Greg McElroy shares pick for Tennessee’s road matchup with Georgia Tech
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Two teams with fairly different Week 1 experiences will clash in Atlanta on Saturday night, as Josh Heupel’s 1-0 Tennessee Volunteers visit Brent Key’s 0-1 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.
The former cruised to a 56-9 home victory over Furman, with the win being headlined by freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon’s 3-touchdown performance.
Meanwhile, Georgia Tech allowed Colorado to reach the end zone in the closing moments and eke out a win last Thursday, making this weekend’s date with No. 18 Tennessee all the more important.
With the Yellow Jackets seeking a bounce-back showing against one of the SEC’s ranked sides, ESPN’s Greg McElroy laid down his prediction for how the non-conference clash will play out.
“I’m taking Tennessee to win this one, 31-20,” McElroy said. “I think Georgia Tech will play better, but I just don’t think they’ll play well enough to get the job done. They got beat on both lines of scrimmage, and I don’t think those things get fixed overnight.”
McElroy went on to reference UT’s offensive success last weekend as a reason why the Yellow Jackets’ defense may struggle to right the ship, although he believes the aspect of a young Brandon making his first road start may keep this game close.
“But it’s gonna be decided by Tennessee’s run game, and they’ll run their way to victory,” McElroy concluded.
Kickoff from Atlanta is set for 7 p.m. ET, with the game being broadcast by ESPN.
Parker is currently the sports editor for Gulf Coast Media in Foley, Alabama. He's a graduate from Mizzou who has experience covering the Tiger football and basketball beats for SB Nation, and he's worked for a variety of sports news outlets in the past.
