What to watch for from Tennessee against Georgia Tech
· Yahoo Sports
Tennessee is set to hit the road for their first game away from Neyland Stadium in the 2026 season. The Volunteers will travel down to Bobby Dodd Stadium to take on Georgia Tech, who will be looking to pick things back up after dropping their opener to Colorado.
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Things certainly look like they’ve tilted in Tennessee’s favor here, but will week two prove to be different? That’s the question we’re all curious to answer. Here’s what we’ll be watching for on Saturday night.
Faizon Brandon on the road
Brandon passed the first test with flying colors, giving you a glimpse of why he won the starting gig as a true freshman. Now things get real. The competition ticks up with Georgia Tech, and Brandon will get his first test of a road environment — although you may see about a 40 percent Tennessee crowd come Friday night. Regardless, it’s an important step for Tennessee’s true freshman quarterback, who dazzled both through the air and on the ground last week against Furman.
Faizon has this one and a home game against Kennesaw State before getting a shot against Texas at the end of the month.
Offensive line shuffle
We got a curveball last week with the Sam Pendleton suspension, forcing Nic Moore into action at center. The communication was clearly lacking early on, although the Vols eventually figured it out. With Pendleton back, particularly playing on the road, Tennessee should get a big boost there.
The question comes at right tackle, where it seems like Jesse Perry will get the go over Ory Williams. That would shift in veteran Sham Umarov at a guard spot, although all three of those guys will play regardless.
Tennessee needs a solid start against this team on Saturday night after Brent Key lit up his team to the media earlier this week. The Yellow Jackets could come out fired up with everything on the line and their backs against the wall — getting this offensive line rolling and controlling the line of scrimmage would be big for Tennessee to jump out and never look back.
Run defense
Tennessee’s run defense (all of the defense, really) was terrible under Tim Banks a season ago. We know Brent Key prides himself on his offensive line play, and what he saw last week was unacceptable to him. Key will want to get Justice Haynes and the rest of his backfield rolling, going up against a Tennessee front that frankly we just don’t know a whole lot about just yet.
Tennessee appears to really have something in Xavier Gilliam. Tyree Weathersby flashed. Other key pieces like Daevin Hobbs, Nathan Robinson, Ethan Utley and Marion Dye will each have to step up against a team that’s going to try and pound it.
Potential weather
It looks like a stormy day in Atlanta, which certainly could complicate things on Saturday. Storms are supposed to roll in through the afternoon with rain potentially continuing into the night. That’s an obvious potential wrinkle for both teams and both quarterbacks with limited experience. It’s also another big reason for both sides to get their offensive lines rolling early on.
Both backfields are equipped to handle big workloads, but Tennessee should have the advantage after returning four starters up front from last year’s team. DeSean Bishop could be in for a big night, while Faizon Brandon will offer some new wrinkles with his big-time athleticism.
Tennessee is currently an 11.5 point road favorite. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.