Is a Georgia victory tonight preordained?
Chip Towers, Staff Writer

    All due respect to Tennessee's Peyton Manning and his heavily-armored track team, they needn't even bother showing up for tonight's game against Georgia.
    The Vols are going to lose. It's preordained.
    At least, that's what hard-core Georgia fans were saying this week as the Bulldogs prepared to host the nation's seventh-ranked team.
    Consider their logic:
    - It was five years ago, almost to the day, that Georgia hosted another orange-clad team at Sanford Stadium.
    - That team was also heavily favored and ranked among the nation's Top 10.
    - That game was also played at night and nationally-televised on ESPN.
    - The Atlanta Braves were competing in the playoffs.
    As most Georgia fans will recall, the Bulldogs ran roughshod over the sixth-ranked Clemson Tigers and their No. 1-ranked defense that night. Freshman quarterback Eric Zeier, wide receiver Arthur Marshall and senior linebacker Dwayne Simmons led them to a stadium rocking 27-12 victory.
    But wait. There's more.
    Georgia - and Simmons in particular - entered that game extremely motivated after the Tigers unveiled a poster that depicted Simmons being plowed over in their 31-3 win at Clemson the previous year. Simmons had an incredible game, recording 13 tackles, two pass breakups and a sack and almost singlehandedly led the Bulldogs in their shutdown of the Tigers' highly-touted offensive attack.
    So here is Tennessee this year, handing out posters that show the triumphant Vols standing over felled Georgia quarterback Mike Bobo in last year's 30-27 win in Knoxville.
    This work of art did not go unnoticed by the Bulldogs. That poster has been tacked up on a bulletin board in their locker room all week. And Bobo has had some fairly choice words for Tennessee this week.
    So the Vols might as well stay on the bus. It's out of their hands. Tonight's game us under the control of a more powerful force. The football gods, so cruel to the Bulldogs the past four or five years, will shouting woof! woof! tonight.
    That's what the hard-core Georgia fans would have you believe anyway. Myself, I'm a cold and calculating journalist, a cynic by trade and a realist by experience. I'll not get swept up in this childish talk of preordainment, of celestial alignment and the like.
    I don't think the Bulldogs can run with the likes of Joey Kent and Marcus Nash. I don't think they've faced a quarterback with even half the passing skills of Manning or a defense with the speed and quickness of Leonard Little and company.
    But I also don't think the Vols are going to come in here and blow Georgia out of the water like a lot of other people. Traditionally, these two teams go down to the wire and this year won't be any different. Tennessee 27, Georgia 23.
    And if the Bulldogs do somehow pull it out, at least I can say 'I told you so.'
    Last week's record: 5-1. Season: 27-13.
    Here's what you can expect in the rest of today's SEC games.
    LSU at Florida: Some folks are saying that this is the game that is going to trip up the top-ranked Gators, that Kevin Faulk is going to run a mile and help keep the ball out of Danny Wuerffel's hands. This is what we call wishful thinking. The Tigers will be wishing they had somewhere to hide afterward. Florida 40, LSU 20.
   
    Auburn at Mississippi State: This game should be of great interest to Georgia fans, who might get a gauge on how big the Bulldogs' 38-19 win in Starkville last week actually was. The Tigers were hardly sharp as they eked by South Carolina last week. Then again, they rarely look sharp, they just win. Auburn 26, Mississippi State 17.
    South Carolina at Kentucky: Sadly for South Carolina, this is annually Kentucky's biggest game. The Wildcats have won three of the four meetings since the Chickens joined the league. But Moe Williams is gone and Carolina has the Duce. South Carolina 23, Kentucky 13.
    Alabama at N.C. State: The Wolfpack is coming off a 34-point, 415-yard shredding of Maryland. Alabama ain't Maryland. Alabama 21, N.C. State 10.
    Louisiana Tech at Arkansas: La-Tech already embarrassed one SEC school this season, smoking Mississippi State - when it still had Keffer McGee - 34-23 in Starkville. But the Hogs are going wild after only losing to Florida by five touchdowns last week. They'll win it on a last-second field goal. Arkansas 23, Louisiana Tech 21.
    Vanderbilt at North Texas State: As if anyone cares, the Commodores haven't won a road game since Nov. 5, 1994, when they beat Kentucky. Strike up the band, Vandy wins for the first time this season. Vanderbilt 16, North Texas State 9.

Chip Towers covers college football for the Athens Daily News/Banner-Herald. You may send him e-mail at sports@athensnewspapers.com or write him at One Press Place, Athens, 30603.

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