Hype video in reverse

This is a fun watch.

Highlights from Georgia’s big 42-20 win over Florida pic.twitter.com/jTUsxW0Mla

— Matt DeBary (@MattDeBary) November 1, 2022

Tuesday ticket exchange

I knew something slipped my mind yesterday.

Biggest home game of the year — if you’ve got tickets to sell or are looking for some to buy, state your needs in the comments.

My Week 9 Mumme Poll ballot

I (very) briefly questioned whether I should expand my votes this week.  Nah.

• Georgia
• Ohio State

Less than five minutes, obviously.

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Not so fast, pundit

Seth Emerson ($$) has an excellent rebuttal to the narrative Matt Hayes is pushing that I commented on yesterday.

Since that loss to LSU three years ago, Georgia has won a national championship on the strength of its own generationally great defense but with a pretty good offense supporting it. And as Tennessee comes to town with the highest-scoring offense in the country, Georgia’s best chance to win rests not with its defense but with its own high-scoring offense.

Trivia question: In games just against Power 5 opponents, which team has the highest-scoring offense in the SEC? That would be Georgia, which is also second nationally in yards per game, behind only Tennessee, and fourth nationally in yards per play, also one spot behind the Volunteers.

It’s stupid to frame Saturday’s meeting purely as a battle of offense versus defense, because Georgia has developed a very productive offense on its own, as Seth’s chart illustrates nicely.

What’s really ironic here is that Hayes is convinced the Vols are about to morph into the 2019 LSU offense — “Once Tennessee wins at Georgia — like LSU did at Alabama — the comparisons with 2019 LSU will come full force.” — when it was that offense that prompted Kirby Smart to rethink his coaching philosophy and led to the hiring of Todd Monken.

None of which is to stay the Vols aren’t going to be a formidable opponent this weekend.  But if,  say, Georgia wins in a shootout, and Hayes is surprised by the result, he’s only got himself to blame.

If you come at the kings, you’d best not miss.

Matt Hinton:

In Tennessee’s case, any lingering suspicions that its ascent is temporary keep vanishing by the week. The 44-6 whipping the Vols put on Kentucky on Saturday night was their most complete win of the season against a real opponent, lending fresh credibility to the defense in the process. AP voters were convinced, bumping them to No. 2 in the AP poll alongside Ohio State; with that, this weekend’s trip to Georgia is officially the fourth 1 vs. 2 matchup in a regular-season game this century. (The past 2: Massively hyped Alabama-LSU collisions in 2011 and 2019.) They’ve come so far, so fast in Heupel’s second season that even a loss in Athens wouldn’t necessarily doom their CFP chances, as long as it’s reasonably competitive. Everything about the Vols right now points to a team in it for the long haul.

The same cannot be said (yet) for LSU, still less than a month away from being humbled by Tennessee in Baton Rouge. In the meantime, though, the Tigers have looked like a different team in wins over Florida and Ole Miss, and still control their fate on all fronts with Alabama incoming. Bama has been relatively vulnerable in true road games the past 2 years – emphasis on relatively – and the energy in Tiger Stadium will be at a pitch on Saturday night it hasn’t reached since the 2019 title run.

So, what do you think the story for both upstarts will be when the dust settles Saturday night?

D, JD.

Not the news I wanted to hear.

BREAKING: Nolan Smith appears to hav a torn pectoral, likely to miss the rest of the seasonhttps://t.co/wah61PTx8l

— UGASports.com (@UGASportscom) November 1, 2022

I hate it for the team, but I hate it for him even more.  He came back to contribute for another season and that season is now done.  Life ain’t fair sometimes.

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UPDATE: Ouch.

Georgia is going to miss pass-rusher Nolan Smith.

Smith was second in the SEC in pressure rate generated on traditional dropbacks. pic.twitter.com/NMnRAImvdJ

— CFB Film Room (@CFBFilmRoom) November 1, 2022

Observation from Earth 2

A rather astounding assertion from Nicole Auerbach ($$):

… It’s been a season that should remind us why we love the sport — and it has been helped by an apparent drop in nationwide hyper-focus on the College Football Playoff picture.

Compared to what?

In the SEC, consistency just means more.

This is a pretty remarkable stat.

If Texas A&M finishes 2022 with a losing record that would be the 12th SEC progrum with at least one losing overall record over the last four seasons. The only exceptions: Alabama and Georgia. pic.twitter.com/uoii5flgHx

— Larry Williams (@LarryWilliamsTI) November 1, 2022

Staying on top ain’t easy.

Gators and Vols, living together

So, it’s come to this.

Stetson Bennet IV is one of the worst quarterbacks in the SEC. He is a beneficiary of Georgia's surrounding talent. You put him in any team not named Bama, and they would struggle to even go 0.500…

Stetson Bennet IV will be the reason why Tennessee stomps Georgia in Athens.

— GatorConsul (@GatorConsul) October 31, 2022

Florida fans living vicariously through Tennessee.  What a time to be alive!

(h/t)