Josh Heupel should use Kirby Smart's shade at Tennessee from earlier this year as motivation for the Vols
The Tennessee Vols should have plenty of motivation to beat the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday in Neyland Stadium. Like Vols starting center Cooper Mays said earlier this week, if you can't get hyped for this game, there isn't a game to get hyped for. But while Tennessee should have plenty of motivation on Saturday, a […]
The Tennessee Vols should have plenty of motivation to beat the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday in Neyland Stadium.
Like Vols starting center Cooper Mays said earlier this week, if you can't get hyped for this game, there isn't a game to get hyped for.
But while Tennessee should have plenty of motivation on Saturday, a little extra never hurts. After all, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart is going to use every little thing that he possibly can to motivate his team for the matchup against Tennessee.
That's why Vols head coach Josh Heupel should use the shade that Smart appeared to throw at Tennessee's offense earlier this year as fuel for his team on Saturday afternoon.
Back in April, Smart, without mentioning Tennessee by name, appeared to take a major shot the Vols' offense.
"It's like, a true quarterback is a decision-maker in our system because some systems take all the pressure off the quarterback and they just go really fast," said Smart about Georgia's offense. "We don't do that. We're a quarterback-driven offense, so can you process the information. That means get the signal, get people lined up then see what the defense is in and figure out are we in the right situation?"
Heupel seemingly responded to Smart's comments a couple of days later.
“Our guys control everything," said Heupel. "I don’t think there’s anybody in America that puts more on their quarterbacks. Run-run checks, run-pass checks, loaded boxes, alerts, kills, they’ve got to do it all. So he’s (QB Joe Milton) highly instrumental in the efficiency and effectiveness of our running game.”
It's clear that Smart doesn't think much of the offense that Tennessee runs under Heupel. Which means losing to the Vols would be devastating for Smart's ego.
If Tennessee is going to beat Georgia, they're going to have to play with a higher intensity than the Bulldogs for every second of every quarter. The only way to do that is to have an edge that Georgia doesn't have. That means using every little thing possible — from the doubt from the national media to Smart's comments in April — to make sure that Tennessee's players make it personal for 60 minutes on Saturday afternoon.
The national narrative about the Tennessee Vols is getting out of hand
It’s completely absurd
