University of Tennessee Athletics
VOLS, BULLDOGS KNOW SATURDAY'S TEST KEY TO `05 RACE
October 04, 2005 | Football
Oct. 4, 2005
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Both Tennessee and Georgia know that the quickest path to Atlanta and the 2005 SEC Championship Game involves a crucial detour Saturday through Neyland Stadium.
The Vols and Bulldogs, a pair of top-10 ranked teams, are vying with Florida and Vanderbilt for inside position in the Eastern Division race.
"Talking about Georgia, they're just a really outstanding team," head coach Phillip Fulmer said. "They're 4-0 (2-0 SEC), highly ranked and coming to Knoxville. I just don't know how much better it gets for a football setting in the country than that."
The Vols, 3-1 and 2-1 SEC, are making a nice run of their own coming off conference victories against LSU and Mississippi.
A win Saturday leaves Alabama and Vanderbilt as the only two league foes with winning records remaining on Tennessee's regular season schedule. Georgia has three conference foes -- Vanderbilt, Florida and Auburn -- with winning records still on the slate.
"Basically, there are a lot of good teams in the SEC," Fulmer said. "When you play each Saturday, there are a lot of variables.
"When things are even, as it appears this year in the SEC, just a few plays will determine the winner of a particular game. Everybody in the SEC is pretty close to even, so anything can happen."
Tennessee practiced for two hours Tuesday in full pads.
INJURY UPDATE (Georgia Week): Probable -- WR C.J. Fayton (ankle), LB Jerod Mayo (knee), DT Turk McBride (ankle); Questionable -- DB Jarod Parrish (knee); Out -- DE Jared Hostetter (knee); Out for Season -- TB Montario Hardesty (knee).
