The Georgia Bulldogs and Tennessee Volunteers face off Saturday night in Athens in what may prove to be a de facto College Football Playoff game for both sides.
Coming into the contest, Georgia checks in at 7-2 and 5-2 in SEC play while Tennessee currently leads the conference with an 8-1 record and 5-1 in SEC play.
Georgia currently ranks No. 12 in the College Football Playoff rankings, and a third loss would remove them from SEC Championship contention and likely make it impossible for the Bulldogs to return to the Playoff.
Tennessee losing would push the Vols from a tie for first place in the conference to the logjam of two-loss teams. It wouldn’t necessarily take Tennessee out of the SEC Championship race, but it would likely come down to tiebreakers.
Throughout the week, Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava’s status has been up in the air. The freshman signal caller missed the second half of Tennessee’s win over the Mississippi State Bulldogs last week. Head coach Josh Heupel called it ‘precautionary’ after the game, but reports emerged early in the week that Iamaleava suffered from concussion-like symptoms.
Whatever was plaguing Iamaleava has cleared up, though. ESPN reported Saturday that the quarterback will be active and starting under center for Tennessee in the primetime showdown.
So far this season, Iamaleava has gone 144-for-221 for 1,879 yards, 11 touchdowns, and four interceptions.
[ESPN]
