Tennessee opened the 2026 college football season with a low-stress 56-9 win over Furman.

The stress, though, will kick up a notch in Week 2 when the Vols travel to Atlanta for a matchup with Georgia Tech in Bobby Dodd Stadium.

A Colorado team that’s not expected to be very good this season beat Georgia Tech in Week 1 in Atlanta — thanks to a blocked field goal as time expired by former Vols defensive back Boo Carter — but Tennessee isn’t putting much stock into the outcome of that game.

The Vols know they’re getting Georgia Tech’s best shot

The narrative heading into the showdown between the Vols and the Yellow Jackets is that Tennessee should be able to have their way with a Georgia Tech team that looked inept at times against Colorado (UT started the week as a 13.5 point favorite).

Tennessee’s players and coaches, however, aren’t buying that narrative one bit. They know Georgia Tech will clean some things up before welcoming the Vols to town.

That’s why Tennessee’s players and coaches made sure in the team meeting room this week to address that they’ll be getting Georgia Tech’s best shot.

“I mean, yeah, they lost, but it was the first game,” said Vols defensive lineman Nathan Robinson on Monday. “Mistakes are going to happen. We had our fair share of them (against Furman). They’re going to clean that stuff up.

“So we’ve got to be ready for their best, and I expect to get their best. We talked about it in the team meeting room this morning. It sounds like their head coach challenged their O-line. So again, we’re just going to be ready for their best, and we’re going to have to bring our best.”

“We’ve got to be ready for their best, and I expect to get their best. We talked about it in the team meeting room this morning. It sounds like their head coach challenged their O line. So, we’re just going to be ready for their best.” – Tennessee DL Nathan Robinson on Georgia… pic.twitter.com/UqotEJgk3Z

— zach ragan (@zachTNT) September 7, 2026

Georgia Tech quarterback Alberto Mendoza made it clear after the loss to Colorado that he still has full confidence in the Yellow Jackets moving forward.

“We have another opportunity next week,” said Mendoza. “There’s no point in focusing on the past. Let’s focus on next week. We have a great opportunity. Tennessee is a great team. They’re coming into our house and we’ll have another opportunity on national television to go show what we can do — to demonstrate what we can do.

“And I have full confidence in this team. Don’t get that wrong. One game is one game. I have the utmost and full confidence in this team. These guys have put so much work in and we are going to be successful this year. One game doesn’t define us. It’s the first game of the season. Obviously, we were on the goal line and we couldn’t punch it in and just a bunch of other things that I felt like we had the game and we let it slip away. I felt like we lost this game. I have the utmost confidence in these guys that we will bounce back. So I’m just really excited for that next opportunity.”

It certainly sounds like Georgia Tech is eager to bounce back after a poor showing against Colorado.

But Tennessee will be ready for the best version of Georgia Tech — they aren’t taking the Yellow Jackets lightly just because of an early season loss.