Can Tennessee football give Georgia a fight for the SEC East crown?

The Tennessee football Volunteers are off to a fast start this season as they’re 4-0 after defeating Florida at home on Saturday 38-33.

The Volunteers have two AP Top 25 wins including one on the road (at Pitt). They have yet to turn the ball over through the air with Virginia Tech transfer, Hendon Hooker at quarterback. On Saturday against Flordia, Hooker helped break Tennessee’s five-game losing streak against Flordia by accounting for a career-high 461 yards of total offense.

Hooker was 22 of 28 for 349 yards and two touchdowns through the air. He also ran for 112 yards and a touchdown proving that Tennesee has found the quarterback they feel they have been lacking the last couple of seasons.

Can Tennesee football give Georgia a fight for the SEC East crown?

Look, Georgia is by far better than Tennessee and arguably the best team in the country. I would rank the Bulldogs #1 in my poll if I had a vote, but Tennessee football is clearly the second-best team in the SEC East this season.

Georiga has faced two Power-5 opponents so far which includes an SEC East opponent, South Carolina, and the other team being Oregon. They handled both teams quite easily defeating Oregon 49-3 and South Carolina 48-7.

Both teams have been able to show off how good their offense is this season and they have both done it against quality opponents. The difference between the two teams is on defense. The Georiga defense is light years ahead of Tennessee’s. The Bulldogs have forced six turnovers through the first four games this season.

Tennessee gets some favorable SEC East matchups by getting Flordia (who they just beat) and Kentucky at home. They do have to go to South Carolina on the second to last weekend of the season, but the Gamecocks haven’t been as good as some thought they would be this season.

The Volunteers also drew LSU and Alabama as their SEC West opponents this season. They will visit the Tigers in Baton Rouge next week and host the Crimson Tide the week after.

Georiga on the other hand has Auburn and Mississippi State as their SEC West crossover games. They also don’t face a current AP Top 25 team until the end of October, that team being Florida who may not even be ranked at that time.

The odds are stacked against Tennessee if they want to take a trip to Atlanta for the SEC Championship game, but they are currently in a better spot to fight Georiga for the SEC East crown than any other team in the division. That alone should count for something after all of the underwhelming seasons recently.

The two teams will faceoff on November 5th in Athens, Georgia.