After opening the season against Furman, Tennessee will travel to Atlanta to play Georgia Tech in Week 2.

The Yellow Jackets opened the season on Thursday night against Colorado — and they did not look good in a 14-13 loss to the Buffaloes.

Georgia Tech’s offense looked out of sync, they struggled to run the ball (51 rushing yards on 30 attempts), and they were just 5-of-13 on third downs.

Yellow Jackets quarterback Alberto Mendoza, however, hasn’t lost any confidence in his teammates.

Mendoza, in fact, made it clear after the game that he’s very confident ahead of the matchup against Tennessee on September 12.

Alberto Mendoza is confident in Georgia Tech heading into game against Tennessee

“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.”

Tennessee fans are feeling optimistic about the Georgia Tech game after seeing how poorly the Yellow Jackets played against a Colorado team that isn’t expected to be very good this season.

And while I share that optimism, I don’t think anyone should assume that we’ll see the same Georgia Tech team next week against Tennessee.

Now, I’m not suggesting Georgia Tech is going to suddenly turn into an elite team, but I do think they’ll clean some things up and make some improvements. They’ll zero in on their offensive identity and there will be some plays kicked to the curb, etc. Brent Key is a good head coach — Georgia Tech will be better in Week 2 than they were in Week 1.

The Yellow Jackets will be eager to bounce back and make a statement against the Vols.

Tennessee will just need to make sure to match that energy.