Georgia football: 3 things the Dawgs offense focuses on against the Vols

Georgia football takes on Tennessee this weekend for the Dawgs second SEC game of the season. Here are three ways the Dawgs’ offense gets the job done against the Volunteers.

Georgia football has had plenty of time to prepare for Tennessee on Saturday.

After four games the Dawgs are averaging 42.75 points a game. The offense is about as balanced as it comes with Georgia averaging 253 through the air, 255.75 on the ground, and 508.8 total yards a game.

Georgia ranks as the No. 11 overall school in scoring offense, No.12 rushing and tied with Air Force and Duke at No. 1 in sacks allowed.

The Dawgs didn’t take off because rest assure head coach Kirby Smart had this squad fixing the things that didn’t go right against Notre Dame.

So while Georgia football used last weekend to get extra prep in for Tennessee, there were a lot of nerve-racking things happening with a few top-ranked teams getting taken to the wire.

While the rest of the college football chewed on their nails, I was able to spend a few hours playing barbies and baking make-believe cupcakes with my daughter.

Don’t judge me. It was the bye week. What else was I going to do? FYI, strawberry cupcakes and chocolate icing with rainbow sprinkles are amazing.

There aren’t too many people giving the Tennessee Volunteers much of a chance on Saturday.

Even I wrote an article on three reasons I think Georgia will blowout Tennessee. No, I’m not anticipating any magical upset.

That being said, here are three areas I think the Dawgs offense should focus on against the Vols.

Be mindful of the Tennessee linebackers.

I’ve spent a lot of time during the last two weeks studying the numbers on the Tennessee defense.

There was one thing that kept getting my attention. It didn’t matter which stat I was going over. Someone from the linebacker position was coming up in every category.

In the Volunteer’s last game against Florida, linebacker Henry To’o To’o led the defense with eight tackles and was able to get pressure on the quarterback twice.

Three players had six tackles in the game, two of them were linebackers Darrell Taylor and Daniel Bituli.

When it comes to season stats, To’o To’o leads the team with 25 tackles. Tennessee has eight sacks on the season as a team.

Bituli is one of two players with two sacks, and he also has the team’s only forced fumble.

As a team, they have six interceptions. Linebacker Jeremy Banks leads the squad with two. Darrell Taylor has 16 tackles and a sack for a loss of five yards.

Regardless if the Dawgs are throwing the ball or keeping it on the ground, they need to keep their attention on Tennessee’s linebacker corps.

These boys have a nose for the ball and can make some noise, regardless of what their record says.

Throw the ball down the field.

Following the game against Notre Dame, Smart said the Georgia Bulldogs are going to open things up concerning throwing the ball down the field.

While Tennessee can’t be looked over, they’re one of the weaker defenses in the SEC.

Because of this, Jake Fromm needs to take advantage of the opportunity to start building some confidence with his receivers down the field.

He’s currently completing 75.6 percent of his passes for an average of 9.6 yards per completion. The offensive line has been excellent this season as far as providing protection, and I think that continues in Tennessee.

Georgia currently has three wide receivers averaging over 13.9 yards per reception. The issue is none of them have caught more than 10 passes.

That needs to increase, and this week is the perfect opportunity to make it happen.

Throw to running backs out of the backfield.

I know, I know. At first glance, this is the complete opposite of my last topic.

Think about it for a minute, though. Doesn’t this make sense? How easy would things be for opposing defenses if Georgia’s running the ball every time D’Andre Swift or Brian Herrien lineup in the backfield?

If Fromm is going to have success throwing the ball downfield, he has to make defenses respect the check down pass.

The two go hand in hand. I’m not saying a running back needs to move the chains for a first-down every time they catch the ball.

But, they do need to keep defenses guessing at what’s about to go down.

D’Andre Swift has six receptions this season for 75 yards and a touchdown.

I’ll make that easier. Swift’s averaging 12.5 yards per reception. Why has he only caught six passes this year? Don’t tell me it’s just him. Brian Herrien is averaging 6.7 yards per play catching the ball. He only has 20 yards this season.

That’s because he’s only caught three passes.

I get it. The Dawgs are deep at running back. James Cook is also averaging over nine yards per reception. He also has only caught six passes.

This could be a very dangerous weapon for Georgia, especially when you throw in tossing the ball down the field.

The Bulldogs need to take advantage of playing Tennessee this week.

Yes, the game needs to be taken seriously. The Vols are an SEC team. That means they have talent at every position on the field.

Once the Dawgs get ahead by three or four touchdowns in the second quarter, they should spend some time making the passing game a bigger threat for the remaining teams on the schedule.