Pat McAfee's blunt comment adds fuel to Georgia-Tennessee rivalry

With College GameDay in Knoxville awaiting this afternoon's massive Tennessee/Georgia showdown, ESPN analyst Pat McAfee distilled the essence of the rivalry into a single comment. After a challenging week in American culture, McAfee brought it back to college football with a single honest observation about the Volunteer nation.

This Saturday, you'll see 102,000 plus in the eighth largest stadium in the world-- from different economic backgrounds, political backgrounds, religious backgrounds, you name it. All coming together for one thing-- and that is to kick Georgia's ass.
Pat McAfee

Tennessee/Georgia rivalry

Playing at home in Knoxville, Tennessee has hopes of pulling a mild upset of the Bulldogs to end an eight-game losing streak in the series. Tennessee has owned the series' longest winning streak with nine-game run between 1989 and 1999.

Before the current streak began, the Vols had won a pair of consecutive games against Georgia in 2015 and 2016. In the 2015 game, Georgia took an early 24-3 lead, but saw Tennessee pull close before haltime and rally for a 38-31 victory. The 2016 game was an all-time epic as the two teams traded Hail Mary touchdown passes and leads in the final ten seconds. Joshua Dobbs' connection with Jauan Jennings as time expired is a treasured Tennessee highlight.

But since then, Georgia has taken control of the series. That 2016 game was Kirby Smart's first as Georgia head coach, and Smart hasn't allowed another game to remain close enough to lose on last-play heroics. A pair of 14-point losses are as close as Tennessee has come to another win over Georgia, and that run includes Bulldog wins of 41-0, 38-12, and 38-10 (with two of those games coming in Knoxville).

Both teams are 2-0 and Tennessee has already claimed a significant win over Syracuse 45-26, while Georgia opened with a MAC opponent and an FCS foe. New Georgia QB Gunner Stockton will make his first road start in front of that 102,000 plus fans that McAfee alluded to, and Tennessee has high hopes of delivering on McAfee's comment.