The Tennessee Vols have been hit with a heavy dose of rat poison this week.

Tennessee is viewed as the overwhelming favorite to beat Georgia Tech on the road on Saturday night in Atlanta.

That’s in large part because of the Yellow Jackets’ lackluster performance in a Week 1 loss to Colorado.

“I looked at this game (before the start of the season) and I thought it was a dangerous game for Tennessee,” said On3’s Chris Low on WNML’s Josh and Swain on Thursday. “And I don’t want to be the one that puts the big jinx on them, but for me, Tennessee’s just better. Period. They’ve got better personnel. They’re a better football team.

“I know it’s on the road on (Georgia Tech’s) campus, but I bet you there’s 20,000 Tennessee fans there at that game. There will be a ton of Tennessee fans at that game. So I just look at this a lot different. … I think Tennessee’s two touchdowns better than this (Georgia Tech) team.”

Low’s take, based on what we saw in Week 1, makes sense. I don’t think he’s wrong.

But you never really know what’s going to happen until the ball is kicked off.

Tennessee gets hit with a reminder of who Georgia Tech is

Tennessee isn’t overlooking Georgia Tech. They aren’t treating this game any differently just because of the results in Week 1.

Still, it can be tough to ignore the “rat poison” from the media (Nick Saban didn’t popularize the term “rat poison” just because it was a good soundbite — it’s a real thing). Stuff like that can seep into the minds of players and coaches.

Fortunately for the Vos, they received a reminder this week from Vol Network sideline reporter (and VolQuest publisher) Brent Hubbs on who this Georgia Tech team wants to be.

“Georgia Tech under Brent Key has been physical,” said Hubbs on The Mike Keith Show. “He’s got a demeanor about him — he’s got a mentality about him. I think that’s why you’ve seen some of the reaction you’ve seen from the Week 1 loss to Colorado. It wasn’t just that they lost the game — they lost at the line of scrimmage, which is not what Georgia Tech is about.

“They weren’t as physical as you have seen out of them in the past on both sides of the line of scrimmage. Brent Key said after the game that the defensive line stuff is fixable. He’s not overly worried about it. He thinks it’s fixable. But he’s an offensive lineman, and from an offensive line standpoint, they’re going to be revved up. They’re going to play at a different level. Tennessee’s going to have to match that intensity because you know his personality. He’s fiery. He has challenged that group for sure.”

Hubbs isn’t saying anything that Tennessee doesn’t already know. But I still think it’s important for Tennessee that the “warning” from Hubbs is out there to counter the rat poison the Vols have been hearing all week.

Tennessee has the better roster. But Georgia Tech is more than capable of making it a long night for the Vols. Tennessee will need to play clean football, stay ahead of the chains, and avoid costly mistakes to make sure this game isn’t uncomfortably close in the fourth quarter on Saturday night.