The Tennessee Vols will face a tough test early in the season when they play on the road against Georgia Tech in Week Two.

Earlier this summer, Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key suggested that the Yellow Jackets will keep things simple on offense early in the season to help out quarterback Alberto Mendoza, a first-year starter.

Key, though, may have undersold just how complex Georgia Tech’s offense will be this fall.

Georgia Tech co-offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Chris Weinke, a former Vols assistant (2018 to 2020 under Jeremy Pruitt), met with reporters this week and he described the Yellow Jackets’ offense as “high volume” while pointing out that it has over 250 play calls.

Weinke also had a message for defenses that have to prepare for Georgia Tech’s offense this season: good luck.

“We’ve got more volume in our offense than I would say anybody in the country,” said Weinke. “(Offensive coordinator) George (Godsey) does an outstanding job of putting guys in a position to be successful. With all that being said, there’s a burden on the quarterback. There’s a ton of verbiage, there’s a lot of volume, and there’s a lot of players coming in and out. So it’s positive from the standpoint that if you’re trying to prepare for us, good luck.

“Typically in the college landscape of football, you’re going to probably get three to five personnel groups. We’re going to have 12 to 15 personnel groups. In most offenses in college, you’re going to get six to eight formations. We’re going to have 20 to 25 formations. We’re going to have shifts, motions, all those different things. … In a typical college offense, you’re going to probably have 80 to 100 plays in your offense. We’ll probably have 250.”

Weinke went on to point out that the goal of Georgia Tech’s offense is to create mismatches via checks and disguised personnel groupings.

“We’re trying to create mismatches,” explained Weinke. “Coach Godsey talks about how we’re striving for perfection every day, and we are. How can we be perfect? Part of that onus is put on the quarterback because we’re not just going to go up to the line and call a play.

“We’re going to put the onus on the quarterback to get us into a good play. We could go through the course of a game and have a check with 50 percent of our plays to get us into the right play. That takes a lot of studying. You’ve got to know what you’re looking at. And again, that’s an estimation. I don’t know what other college offenses are (in terms of number of plays), but maybe I’m a little bit light on 250 (plays) — if you include all of our shifts, motions, and all the different personnel groups. But it all comes back to the quarterback. Everything comes back on the quarterback, and what it does for us is it creates an advantage against the defense. One, good luck to them figuring out what personnel group we’re in. Then we’re going to change the picture. Then we’re going to change the picture back again. And then we’re going to create an advantage for us based on angles in the run game and mismatches in the passing game.”

Preparing for Georgia Tech could be a challenge for Tennessee defensive coordinator Jim Knowles

I’m sure Weinke’s comments will catch the attention of Vols defensive coordinator Jim Knowles.

Georgia Tech will have a new offense this season under new offensive coordinator George Godsey, who was hired by the Yellow Jackets after serving as the Baltimore Ravens’ tight ends coach the last four seasons.

Preparing for a new offense can be a challenge since there’s limited film. Throw in the fact that Georgia Tech is apparently planning on rolling out a multitude of formations and personnel groupings and it makes it even more of a challenge.

The good news for Tennessee is that Georgia Tech opens the season at Colorado, so Knowles will get a decent look at what the Yellow Jackets are trying to accomplish offensively.

There’s also the fact that a new offense that is this complex is bound to have some bugs early in the season — especially with a first-time starting quarterback.

And let’s not forget: Tennessee has a new defense, so Georgia Tech’s offensive staff isn’t totally sure what they’ll be preparing for, either.

Still, it seems like Weinke is confident in Georgia Tech’s complex scheme — to the point where he’s telling opposing teams “good luck” in their preparation.

Knowles, however, is no slouch when it comes to game-planning. After all, he has a reputation for having one of the best minds in the sport.

“He’s very smart, very intelligent — one of the best football minds I’ve ever been around,” said Vols safeties coach Anthony Poindexter, a College Football Hall of Famer, of Knowles earlier this month.

Knowles will also be disguising his looks against Georgia Tech, which means the matchup between the Yellow Jackets and the Vols in September could come down to which coordinator makes the best chess moves.