The Tennessee Vols will travel to Athens on Saturday for a high-stakes matchup with massive College Football Playoff implications against the Georgia Bulldogs. 

Tennessee can essentially lock up a spot in the 12-team playoff with a win against the Bulldogs. 

Georgia, meanwhile, needs a win against the Volunteers to keep their playoff hopes alive. 

On Friday, Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart joined The Pat McAfee Show and he made an honest admission about facing the Vols. 

Smart told McAfee that Georgia has to "change" its defense when playing against Tennessee. 

"It's tough, because you have to change your defense to play against them," said Smart. "There's plays and defenses we haven't called all year that we have to play against them because they're very different. They're fast, they have huge splits. And everybody knows that. So you get to watch other people play against them and you're trying to get ideas of how you want to play against them. But they go so fast that they limit what you can do.

"You gotta try to beat them back to the ball, get lined up, out-execute them, and this year they have been different. I mean, they're explosive, they have a great quarterback and they have really good wide outs. But they got a back (Dylan Sampson). And he (Josh Heupel) trusts it, he plays behind his defense a little more." 

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Georgia wide receiver Miles Thornton echoed Smart's sentiments while discussing the matchup against the Vols on The Players Lounge this week. 

"Tennessee week is the week that I think, as players, we all kind of dread a little bit," said Thornton. "Because if you don't know anything about Tennessee football, they love to go fast. That's their whole….fast, fast, fast, fast. It's a lot of running (all week during practice)." 

"It's hard to prepare game speed and practice speed (while preparing for Tennessee)," added Georgia defensive back Malaki Starks. 

The mindset that Smart and his players are describing is something that I think works against the Vols. Because of Tennessee's unique approach, opponents are often more "locked in" for games against the Vols. The preparation is different, which breaks up the monotony of a long season, resulting in opponents being a little more dialed in when facing Tennessee.  

Ultimately, as Smart alluded to, this game will come down to execution. The team that executes at the highest level while also playing clean football (limiting penalties) will likely leave Sanford Stadium with a win on Saturday night.

That type of game typically favors the home team, which is why the Vols are facing a tough task in Athens.

Former Alabama QB throws major shade at Tennessee’s offensive line ahead of Vols’ matchup against the Georgia Bulldogs

Some bulletin board material for the Vols