The Tennessee Vols looked like they were on the verge of an incredibly special season in 2022 after starting 8-0 and debuting at No. 1 in the first College Football Playoff rankings of the year. 

Tennessee's season hit a speed bump, however, during a trip to Athens in early November. 

The Vols' explosive offense was unable to get anything going against the Georgia Bulldogs' stout defense. Tennessee managed just one touchdown in a 27-13 loss. 

One of the big reasons why the Vols' offense faltered against the Bulldogs in 2022 was because Tennessee committed nine penalties, which included seven false starts. 

Those false starts were mostly because of the raucous crowd at Sanford Stadium. 

Tennessee will be in a similar situation on Saturday night when they head to Athens with a chance to essentially lock up a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff. The Vols are currently 8-1 with three games remaining in the season. If Tennessee can get a win against Georgia this weekend, they'll just need to beat Vanderbilt in the season finale to earn a trip to Atlanta to play for the SEC Championship (and a first round bye in the playoff). 

UT head coach Josh Heupel admitted during Vol Calls this week that Tennessee wasn't quite ready for the atmosphere at Georgia in 2022.

"This one is different than the last time we were down there," said Heupel. "And I say that just in that at that time, I don't think we had ever seen, or knew what it was like to go in there. We had been there — a lot of guys had been there before. But it was different (in 2022), you know? At this stage, inside of our program, they understand what they're getting into. They're going to get [Georgia's] best, from every coach on the sideline, every player on the sideline. But you're going to get their best from their fans, too."

"The last time we were down there, there's a lot of things they did that hurt us," added Heupel. "But there's a lot of things that we did that took away from our ability to do some of the things that we're capable of." 

Essentially, the Vols weren't ready for the buzzsaw they walked into in Athens in 2022. Tennessee didn't have a lot of road experience in big games under Heupel at that point. Sure, they had played in some tough environments on the road in 2021 (at Florida, at Alabama), but the Vols weren't facing big expectations in those games. There was no pressure in 2021 because it was Heupel's first season and no one expected Tennessee to win those games. 

The Vols also played against LSU in Baton Rouge earlier in 2022, but it was a noon kickoff and the crowd was taken out of the game early thanks to Tennessee's explosive offense (UT won that game 40-13). 

The game against Georgia in 2022 was different in the sense that it was the biggest game of the weekend in college football. Both teams were undefeated and both teams wanted to make a statement in that game. Georgia had experience in those kinds of situations. Tennessee didn't. Throw in a crazy road atmosphere and it was a recipe for disaster for the Vols. 

Tennessee will be better equipped for the atmosphere in Athens this time around — especially after experiencing tough road environments at Oklahoma and Arkansas earlier this season. That's not to say that Tennessee is going to beat Georgia — we'll just have to see what happens as this is a true toss-up game — but Vols won't be surprised or caught off guard when the crowd gets rocking on Saturday night 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