Kirby Smart has coached in a million big games by now, both as an assistant coach at Alabama and in more recent years as the head coach at Georgia.

He’s well aware that some of those big games happen at home, some happen on the road, and a few more take place in neutral sites. This season though, the Bulldogs have had an inordinate amount of showdown games in hostile territory.

There was the September big game at Alabama, which Georgia lost.

There was the October showdown at Texas, which Georgia won.

And there was the most recent November matchup at Ole Miss, which Georgia lost.

Now, at long last, on the 3rd Saturday in November, the Bulldogs will have a chance to play one of those big games at home, between the hedges in Athens, as Tennessee comes calling for a primetime showdown at 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC.

Smart talked a lot about the huge game against the Volunteers, as the 7-2 Bulldogs now have 0 margin for error when it comes to squeezing into the College Football Playoff. But as far as where the game is being played, his analysis was simple:

“Thank God this one’s at home,” said Smart during his weekly press conference on Monday.

Kirby Smart: "Thank God this one's at home." https://t.co/lXCgskjtaE

— Anthony Dasher (@AnthonyDasher1) November 11, 2024

ESPN’s FPI matchup predictor likes Georgia’s chances to bounce back from last week’s loss in Oxford, giving the Bulldogs a 61.7% shot to beat the Volunteers. We’ll see if Tennessee’s vaunted defense comes to play.

Cory Nightingale

Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.