‘It will not be particularly pretty’ – ESPN’s Rece Davis makes his pick for who will the Texas vs Tennessee game

The Tennessee Volunteers will host the No. 1 team in the nation when the Texas Longhorns come to Knoxville on Saturday.

Zach Ragan — Tennessee Volunteers News Writer
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Something has to give on Saturday when the Texas Longhorns take on the Tennessee Vols in Neyland Stadium.

Texas hasn’t won a game on the road while ranked No. 1 since 1984.

Tennessee, meanwhile, hasn’t beaten the No. 1 team in the nation since 1985.

One of those streaks will end on Saturday afternoon in Knoxville.

ESPN’s Rece Davis, who will be on campus hosting College GameDay on Saturday morning, made his pick for the matchup and he has the Longhorns winning what he believes will be an ugly game.

“I think you’re going to see a pretty low scoring game,” said Davis. “I think it’s going to be controlled by defense. Steve Sarkisian has faced a Jim Knowles-led defense twice in his career and he’s 0-2. Obviously, the one that everybody remembers was in the College Football Playoff a couple of years ago (when Knowles was at Ohio State), and then in Sark’s first year at Texas went up against Knowles at Oklahoma State. They scored some points, but they were pretty much contained and Knowles’ defense won the game.

“I think this will be a low-scoring defensive game. You would think that favors the home team, but I’m going to go against the grain a little bit. … I’m going to say Texas wins its first road game while ranked No. 1 since 1984. I think Texas pulls it out in a game which will not be particularly pretty.”

Davis and the College GameDay crew will be inside Neyland Stadium for the final hour of the broadcast before the game kicks off at noon.

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