Weather to Play Major Roll In Tennessee vs Georgia, Who Does it Favor?

With heavy rain expected to be in town due to Hurricane Delta arriving in the gulf, who does the wet surface favor? And how will each team handle it?

It's that time of the year it seems. Where the weather is set to play a major role on a Saturday football game in the SEC due to a hurricane hitting the gulf and making its way through the Southeast. 

This year, it's Hurricane Delta making landfall and scattering rain all across the south including Athens, Georgia on Saturday evening where No. 3 Georgia is set to take on No. 14 Tennessee. 

So, with heavy rain expected, who does it favor? And why? 

Let's start with Tennessee. 

If there's one person in that stadium that's hoping that the rain shows up and plays a major factor, it's Jeremy Pruitt. They have built this football team to have a downhill running attack. They have built this football team to play a nasty, wet, 10-7 football game where they rush the ball 45 times for 120 yards and somehow come out with a win. 

You should expect to see Tennessee line up in that heavy package, with additional offensive linemen on the field and attempt to control the clock and run the football. 

What they haven't built this football team for is to play from behind. Rain or not, if Georgia jumps out to an early lead and forces Tennessee to play catch up, they are in trouble. So, if the wet field and rain cause Georgia to stumble out of the gates as we saw against Arkansas, perhaps Tennessee can make this one interesting. 

Monken's Versatility a Key for Georgia

If you haven't noticed by now, Todd Monken can win football games in a variety of ways. Against Arkansas, Georgia ran 89 total plays, 47 of which were pass plays. The very next week against Auburn, he turned around and ran just 73 plays, with just 28 pass attempts. 

This type of variety means Georgia has the ability to play in a shoot out, but if you want to slow the game down and play in a rainstorm, you have the ability to do that as well. Now, is a downhill running attack their complete identity like Tennessee's? No, but they absolutely did it against Auburn a week ago, and it's in their DNA. It may not be the core of the offense, but they can certainly do it. 

Where's the advantage? 

Simple answer, Georgia's front seven. Tennesee's offensive line may have five guys that will play on Sundays in the future, but Georgia's front seven has even more talent and depth and over the last two seasons has led the nation in rushing yards allowed per game. The safest bet is on that defensive front seven from Georgia. 

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