FORECAST REWIND
The Eastern Division’s projected order of finish at SEC media days in July (first-place votes in parentheses):1. Georgia (166)2. Tennessee (36)3. Missouri (20)4. South Carolina (1)5. Florida (1)6. Kentucky (1)7. Vanderbilt (0)
ATHENS, Ga. - Once upon a time, Saturday's game between Georgia and Tennessee at Neyland Stadium was viewed as the biggest this season in the Southeastern Conference's Eastern Division race.
That was before Tennessee showed an inability to hold double-digit leads. That was before Alabama traveled to Sanford Stadium, and that was before Florida's rapid resurgence under first-year coach Jim McElwain.
Now Tennessee's Volunteers and the Bulldogs are simply trying to stay afloat in the East as each team reaches the midway mark of its regular-season schedule.
"It's a must win, and that's the kind of mindset we're going into this with," Georgia backup tailback Sony Michel said. "We're in better position than they are, and we kind of want to stay in that position. This game may be more important than last week because we still get to control our destiny."
The Bulldogs are in better shape by comparison, having opened league play with wins over Vanderbilt (31-14) and South Carolina (52-20) before getting soaked 38-10 last Saturday by the Crimson Tide. Never before had Alabama racked up such a mammoth victory over a top-10 foe at an opposing venue.
Georgia plummeted from No. 8 to No. 19 in the latest Associated Press poll and will be looking to avoid its worst conference start since opening SEC play with losses to South Carolina, Arkansas and Mississippi State in 2010, when star receiver A.J. Green was sitting out a four-game NCAA suspension.
"The good news is that it only counted as one loss," Bulldogs coach Mark Richt said of the Alabama devastation. "That was enough of a game where it could have counted as two, so that's good. When you get beat that way, it certainly gets everybody's attention. I think any loss does. Sometimes if you lose a game at the last second, that may be more gut-wrenching than just getting whipped.
"Sometimes you get whipped, and we got whipped. You make the corrections that need to be made, forget about it and move on."
Tennessee has yet to get whipped in this season of promise but has been its own worst enemy, having lost a 17-0 lead to Oklahoma, a 27-14 lead to Florida and a 14-0 lead to Arkansas. The Vols are among six Bowl Subdivision teams to lead every game this season by at least 13 points, but they are 2-3 while the other five are a combined 20-0.
Ranked No. 25 before the season and No. 23 before losing to Oklahoma, the Vols are looking to avoid their sixth 0-3 league start in the last eight seasons.
"In terms of team morale, it's very, very high," Vols coach Butch Jones said. "Obviously we've had some very disappointing setbacks, and it hurts if you're a competitor, but it also drives you every day as well. When I sit back and take the emotion out of everything, I see us getting better week in and week out."
That did not seem to be the case for either team last week, as Georgia fell behind 38-3 five minutes into the second half and Tennessee got outscored 24-6 by the Razorbacks after quickly taking a two-touchdown lead.
That left a game with so much hype before the season nearing life-support status as this week began.
"We're not talking about the Alabama game," Georgia inside linebacker Jake Ganus said, "but when you make so many mistakes like that, it comes down to what you do more than what the other team does."
Georgia bounced back from its most lopsided loss last year, following a 38-20 debacle against Florida in Jacksonville with a resounding 63-31 rout of Kentucky in Lexington. If the Bulldogs win Saturday, they would improve to 3-1 within the league and put some heat on the upstart Gators, who visit Missouri on Saturday night and LSU next week.
Several Bulldogs players have admitted that their backs are against the wall heading to Knoxville - "We're both fighting for our seasons," receiver Malcolm Mitchell said - but Jones is not taking that approach with his Vols.
"There is still a lot to play for," Jones said. "We're going to put everything we have into this football game like we do every week, but we have to get ready for numerous games down the road, too. Everyone wanted to say the Florida game was the most important, but every game is the most important game of the year."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.