Dr. Heeldawg

Kirby isn’t leaving Georgia. UGA has more money than Bama, it’s home for him—and who really wants to follow Saban?

Georgia’s offense will be fine. Going up against a top 3 defense returning all 11 starters with Georgia’s top 4 receivers out with an injury in the season opener, they played things safe and win the game. Now, they will need to take things to another level to beat Bama, but that’s not for three months yet.

Not Oregon. Not anyone from the PAC 12, in fact.

Bama and Georgia will likely both roll into the SEC championship unbeaten. Under that scenario, both will be in the playoffs no matter who wins the SEC. Ohio State remains the heavy favorite to win the BiG 10 (although Iowa may have something to say about that), and the winner of that conference will get in. If Oklahoma is a one-loss or no-loss BiG 12 champ, they’ll be in. That leaves Clemson, with no remaining ranked teams on its schedule in a very weak ACC, out in the cold, even if they go 12-1.

Again, who has Tennessee beaten again? Georgia’s better at every position on the field—yep, including OL. RB? Dawgs. DL? Dawgs. DBs? Dawgs. LBs? Dawgs. WRs? Dawgs. Special teams? Dawgs. You expect to win because of what, again?

Statistically, Georgia’s O-line is better than Tennessee’s. And the Vols haven’t really beaten anyone decent in recent memory. So there’s that...

Well, you won’t have to worry about that latter scenario. Georgia’s DL ain’t Missouri’s. And Tennessee’s defense is mediocre at best. It ain’t gonna be interesting—unless you’re a Georgia fan.

I will say that the uncertainty around the offense is the big variable in Georgia’s upcoming season. How well the Dawgs integrate Monken’s ideas on offense, and the execution of those ideas, will determine how well the Dawgs do. The offensive line actually returns a lot of talent (5 players who have started and lots of talented backups) and should be fine. The WR corps returns largely intact. We’ll miss Swift, but running back is deep. If Georgia opens up the offense (and there’s a lot of opening up to do), things could be interesting by the time we get to Jacksonville. The defense will be the best in the SEC and one of the best in the country. The offensive transformation is the key.

I agree that the Auburn-Oregon game is the most interesting of week 1. Oregon-Auburn is a matchup of strength-on-strength, an experienced and talented OL against a similarly experienced and talented DL. Oregon's advantage is in QB experience and in offensive weaponry (several WRs out for Aunrun, and who is Auburn's marquee running back? You see, I can't think of one, either). Auburn's main advantage lies in playing in a tougher conference, which leaves it more battle-tested. But does that matter in the first game of the season? Guess we'll find out on Saturday. Agree with posters here that say that the Georgia-Vandy game might be close early. It's a road game, season opener, etc. It won't be close late, though. The Dawgs will win by 4 TDs. South Carolina should torch UNC. Arkansas will win. So there you go. Agree with the LSU-Georgia Southern comments. Triple option teams are a pain, and their ball control tendencies can lead to lower-scoring contests than one might expect due to fewer offensive possessions by the other team. LSU will win comfortably, but it won't be an absolute blowout. (I expect LSU to corral the Longhorns in week 2, though. Texas lost 8 defensive starters from the best D in the Big 12, and LSU only got stronger in the off-season).

What the hell are you smoking? Georgia is going to be better than last season. The floor for Georgia is 11-1, and personally I think the Dawgs are in for a 12-0 season (not that I'm biased or anything). I've been watching Georgia football for 45 years and this is the most overall talent and the best starting talent I've ever seen on both sides of the ball. The only real competition Georgia has in the East is Florida, and that game will be a three TD beatdown by the Dawgs. Could we lose to Auburn on the road? Sure. But short of an injury to Fromm (God forbid), it's highly unlikely.

Okay, I'm a Georgia fan, so I get the Chaney angst. But he's not a bad OC when it comes to game-planning. He just isn't very adaptable in the game once the other team adjusts to what he is doing. And I think he's an upgrade for Tennessee no matter what. This is one of the rare times when we might see a win-win when it comes to an assistant coach hiring: Coley may make Georgia's offense more diversified and adaptable, and Chaney may make Tennessee better in terms of game-planning (and thereby better overall). I think UT wins all of the OOC games and loses to Bama and Georgia (the talent differential is just too great with both of those teams). That's 4-2. The rest of the games are toss-ups, so let's just take the lazy way out and say the Vols split them. That's 3-3. So 7-5 seems reasonable.

Lions don’t concern themselves with the opinions of sheep. Third straight blowout by the Dawgs coming this fall in Jax. Mullen can talk all he wants. We’ll see his bunch of reprobates on the field.

Such a ridiculous statement from a program which has done nothing of any significance for well over a decade. Losing streak to Vanderbilt? Empty seats in Knoxville? The kids you’re recruiting today don’t even remember when Tennessee was relevant. You’re Fordham to them. Even under Richt, we had more success than you’ve even sniffed at. So enjoy signing day. We’ll have the number 2 class, on the heels of the number 1 class, to follow up the number 3 class. And we’ll be enrolling 4 of the top 4 players in Tennessee. And come the first weekend in December, we’ll be in Atlanta again, while you guys stay home and dream of past glories...

Agree here. That’s the big story. Jimmies and Joes...

Playing to his base. Tech fans have to cling to the old dodge about academics because they have nothing to crow about in terms of actual athletic achievement. Collins knows he’s not beating Georgia anytime in the near future, so he’s setting the stage for the inevitable disappointment. But with his own degree from Western Carolina, and his recent coaching stint at Temple (both places where the main admission requirement is primarily the presence of a detectable pulse), he has little tangible basis for casting aspersions on Georgia’s academics.

Agree with most of this. Certainly, the odds of an LSU win over Georgia just went up with the addition of Burrow at QB--but I still don't think they come up with a W in that game. It's the most likely loss on the Georgia schedule, and it is in one of the most hostile environments in college football, but the Dawgs are too talented (and too hungry to get another shot at Bama) to let that situation get the best of them. I see a close Georgia win, by 3-5 points.

You'd have to be a Gator Fanboy to think that Florida will have a better running game than Georgia. That simply isn't anywhere close to true. And Todd Grantham has some positive attributes as a DC and some definite negatives, third-down defense being one of the biggest (just wait; you'll see what I am talking about. When Grantham was at Georgia,the term used to explain it was "third and Grantham"). Moreover, the propensity for aggressive pass rush notwithstanding, Georgia's offenses have always done well when facing Grantham's defenses (2014 Belk Bowl vs Louisville, which Georgia won 37-14; 2017 regular season against Mississippi State, which Georgia won 31-3). The talent and conditioning gap between Georgia and Florida is huge. Mullen will get the Gators better, and they will be a strong candidate for an 8-4 season this year, but the idea that they will even be competitive against the Dawgs in Jax this season is a pipe dream.