#18 Tennessee (7-3 | 3-3 SEC) vs. #1 Georgia (10-0 | 7-0 SEC)
Saturday, November 18th, 2023 | 2:30pm CT/3:30pm ET
Knoxville, TN | Neyland Stadium | TV: CBS
Knoxville, TN – In the first of back-to-back home games to cap off the regular season, the No. 18 Tennessee Vols football team will look to topple top-ranked Georgia on Saturday afternoon inside a sold-out Neyland Stadium.
The Vols will be looking to end the Bulldogs’ school-record 27-game winning streak and extend their streak of consecutive victories at Neyland Stadium to 15 games, a streak that dates back to November 20th, 2021 and is the third-longest current home win streak in the country behind only Georgia (25) and Michigan (21).
For the fourth time this season, the Vols will be featured in the SEC on CBS game of the week with Brad Nessler (PxP), Gary Danielson (analyst) and Jenny Dell (sideline reporter) on the call. Kickoff is slated for 2:39pm CT.
UT fans can listen to Tennessee’s official radio broadcast on the Vol Network (Local: WIVK-FM 107.7/WNML-FM 99.1) over 70 stations across the state of Tennessee and the southeast, SiriusXM (Ch. 119 or 192) and the SiriusXM app (Ch. 963), as well as the Varsity App. A live audio stream of the broadcast will also be available on UTSports.com? and the Tennessee Athletics App.
Bob Kesling (PxP), VFL Pat Ryan (analyst) and Brent Hubbs (analyst) will call the action, with VFL Jayson Swain handling sideline duties for the Vol Network radio broadcast. The Big Orange Countdown pregame show begins two hours prior to kickoff at 12:30pm.
Gameday Information / Timeline
For the most up-to-date information on Tennessee’s 2023 gameday policies, please visit the Tennessee Football Gameday Information page on UTSports.com.
New Wi-Fi at Neyland Stadium
Fans are encouraged to try RockTopWifi around all Neyland stadium gates and throughout the stadium bowl. RockyTopWifi is still a work in progress, but fans will see it light up everywhere as they enter the stadium, throughout all concourses and within all areas of the stadium bowl. Thank you for your patience as we bring Wi-Fi to everyone in Neyland Stadium. Join RockyTopWifi from your mobile device settings. No registration is required.
The gameday timeline as well as other important information is listed below.
Marty & McGee – 9-10am (Ayres Hall Lawn)
SEC Nation – 10:00am – Noon (Ayres Hall Lawn)
Will Call Opens at Gate 21 – 11:30am
Truly’s Tailgate Opens – 11:30am
Vol Village Opens – Noon
Vol Walk – 1:15pm
Gates Open – 1:30pm
Pride of the Southland Band March – 1:50pm (Pedestrian Bridge)
Pride of the Southland Band Pregame Performance Begins – 3:26pm
National Anthem/Flyover – 3:29pm
*F-16’s from the 311th Fighter Squadron at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico.
Vols Run Through the T – 3:36pm
Kickoff – 3:39pm
All about times are Eastern Standard.
Tickets and Parking
Tickets for Saturday’s game are officially sold out, marking the 12th consecutive home sellout for the Big Orange. However, fans can purchase “Verified Resale” tickets via Ticketmaster on AllVols.com.
Tickets and parking passes to all Tennessee Athletics events, including football, are now digital and can be accessed through a mobile device to improve security and reduce the risk of ticket fraud as well as make the process more convenient for fans.
Fans will gain admission into Neyland Stadium via a unique QR code which will be scanned directly from a mobile device. For quick and easy entry into Tennessee Athletics venues, fans are encouraged to download the Tennessee Athletics app from the App Store (iPhone) and Google Play (Android). Your mobile device is the ticket on gameday. All valid digital tickets will display a moving barcode or a hold near reader (tap-and-go) icon. PLEASE NOTE: SCREENSHOTS OF TICKETS WILL NOT SCAN AT THE GATE AND WILL NOT ALLOW ENTRY!
Printed PDF tickets will no longer be issued or accepted for entry at any Tennessee Athletics venue.
A complete step-by-step guide on how to best access and use your digital tickets and parking passes, including diagrams and FAQ is available here.
Tennessee Athletics APP
Fans are encouraged to download the Tennessee Athletics app, which now houses the GBO Zone, allowing fans to play trivia, take part in stadium light shows and much more. There will be a light show at the end of halftime of Saturday’s game.
Search “Tennessee Athletics” in the Apple or Google Play Store or use this link to download: http://utsports.com/app
Gameday Events & Activities
SEC Nation: SEC Nation Presented by Johnsonville, the SEC Network’s weekly, traveling pre-game show, as well as the hit show Marty & McGee Presented by Old Trapper, will be on location in Knoxville on Saturday for UT’s SEC East battle against the top-ranked Bulldogs.
Both shows will originate from the Ayres Hall lawn. SEC Nation airs live from 10:00am-noon ET on SEC Network and follows Marty & McGee, which airs from 9:00am-10:00am ET. For more information, click HERE.
Toyota Volunteer Village: Vol Village, located across from Circle Park, serves as the ideal spot to view the Vol Walk and the Pride of Southland Band march. Admission is free to all fans with or without a game ticket. Vol Village opens at noon on Saturday.
Vol Village will highlight a new artist or band each home game with a pregame concert series, providing Vol fans with the ultimate pregame atmosphere. The Powell Brothers will be the featured band for this Saturday’s game.
Featured inside of Vol Village will be a large screen video wall for fans to check out other games around college football as well as food vendors, face painting, a golf simulator, an inflatable slide and more.
Be sure to also check out the Dolly Parton Rockstar merchandise trailer for exclusive items from the Dolly Tennessee Collection and grab a commemorative Dolly + Tennessee Vols CD.
Truly’s Tailgate: Located outside Gate 9, fans can stop by for food and drinks at Truly’s Tailgate. Fans may enter Truly’s prior to gates opening without having a ticket scanned. When gates open, fans will need to scan their ticket to enter Truly’s.
Truly’s will open at 11:30am on Saturday and remain open for the majority of the game, giving fans in the south concourse a variety of food, drinks, television entertainment and additional restroom options. Truly’s will close at the end of the third quarter.
For complete gameday information, visit UTsports.com/gameday.
Need To Know
Bounce Backs Under Heupel
Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel has lost back-to-back games only twice during his six seasons as a head coach. He owns a 12-2 record following a loss in the same season, including a 7-1 mark at Tennessee and 5-1 record at UCF. The only time it occurred at UT was in his first year of 2021 as the Vols dropped back-to-back games to No. 13 Ole Miss and No. 4 Alabama. UT has responded with wins the week after a loss on six straight occasions under Heupel with four of those victories coming on the road.
Chance to Take Down No. 1
After defeating Alabama last season when it was ranked No. 1 in the Coaches Poll, Heupel is seeking to become the first coach in Tennessee history to defeat multiple No. 1-ranked teams. Gen. Robert Neyland (1959 vs. LSU) and Johnny Majors (1985 vs. Auburn) are the other two Vol coaches to beat No. 1-ranked teams.
Vols in the CFP Rankings
Tennessee fell five spots to No. 18 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings following last weekend’s loss at No. 14 Missouri. The Vols have been ranked in each of the last nine CFP rankings dating back to last season.
Last Time Out
A tough day in Columbia, Missouri resulted in a 36-7 loss to the 14th-ranked Tigers last Saturday. What was a 13-7 game at halftime resulted in Missouri pitching a 23-0 shutout in the second half. Quarterback Joe Milton III accounted for 303 yards of total offense, completing 22-of-34 passes for 267 yards with one touchdown and one pick. In what proved to be the Vols’ only score of the game, Milton found Dont’e Thornton Jr. for a 46-yard touchdown to give UT a 7-3 lead early in the second quarter. Milton was also Tennessee’s leading rusher with 36 yards. Ramel Keyton finished with a team-high 57 yards receiving on four catches. Jaylen McCollough intercepted a pass for the second straight game, his third in the last four contests, while fellow safety Wesley Walker was the team’s leading tackler with nine. Defensive tackle Omarr Norman-Lott finished with a career-high two sacks and edge rusher James Pearce Jr. registered 1.5 tackles for loss and a sack to push his season total to 11.5.
Series History
Georgia leads, 27-23-2
Saturday will mark the 53rd meeting all-time between the Volunteers and Bulldogs, whose first game against one another came back in 1899. UT will be looking to snap a six-game skid in the series and earn its first victory over Georgia since a 34-31 thriller in Athens back in 2016.
About the Georgia Bulldogs
Led by eighth-year head coach Kirby Smart, the Georgia Bulldogs are in search of a third straight national championship and enter Saturday’s game as the unanimous No. 1-ranked team in college football thanks to a perfect 10-0 record, including a 7-0 mark in SEC play.
Georgia ranks among the nation’s best in numerous offensive and defensive categories this season, including points per game (40.6 – 6th), total yards per game (504.8 – 5th), passing yards per game (323.9 – 6th), points allowed per game (15.6 – 6th), total yards allowed per game (289.2 – 9th) and opponent third down conversion percentage (28.1 – 7th).
Junior quarterback Carson Beck has continued to improve throughout the season and ranks second in the SEC with 302.2 passing yards per game. He has thrown 18 touchdown passes compared to just five interceptions on the year. Despite missing two games, junior All-America tight end Brock Bowers is once again the team’s leading receiver with 44 catches for 601 yards and five touchdowns.
Dominic Lovett, Ladd McConkey, Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint and Rara Thomas have combined for 113 receptions and seven touchdowns while leading a deep group of wide receivers. The senior running back duo of Daijun Edwards and Kandall Milton provide a stout 1-2 punch in the backfield, having totaled 191 carries for 1,113 yards and 17 touchdowns.
The Bulldogs’ leading tackler is junior linebacker Smael Mondon Jr., who has 48 to go along with five tackles for loss and three sacks. Senior defensive back Tykee Smith has been arguably the teams’ most effective defensive player with 46 total tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, four interceptions and two pass breakups.
