at the SEC Championship.

“We really didn’t want to get complacent and wanted to focus on us a little,” Crowder said. “We worked on small, fundamental things like footwork, staying disciplined and sticking to the keys.”

Injury reportDefensive back Eric Stokes was unable to practice on Monday and is questionable. Defensive back Tyson Campbell is limited but Smart said, “hoping to get him back before the end of the week.” Offensive guard Solomon Kindley is waiting to be cleared to play. Wide receiver Kearis Jackson has been cleared and will play on Saturday.

Get the latest sports headlines delivered to your inbox every morning. Sign up at this link:

https://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/users/admin/mailinglist/