The Tennessee-Georgia rivalry picked up steam this season as the Volunteers returned to relevance.
For the first time since 2007, Tennessee football won double-digit games, earning the No. 1 ranking in the College Football Playoff ranking for the first time.
Stetson Bennett of the Georgia Bulldogs receives the Most Outstanding Player award after defeating the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on December 31, 2022 in Atlanta.
(Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
Georgia quickly finished Tennessee’s place at the top of the standings in Week 10, with the Bulldogs beating the Volunteers, 27-13.
FORMER GEORGIA QUARTERBACK SPEAKS UP STETSON BENNETT, BULLDOGS CFP SHOWDOWN WITH OHIO STATE
Georgia is now one game away of back-to-back national championships as a showdown with No. 3 TCU awaits.
They are led by sixth-year senior quarterback Stetson Bennett, who was a 2022 Heisman Trophy finalist. Bennett, a former walk-on, has proven all the doubters wrong in his career.
But a former Tennessee quarterback isn’t a fan.
Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Erik Ainge calls a play against the Wisconsin Badgers in the Outback Bowl at Raymond James Stadium on January 1, 2008 in Tampa, Florida.
(Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images)
«You know who I can’t stand though? Stetson Bennett,» former Tennessee quarterback Erik Ainge said Monday on «The Erik Ainge Show.» «He was nice when he first came to play and he played pretty well. And now everything like ‘I’m a walk-on, I’m a transfer from JUCO’ … he’s 28-3 as a starter in Georgia, or something like that». how that.
Ainge was the quarterback in Knoxville from 2004 to 2007 and was the last Tennessee quarterback to beat Alabama before the Volunteers defeated the Crimson Tide in 2022.
«I’m cheering a lot,» Ainge said when asked if she would cheer against Bennett on Monday. «I want Georgia to not only lose the game, I don’t want them to lose with Stetson Bennett throwing four touchdowns. I want Stetson Bennett to throw four interceptions and cost his team a championship.»
The Georgia Bulldogs celebrate after defeating the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on December 31, 2022 in Atlanta.
(Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
«He’s a punk,» Ainge added.
It is not the first time that Ainge has I shot Georgiacalling the atmosphere at Sanford Stadium «overrated» in November.
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«Playing between the hedges is overrated,» Ainge said in a tweet. «Not as loud and definitely not intimidating. It’s nothing like playing in Neyland. Vols will be fine in Athens!»
Bennett recovered Georgia from a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter against Ohio State in the college football semifinals, throwing two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to advance to Monday’s national championship game.