Arm yourself with the following talking points for that early morning office conversation:
- UT kicker James Wilhoit and running back LaMarcus Coker have earned SEC player of the week honors.
- The Tennessean had a great feature on receiver Robert Meachem yesterday that included Meachem recounting a conversation with former Vol Cedrick Wilson:
He said, "I hope you guys don't think you're good. You guys better get humble, because you got your coach fired." We took it on ourselves -- me, Bret, and Jayson -- that we did get Coach Washington fired, because we didn't make the plays that we needed to make.
- Coach Fulmer is hopeful that injured Arron Sears, Anthony Parker, and Michael Frogg will be ready to go against Georgia Saturday. Arian Foster is 97.6% ready.
- College Football News has its SEC Fearless Predictions up. CFN is picking the Vols to beat the Dawgs 19-16, saying that it will be a defensive struggle early, but that Tennessee will connect on a couple of big plays.
- A quick survey of the headlines about this weekend's matchup with Georgia will lead to the conclusion that a resurgent Tennessee team is heading down to Athens to spank the woeful Dawgs. I'm with Corn from a Jar, who has a headline of his own: Vols tabbed to bring hellfire, brimstone to Athens; CFAJ not buying it.
- Don't expect the Vol offense to roll against Georgia this Saturday like it's rolled so far this season. Do expect to see something more like what we saw against Florida. The key difference appears to be that Florida is a bit stronger in the middle at defensive tackle, while Georgia is stronger and faster on the ends. Neither is shabby at either, though, so Tennessee's offensive line is in for a challenge Saturday.
- Don't forget Mark Richt's history of developing excellent quarterbacks.
- Oh, and Georgia has an edge in punt and kick returns.
- And finally, the Vols are not the underdogs this time, and if you've been following Volunteer football for the past several years, that sounds like a good thing, but it's not.
- Still, Georgia does have three new starters in its secondary, and if the offensive line can hold its own against Georgia's big, strong, and fast defensive line, Erik Ainge and his 5th-ranked passing efficiency of 179.9 should have a chance to exploit the inexperience. That's the key to the game, if you ask me.