Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava is questionable to play on Saturday against Georgia.
Wade Payne | AP photo
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ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia’s playoff hopes are hanging by a thread.
Hardly what anyone expected from one of college football’s powerhouse programs, a team that has been a perennial national championship contender during the Kirby Smart coaching era.
No. 11 Georgia (7-2, 5-2 SEC, No. 12 CFP) is facing what amounts to an elimination game in mid-November when it hosts No. 6 Tennessee on Saturday at Sanford Stadium.
The Bulldogs put themselves in this predicament with an ugly 28-10 loss at Mississippi last weekend, leaving no room for error the rest of the regular season.
As things stand now, they are outside of the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff. Of course, an impressive win over Tennessee (8-1, 5-1, No. 7 CFP) would surely push the Bulldogs right back into the mix.
“Coming into this week we had a choice to make, whether to dwell on this past weekend or look ahead and bounce back,” tight end Lawson Luckie said. “I think we’ve done a great job of that.”
While Smart insists he’s not looking at the big picture, he did concede that his top players are conveying an even greater sense of urgency to the rest of the team.
“The leaders are doing the right things,” the coach said. “They’re also owning up to mistakes they’ve made or how they’ve played. If it hasn’t been to their standard, they want to improve.”
The Volunteers haven’t beaten Georgia since 2016. They can take a major step toward the first playoff appearance in school history with a signature victory on the road.
“You earn the right to play in big football games by what you do during the course of the season,” coach Josh Heupel said. “In these games, you have to do ordinary things at a really high level consistently. For us, that means you have to prepare at an elite level.”
Georgia, which hasn’t played at home since Oct. 12, closes the regular season with three straight games between the hedges.
The Bulldogs have a 28-game home winning streak that dates to 2019 — a school record and the longest active run in FBS.
“Thank goodness it’s at our place,” Smart said. “We get to come home and play.”
The biggest issue hanging over this game is the health of Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava. He was injured in a victory over Mississippi State and reportedly began the week in concussion protocol.
While coach Josh Heupel expressed confidence that Iamaleava would be able to go against the Bulldogs, the redshirt freshman was listed as questionable on the Vols’ initial injury report.
If Iamaleava is unable to play Saturday, it’s a big step down to fifth-year senior Gaston Moore.
Georgia, meanwhile, be without top rusher Trevor Etienne, who was ruled out with a rib injury.
Etienne was hurt in a Nov. 2 victory over Florida, though he did get limited carries in a 28-10 loss to Ole Miss last weekend. He finished with 34 yards on nine carries.
HEISMAN WATCH
Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty bounced back from a two-game lull, relatively speaking, with a 209-yard, three-touchdown outing against Nevada last week. He forced eight missed tackles and had 122 yards after contact on his career-high 34 carries.
Jeanty has topped 200 yards in four games this season. He is averaging 193.7 per game to lead the nation and is on pace to have the highest rushing average since 2000. The Broncos visit San Jose State on Saturday.
NUMBERS TO KNOW
• 0 — Lost fumbles by Louisiana-Lafayette, the only team with none.
• 6 — North Texas’ FBS-leading plays of 70 yards or longer.
• 14 — Nohl Williams’ career interceptions for California, most among active players. He has an FBS-leading seven this season.
• 31 — Penalties called against Iowa, fewest in the FBS.
• 41 — Sacks allowed by Oklahoma in 10 games, more than double the 20 allowed in 13 games last season.
UNDER THE RADAR
• Nebraska (5-4, 2-4) at USC (4-5, 2-5), 4 p.m. (Fox)
These two blue bloods are trying to find their footing in the Big Ten, and both took significant steps during their two weeks between games.
Cornhuskers coach Matt Rhule replaced offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield with Dana Holgorsen to provide some spark. Holgorsen coached under Mike Leach at Texas Tech, was considered an offensive savant as OC at Oklahoma State and was head coach at West Virginia and Houston.
Trojans coach Lincoln Riley made a change at quarterback, replacing Miller Moss with UNLV transfer Jayden Maiava. Moss won a close competition against Maiava in the preseason. Now Maiava takes over a team that has lost four of its last five games.
HOT SEAT
Purdue’s Ryan Walters has been on the job for only two seasons, but things are not getting better. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. The Boilermakers go into their home game against Penn State on an eight-game losing streak. They’ve scored no more than 21 points in seven of their eight games against Bowl Subdivision opponents. The outlier was the 50-49 overtime loss at Illinois.
Walters fired offensive coordinator Graham Harrell after the fourth game. Meanwhile, the defense has allowed 45-plus points in four games. Walters’ contract runs through 2027, and he would be owed about $9.3 million (75% of his base pay) if he were let go after the season.