Tennessee is headed to Atlanta this weekend, and one of Georgia Tech’s defensive backs will have a familiar feel to him when the Volunteers show up.
Savion Riley, a senior safety from Acworth, Georgia, is part of the Yellow Jackets’ secondary after a winding college path that started at Vanderbilt in 2023. He transferred to Colorado for his sophomore season in 2024, then landed at Georgia Tech last year. His best production came during that lone season in Nashville, when he set a career high with 48 tackles.
Riley also has a game already on his résumé against Tennessee. He played in the Volunteers’ 48-24 win over Vanderbilt in 2023 and finished that matchup with three tackles.
Tennessee wide receivers coach Kelsey Pope pointed to Riley and the rest of Georgia Tech’s back end as a challenge on Tuesday.
“They’ve got some guys that have played significant football,” Tennessee WR Coach Kelsey Pope said about GT on Tuesday. “They’ve got a transfer who we’ve seen before who’s a really good athlete.
They’ve got another kid playing corner who’s a good player. They’ve got some athletes at safety that can move around and give you some issues.
We’re excited about going to face a good group.”
Pope said Tennessee views games like this as the kind that can sharpen a team.
“I think our guys understand it, especially with the league that we play in, that these type of games and going against these type of groups, they bring the best out of you. Some of our best games have been against really good opponents,” Pope said.
He also said the Volunteers are treating the week with a detailed game plan and a clear sense of the task ahead.
“When we go to practice each week, we try to make sure that we respect those opponents. We talk in depth about what they do, what they like, and how we want to attack to give our guys a real plan. So I’m excited about getting down there on the road and facing a good team and seeing what we’re made of.”
Georgia Tech’s secondary got off to a strong start in Week 1, limiting Colorado to 124 passing yards and one touchdown in last Thursday night’s loss. Buffaloes quarterback Julian Lewis completed 14 of 27 passes in the game.
Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said Monday that the trip to Bobby Dodd Stadium carries some weight for his program.
“Great opportunity this week,” Heupel said on Monday. “I don’t think we’ve played at Bobby Dodd Stadium in close to 40 years, but a great opportunity against a really good opponent.
A lot of steps forward that we need to take as a program to be ready for Saturday night to play our best football. A ton of respect for Georgia Tech with what they’ve done down there, the program that they’ve built.
It’ll be a great environment for a football game and we need to get prepared to go play our best.”
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