The Georgia-Tennessee rivalry returns on Saturday in Athens, but it’s clearly two teams headed in different directions. Georgia, for instance, has won 11 of its last 12 SEC regular-season games, while Tennessee has lost 10 in a row.

Still …

“I think this is one of the exciting rivalries in college football,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said.

Well, okay, that may be true, but it’s a bit one-sided right now. Georgia is chasing its second straight SEC title, while the Vols are starting over with Jeremy Pruitt as their hard-nosed coach. The talent gap, for the moment, is huge.  That’s why the betting line is a staggering 32.5 points. Since they’ve been playing every year since 1992, Georgia has never been favored by more than 18.

“Certainly being a physical football team, you can see that identity created and what they’re trying to create and how they run the ball and what they do,” Smart said. “I think that’s important in building a good program, and they’re certainly on the right track when it comes to the physicality they’re trying to do things with on both sides of the ball.”

On the right track, maybe. But there’s a lot that Georgia can do Saturday (3:30 p.m., CBS) to keep the upper hand in this rivalry. Enjoy it while you can.

Here are five things I want to see from Georgia this weekend against Tennessee:

1. Get Tennessee down, and keep your foot on their throat

Georgia basically ended the Butch Jones era last year when it went into Knoxville and embarrassed the Vols in a 41-0 rout. It shined a huge spotlight on the disaster that Tennessee football had become, and a few weeks later, Jones was sent packing. Nothing changes in 2018, because it’s important for Georgia to send a message that, no pun intended, they are the big Dawgs in this rivalry now. Get them down early, and keep them down. Pick a huge number and go for it. Because perception is everything.

2. Send a loud message to 2019 and 2020 recruits

Perception means a lot to recruits, too, and the top players from the next few classes who have both Georgia and Tennessee on their list of favorites will be watching this game closely. Does it matter? Of course it does, and Georgia freshman Cade Mays is a perfect example of that. He was born and raised a Vol, his dad played for Tennessee, and he dreamed of playing in Knoxville, his hometown. But when last year got so messy, Mays bailed on his Tennessee verbal commitment and chose Georgia instead. He has already been a key contributor. A big win — a rout, in fact — is important to the quality of future classes.

3. Bring the new-found heat from the defensive front

Georgia finally got a couple of sacks last week against Drew Lock and Missouri, raising its season total to three after four games. D’Andre Walker had them both, but the entire front seven spent a lot of time in the backfield, disrupting Missouri’s passing game all day. Expect more of the same on Saturday, where Tennessee’s offensive line is a bit of a mess and quarterback Jarrett Guarantano is coming off a minor knee injury sustained last week in the loss to Florida. He’s supposed to be good to go, but he may not be 100 percent. His lack of mobility might be a problem for the Vols.

4. Show off a dominant running game

Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

Georgia has a full stable of running backs, and D’Andre Swift, Elijah Holyfield, Brian Herrien and James Cook have all had some magical moments so far, but no one has more than 40 carries through four games. They’ve shared the workload, and the blowouts have helped keep everyone healthy and rested. It’s going to be interesting to see when Swift has a big breakout game. It hasn’t happened yet, but it might start on Saturday. He’s that good, but he has been pretty quiet so far.

5. Keep creating turnovers to play from ahead

Georgia has been great about getting points out of its defense early in games. The Bulldogs scored off an interception in the first minute at South Carolina and then did something similar last week at Missouri, when freshman cornerback Tyson Campbell stripped the ball and returned it 64 yards for a touchdown on the Tigers’ first possession. It’s so much easier to play with a lead, and the Bulldogs defense has been great about providing that opportunity. Keep it up.