Kirby Smart and Georgia meet one of the toughest challenges a defense faces this week with an up-tempo Tennessee offense in Knoxville.

“It’s so fast. You can’t really simulate that in your practices,” Smart said at his Monday press conference. “It’s so different that it is hard to prepare for. You can’t simulate it with your team unless you do it. We don’t do it as well as they do it, so it makes it tough to prepare for. Your players really have to buy in.”

Tennessee is third in the SEC in scoring at 38.2 points per game, behind Georgia and Alabama.

“Everybody tries to prepare in the offseason for teams like this and the bye week, but it’s so hard to simulate,” Smart said. “Our guys are excited for the opportunity. Playing on the road in the SEC is one of the toughest things to do in the country, and we’ll have to go up to a really tough environment and play really good football.”

Smart was asked about Tennessee leading the country in passes of more than 70 yards.

“The challenge will be there this week for both offense, defense and special teams because what they do doesn’t just effect the defense, it effects your offense, it effects your special teams,” Smart said.

With Hendon Hooker having the ability to run, Smart called him a tremendous athlete who is really hard to tackle. This come on the heels of Georgia having some trouble with Tyler Macon, the Missouri QB.

“He’s big, physical, strong arm,” Smart said. “Saturday’s miscues had a lot to do with execution. We missed tackles, did not tackle well, probably our poorest game in terms of tackling assignment.”