Under coach Mark Richt, Georgia seems to have mastered the art of beating conference opponents in their own stadiums.

The 12th-ranked Bulldogs look to continue that success when they make the short trip to Knoxville for an SEC matchup with Tennessee on Saturday.

One of the true tests of a good team is its performance on an opponent's home field, particularly against conference foes. Georgia (4-1, 2-1) has flourished in those games since Richt took over the program for the 2001 season.

Under Richt, the Bulldogs are 23-3 against SEC teams in those opponents' own stadiums, including 9-2 against ranked teams. The three defeats came to Nov. 11 LSU in 2003, No. 3 Auburn in 2004 and Kentucky last season.

Georgia took down a ranked foe in its only road game this season, beating then-No. 16 Alabama 26-23 in overtime Sept. 22.

Richt and the Bulldogs should be confident heading to Tennessee's Neyland Stadium, where they have won three straight. Richt guided Georgia to a 26-24 road victory over the Volunteers on Oct. 6, 2001 for its first win there since 1980.

Tennessee (2-2, 0-1), though, defeated Georgia 51-33 in Athens last year.

"Tennessee's offense is outstanding. Last year (our defense) got taken to task pretty good," Richt said. "We had a couple guys who got drafted and are gone, so I'm thinking it will be even more of a challenge at their place on top of losing some guys who were pretty good."

Both teams hope to avoid their second SEC loss, which would make winning the East Division very difficult. The Vols haven't lost their first two league games since 2000.

"Only time will tell what eliminates somebody, but I don't think whoever loses this game will feel out of it because mathematics will still be there and they will still have hope that if they keep banging away they can still win the SEC East," Richt said. "It would be a definite blow though."

Georgia rushed for 328 yards - its highest total in 16 years - and scored the final 28 points in a 45-17 victory over Mississippi on Saturday.

Senior Thomas Brown carried 16 times for a career-high 180 yards and matched his personal best with three touchdowns. Redshirt freshman Knowshon Moreno added 90 yards and a fourth-quarter TD for the Bulldogs, who recorded their highest rushing total since they also had 328 against Vanderbilt in 1991.

Georgia's potent ground game could pose a problem for Tennessee, which ranks ninth in the SEC in rushing defense (188.2 yards per game).

"We have certainly been tested in the run game," Vols coach Phillip Fulmer said. "We'll have 10 or 15 good plays, but then someone gets 40 yards. That's what we have to eliminate, those plays that change field position or give up a score - big plays."

This will be the first game in two weeks for Tennessee, which rebounded from an ugly loss to Florida with a 48-27 victory over Arkansas State on Sept. 22.

Erik Ainge threw for four touchdowns and a career-high 334 yards, and the Vols rushed for a season-high 188 yards against the Indians.

Despite a relatively easy win over an inferior opponent, poor defense remains a problem for the Vols, who gave up 377 yards to Arkansas State and are ranked 111th in scoring defense (37.5 points a contest) in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

Ainge's big game gave him 6,308 passing yards. He's 90 shy of moving past Andy Kelly into third place in school history, trailing only Peyton Manning and Casey Clausen. Ainge leads the SEC with 282.5 passing yards a game.