Ex-Vanderbilt Safety Will Be in the Georgia Tech Secondary Against Tennessee This Weekend – Rocky Top Insider

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Ex-Alabama running back Justice Haynes won’t be the only former SEC player that Tennessee will be seeing this weekend against Georgia Tech in Atlanta. One of the Yellow Jackets’ top safeties previously played at Vanderbilt earlier in his collegiate career.
Savion Riley, a 6-foot-2 senior from Acworth, GA, originally began his career at Vanderbilt in 2023. He then transferred to Colorado for his sophomore season in 2024 and spent last year with the Yellow Jackets. Riley’s lone year in Nashville was by far his most productive, though, racking up a career-high 48 tackles.
“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.”
Riley did play in Tennessee’s 48-24 win over Vanderbilt in 2023. He recorded three tackles during the game.
“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.
“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.”
In a Week 1 loss to Colorado last Thursday night, Georgia Tech’s secondary limited the Buffaloes to just 124 yards and one touchdown through the air as quarterback Julian Lewis completed 14 of his 27 attempts in the game.
“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.”
Georgia Tech (0-1) will host No. 18 Tennessee (1-0) at 7:00 p.m. ET on Saturday afternoon in Atlanta. Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for more Tennessee Football coverage.
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