ATHENS — Kirby Smart didn’t waste any time looking ahead to Tennessee, putting his team and everyone else on notice that Georgia’s next game poses a unique challenge.

“It’s a different demeanor when you go on the road in the SEC,” Smart said after UGA scored a 28-6 win over Austin Peay. “Especially when you have not been on the road.”

The No. 4-ranked Bulldogs (2-0) will be tackling a No. 22-ranked Vols’ team that’s coming off an offensive explosion in their 72-17 win over FCS opponent East Tennessee State.

It will be Gunner Stockton’s fourth-career start at quarterback, but his first on the road, and it comes in a setting that will feature all that hype that comes with College GameDay being on site.

Tennessee’s 72 points on Saturday represented a modern-era (since 1937) team record, and the Vols also set a program mark with 41 first downs while rolling up 717 total yards of offense.

Joey Aguilar, the Tennessee quarterback who transferred from UCLA following spring drills, was 23-of-31 passing for 288 yards with two touchdowns before exiting the game with the Vols leading 48-7 at halftime.

Tennessee scored on eight of its first 10 possessions in the game, all before halftime, with six touchdowns and two field goals. The Vols also punted once and lost a fumble.

“Start fast, we did that,” said Vols’ fifth-year coach Josh Heupel, who has beaten Tennessee rivals Alabama and Florida two of the past three seasons but has yet to get a win against Georgia in four attempts.

“But starting fast, and defensively in particular, early in the football game, I thought they executed, got off the field really well early in that football game.”

Tennessee tailback Star Thomas, a sixth-year senior transfer from Duke, scored three touchdowns for the Vols, carrying 12 times for 69 yards.

“I think even from the end of spring ball, and there was a lot of growth for Star in January, February, beginning of spring ball,” Heupel said. “From spring ball to the start of training camp, I’m not sure anybody changed more than he did. Man, just did an elite job with his body, understanding growth in the offense.”

Heupel, like Smart, is ready to get his team dialed in for the crucial SEC showdown featuring two of the league’s three College Football Playoff teams from last season.

“We’re going to try to be the best football team on the field that Saturday, we need to be at our best,” Heupel said. “We certainly know who they are as a program and what they are as a football team.

“It’ll take us being at our best, and we’re going to need our fans to be at their best too, next Saturday.”

Georgia leads the all-time series with Tennessee, 29-23-2, and has won eight consecutive games in the series — one short of the streak the Vols had against the Bulldogs between 1989-1999.