Photos: Tennessee Athletics
Welcome back to Game of Inches. One thing. That is the deal.
Furman was about whether Faizon Brandon looked like he belonged. He did. Georgia Tech is not that test. This one is about the people who have to keep him from playing on the run.
The one thing Saturday is the run game. Both of them.
Georgia Tech just lost at home to Colorado 14-13 and did not score an offensive touchdown. Brent Key’s whole program is supposed to be Justice Haynes, Malachi Hosley, and a slow, physical night. That is how an 0-1 team steals a ranked win in Atlanta. They do not outscore Tennessee. They sit on the football until Faizon Brandon has to be perfect.
Tennessee’s answer is the front that just wrecked Furman. Xavier Gilliam lived in the backfield. Tyree Weathersby started the night with a sack. They did not need exotic blitzes. If that same group stuffs Haynes and Hosley on first down, Tech is in third and long with Alberto Mendoza. That is when Jim Knowles can hunt. That is when Brandon gets the ball back and this offense can breathe.
If Tech starts winning those downs, Tennessee’s offense feels it next. The clock dies. The tackles have to pass set all night. Ory Williams graded last on the offense against an FCS rusher. David Sanders was average. You already saw what happens when the tackles lose. Brandon becomes a runner because he has to, not because the play is designed that way.
That is the look that makes Vols fans start yelling at the TV before the first quarter is over. Nobody wants another night where the skill guys are trying to save a line that cannot move anybody.
So here is the inch. First down. Tech hands it to Haynes. Does Gilliam and the interior win or does the clock start eating. Win that snap enough times and Saturday looks like Tennessee. Matthews gets a shot. Brandon gets to play quarterback. Lose it and you are talking about a potential upset.
Heupel’s bad nights have not all looked the same. Arkansas 2024 was this game. Ugly. Nineteen to fourteen. Offense never found the air. South Carolina 2022 was the opposite, a track meet they lost. Tech is built for the Arkansas version. That is why this is the one thing.
Watch the trenches. Everything else is noise until somebody wins down there.