First impressions on every SEC game in Week 3
It’s sort of crazy to think about.
We’ve only had 2 weeks of games, and yet, only 4 unbeatens remain in the SEC. After this upcoming weekend when Tennessee and Georgia face off, that number will drop to at least 3. And after the following weekend when Georgia travels to Alabama, there could only be 2 unbeatens left.
Welcome to 2020.
As we saw this past Saturday, an all-SEC schedule can take a team on a roller coaster. One week, you’re taking down the defending national champs in their stadium, and the next, you’re losing at home to the team with a 20-game SEC losing streak. The 10-game schedule is going to be filled with ups and downs unlike what we’re used to.
I say that because some of the things you’ll see in these early impressions columns will buck what you’ve seen on the previous Saturday, or perhaps even what you’ve seen all year. But there’s a bit of randomness of 2020 that needs to be accounted for.
So, here are my way-too-early thoughts ahead of each Week 3 SEC matchup:
MSU vs. Kentucky — Mark Stoops has the blueprint, but will he use it?
All you’ve got to do is turn on the film and see what Barry Odom did and compare it to what Bo Pelini did against Mike Leach’s offense. One coach adjusted well and dropped 8 into coverage. The other didn’t adjust and insisted on playing man coverage. You can guess with team pulled off an upset as a 3-score underdog and which team allowed more passing yards in a game than anyone in SEC history. The question now, of course, is how well Kentucky can execute its zone. MSU will adjust. Perhaps less shallow crossing routes and more reliance on wideouts finding the soft spot in zones.
What we know is that Kentucky’s experienced defense has absolutely not gotten off to the start it thought it would. That’s partially why the Cats are sitting at 0-2. Will they play more desperate? That group needs to be disciplined to stay on the field with Leach’s offense.
Mizzou vs. LSU — How simple will LSU keep it on offense?
I ask that because while I don’t think LSU is in the position where it should underestimate a team, I am interested in what the offensive game plan looks like ahead of that Florida showdown. Tennessee showed that it could bully a better-than-average Mizzou defense with the ground game. One has to think that LSU is going to try and do the same thing, especially after John Emery had the breakout game that Tigers fans have been waiting for.
John Emery averaged 4.92 yards after contact on Saturday vs. Vanderbilt.
Of his 112 rushing yards, 59 came after contact.
— Cody Worsham (@CodyWorsham) October 4, 2020
I don’t think the plan will be for Myles Brennan to throw the ball 40-plus times (he’s averaging 41.5 attempts through 2 games). In LSU’s perfect world, it follows Tennessee’s game plan against Mizzou — hit the occasional deep ball to stretch the defense but let the offensive line and multiple backs do the heavy lifting. This should be a game for the LSU offensive line to flex its muscles.
Arkansas vs. Auburn — Barry Odom’s defensive game plan has to shift … right?
Here’s my thinking: Arkansas was so successful against KJ Costello dropping 8 into coverage and playing zone because obviously he was going to keep his eyes downfield and try to move the chains with his arm. Duh. That’s the Air Raid. But against Bo Nix, Georgia showed us that even with Chad Morris at the calls, could Odom send more pressure from the second level to get the Auburn quarterback flushed out of the pocket? Nix still throws on the run too much to be consistently successful. And sometimes he does that even if he doesn’t need to.
Will we see Odom use Bumper Pool as some sort of spy on Nix? I wouldn’t rule that out, nor would I rule out Auburn trying to establish the ground game more with Tank Bigsby, who was the only Auburn back who got a carry against that loaded Georgia front 7. This is a team that Auburn bullied up front last year, albeit with a mostly different offensive line and equally important, against a much different defensive coordinator.
Many will predict a Nix bounce-back game here, but if Odom can tweak his MSU game plan and find ways to continue to confuse Nix, don’t rule out another frustrating day for the sophomore.
South Carolina vs. Vanderbilt — Give me all the Kevin Harris, please
I’ll be honest. I didn’t know much about South Carolina backs not named “MarShawn Lloyd” entering 2020. And when the true freshman went down in fall camp, I assumed it would be the same story for the South Carolina ground game. That is, well below average. Well, Harris is making me rethink that. The powerful sophomore ran hard against Florida, and in a game that South Carolina wasn’t trailing by multiple scores throughout the second half — don’t tell Mike Bobo that — Harris could have been the difference.
Another nice physical run by Kevin Harris! pic.twitter.com/fzItVf8Htl
— KÏŁŁÄ ČÄM (@FTBeard1) October 3, 2020
We just watched John Emery run all over Vandy. I think South Carolina needs to continue to feed Harris, especially considering that Collin Hill’s only reliable receiver option is Shi Smith. If Harris doesn’t get close to 25 touches in an extremely favorable matchup, well, let’s just say I’ll be losing more and more faith in South Carolina’s offense finding an identity in 2020.
Alabama vs. Ole Miss — How many Lane Kiffin wrinkles is too many Lane Kiffin wrinkles?
This is like when the guy and the girl break up, and the guy is seeing the girl for the first time. He wants to show her that he’s artsy and creative. The goal is to win the breakup. Kiffin, of course, is that guy. How will he do against his former boss for the first time since his awkward Alabama exit? That remains to be seen.
If these first 2 weeks were any indication, Kiffin has no shortage of possibilities to dial up for his offense. John Rhys Plumlee catching passes? Sure. Wildcat looks with Jerrion Ealy and Snoop Conner? Why not? Matt Corral flea flickers thrown to a wide open Elijah Moore? Let’s do it. Kiffin is breaking out the entire bag of tricks, and I’m here for every bit of it.
The only way to make Saturday juicier is if Kiffin showed up rocking ripped jeans on the sidelines.
Florida vs. Texas A&M — Are we in for another bit of 2020 randomness?
Full disclosure here — I predicted an A&M win in the preseason. I had this game as Florida’s only regular-season loss en route to an SEC East title. Another important detail — I just blasted A&M for being so far off from an elite team after its collapse against Alabama and the fact that of the 180 minutes played against the Crimson Tide during the Jimbo Fisher era, the Aggies led for a whopping 4 minutes and 16 seconds. Florida, meanwhile, looks all sorts of explosive offensively.
But I find my gut saying this will be more randomness. Like, a Florida squad that’s maybe a little bit too confident up front isn’t ready to roll against Mike Elko’s front 7. I could easily see that happening. I could see Kellen Mond having one of those “he’s taking the next step” games, which will probably be followed with a “he hasn’t gotten any better in 3 years” game immediately after that. As much as I thought the Aggies were overrated coming into the season, I think Mond is a different guy at home. This could turn into a 60-minute dog fight that once again makes us rethink what we know about the SEC hierarchy in 2020.
Tennessee vs. Georgia — Is Tennessee too similar to Georgia to beat Georgia?
Let me explain. I sort of think the Vols are a lesser version of Georgia. All the things we’ve seen Tennessee do well, I’d argue, Georgia does them better. They get after it on the offensive line with 5-star talent, they have a veteran quarterback who surprisingly doesn’t look as rattled as some thought he’d be, they don’t miss tackles defensively and they continue to find new guys to generate pressure. And that’s before mentioning the fact that Jeremy Pruitt and Jim Chaney were obviously former Georgia assistants.
But I do wonder if Tennessee’s strengths play into Georgia’s hand a bit. As in, how will a team that’s been able to impose its will at the line of scrimmage handle a defense who has been dominant in the front 7? We saw what that group did when Bo Nix was forced to throw. What about when Jarrett Guarantano is forced to throw? I would have more concern about that matchup than the reverse. That is, Tennessee’s pass-rushers getting in the face of Stetson Bennett IV, who looked plenty comfortable against Kevin Steele’s group.
Tennessee was built on a foundation similar to Georgia’s, and while the early returns on that are positive, I get the feeling that Kirby Smart’s squad still should have the advantage until further notice.
Kevin Harris showed some promise. Let’s see if he can build on it. Bobo needs to get creative with Joyner. I don’t think he’s touched the ball yet.
I can see the UT UGA game being a much closer game than the spread suggests, and partly to the points made in the article. Both teams are similar, I give UT an edge on QB and OLine at this moment. The Gap at Defense is what’s going to be the question. How much larger is the defensive gap between these two teams? I would bet UT to cover the 14.
You give Tennessee the edge at QB? Seriously?
And the insane would give SB the edge. Sorry, but there’s a reason he’ll never play in the NFL.
you had me at these teams are similar and that the gap at defense is going to be the question. we disagree at everything else.
if the tn o-line holds up against the uga front 7, then all praise.
You must not be watching the same football games I am…this O line will be fine against UGA.
Georgia will end up getting to Guarantano a bit early but they’ll settle down and pickup the protections and he’ll be fine.
No way this is a 14 point win for Georgia either…IF they win, it’ll be a one possession game.
to clarify, tn looks to have a superb starting 5 on the o-line. that said, how’s the depth? uga’s strength in their front 7 isn’t just the starters….it’s the depth and constant substitution of fresh 1a and 1b players. i think that’s the biggest missing component not being addressed.
the ark and aub o-lines were no match in the 2nd half. again, if the tn o-line holds up….all game, then i’ll praise them.
Idk that Guarantano is better than any starting QB in the SEC.
Guarantano: 33/54 for 449yds. 2 TDs with 0 picks. 2/0 record.
Bo Nix: 37/68 for 410yds. 3 TDs with 1 pick. 1/1 record.
Well, so far he’s looking better than Bo Nix…
He has the 6th highest QBR in the league. Not rocket science. You can look this stuff up man. 1 of 3 QB’s with 0 picks, too. Whatever. I guess, though, some folks throw out performance for personal opinion. Fine, knock yourself out. But your opinion is not related to facts. Meaning, it is wrong.
Hopefully the ga v UT game will be a close and interesting one. I believe we have a better O line than Auburn and think G will get better protection. I dont think G will roll out every snap like Nix, unless ga does best the O line and get that penetration. You have no choice then. If we cant get the running game going it could be a very long afternoon. Our passing game has been good, not great and that ga secondary is really good. That is what concerns me in this game more than anything else. Ga making us one dimensional and being able to dare us to throw and sell out on stopping the run. I believe our D will be able to to do as well as Auburn, maybe a little better, but can we score 3-4 TD’s. I f we get to the 4th quarter within a TD we have a shot.
On bama vs ole miss I think the fightin kiffins go down big. I like Corral a lot but bama will stop ole miss a lot and ole miss wont ever stop bama. Florida should win big over LSU. It may be 50-30 but still a comfortable win.
Will UGA have 40,000 in the stands again? Isnt that against the rules the sec put in place? was the 20% just a guideline/suggestion? Serious question. I dont recall. But if you can have 30-40% then I hope UT does that the rest of the way.40K fans are a lot louder than 25K. Could help a little bit anyway. If it is against the rules then where are all the high and mighty dog fans who were crying so mloudly and often about the mays transfer because… its a rule in the SEC. Come on now surely those ga fans would not only complain about rules that other teams want to break.
This was a good comment despite devolving at the end.
I don’t think Tennessee has the offensive firepower to keep up with Georgia, and that’s more to do with Georgia’s defense and less to do with UT’s. I just think if UT was a passing heavy team, they’d have a better shot, but they’re a great running team and even with that good offensive line (which should give y’all more success than auburn running the ball)it’s an uphill battle.
I can see tenn covering late, so I won’t say it won’t be close score wise, but I don’t think this will feel as close as the score indicates.
come on, fuzzy. as far as what’s been public, cade mays and uga have handled the transfer situation with class. cade mays even went so far to shut down a baseless comment by erik ainge made a couple of wks ago. the mud slung around has been from two separate lawyers retained by the mays family and fans on both sides. let’s be better.
i have an extremely high opinion of eric gray and the other tn rbs have looked good this year as well. where i’m optimistic/confident with this game is that the uga def has shutdown the best offensive weapon on both teams they’ve played to date. boyd at ark (he received a lot of pre-season love) and seth williams, who had just gone off against uk last week and had a great game against uga last year. that’s the thing, there’s so much talent on this defense that they’re able to focus on the other team’s best player (gray in tn’s case), yet have still been able to keep everyone else in check.
the tn passing attack scares no one. you guys have averaged 225 yds through the air. i think guarantano is a good kid and he’s definitely put up with his share of ridicule from the tn fan base, but i don’t see him being able to carry this team on his back against an elite defense.
uga arguably lost its best defensive player right before the half. plug in the 2nd string and not much of a drop off.
barring a circus of turnovers by the offense, i don’t see this game staying anywhere near single digits. dawgs cover…easy
LOL. Can’t spell delusional without fuzzyvol.
40,000 in the stands. Fake News. Seems there’s been a lot of that being thrown UGA’a way this year. Must be the price of dominating your rivals.
The Mays transfer was against the rules. After all the crying by Vol fans about Mays bogus transfer request, and you talk about an made up from this air imaginary rule violation?
That is seriously lame…
If you worried about having 25k or 40k in the stands, then you already lost the game. BTW, did you count them? And about this win streak, UAB, Missouri twice, Vandy twice, and not ONE top 25 opponent.
Couldn’t care less about TN/GA. Both pretenders.
While the SEC is powerful, they don’t set attendance limits. That is controlled by the states and the individual schools.
The Game is going to come down to Defense, and I personally think UGA has the better D.
Agreed. Only thing that could turn it UT’s way is the turnover. Other than that, this is a UGA win.
We don’t know UGA’s D is elite this year. It wasn’t last year in the secondary against top 5. When has it been? Secondly, you really think our D couldn’t have had the same result against AR and Auburn? They could have. Secondly, UGA has not played a QB as good as JG this year. The last time JG played a game against UGA was two years ago and it was a 12 point UGA lead late in the fourth. That was a very different UT team and UGA team in that game than today.
Hogs are going in the right direction but Gus seems to have our number. We’ll see.
Now we know why Arkansas played UGA close. Your team is not real good but they are really better than we expected. More wins coming your way. You may have gotten a real good coach in Uncle Sam.
And sit down Tennessee fans. Georgia is it gonna shut you down.
Congratulations. You won a football game. By all means, crowd the microphone.
Congratulations, On showing one pulsation on a 3 year flat line.
Tenn fans no room to talk . Can’t even beat GEORGIA STATE but think they can beat UGA !!!! Cmon gtfoh . Arkansas has been atrocious for several years… nobody is saying otherwise . But Tenn. fans certainly have no room to throw shade at anyone
You should be used to their jabbering by now even though you don’t play them every year.
Things slow on Arkansas’s board? I thought you all would be discussing that 9th win in four years. What’s that 9 and 29 in four years? Yeah we can throw some shade hoss.
And dang, this last win was Arkansas’s first in the SEC since 2017, and 2017 was a one win season.
How about, instead of going on other boards and stirring things, cheer for your team to get that second SEC win in a season. A feat not accomplished by Arkansas since 2016, when Obama was still President. That was a glorious 5th place finish with a 3-5 SEC record. Yeah we can throw some shade hoss.
You need to look to see who started talking the trash. I didn’t say a thing to his “going in the right direction” post… then he wanted to talk smack to Tennessee Fans… So see you in 3 years when Arcky gets its next conference win.
GSU could still beat you, so could BYU lol.
LSU could have run all over Vandy, but they had more pass plays than run plays. That’s the LSU offense now. Besides, Brennan needs practice. Expect more pass plays than run plays.
I think it’s safe to say A&M is not going to beat a top 10 team. Florida wins easily.
Ole Miss will score a lot of points. Alabama will score a lot more.
Auburn over Arkansas. Talent level at Auburn is too much for Arkansas. Same for South Carolina over Vandy and Georgia over Tennessee. Don’t know what to expect from Kentucky and MSU. I think, for the third week in a row, the Kentucky game is the hardest to predict, but I’ll pick Kentucky simply because they are due.
This is a very interesting schedule. Kentucky vs MSU should be a heck of a game. I’m interested to see how Arkansas handles success and how Auburn handles disappointment. Ole Miss and Kiffin against Bama and Saban should be fun. We could see 100 points in that one. I don’t think the Aggies can hang with the Gators, but Fisher needs to find a way or the critics will get louder. Tennessee seems to be a better matchup against UGA than Auburn turned out to be, but people thought Auburn had a shot beforehand. This is an excellent slate of games.
yeah, i’m very intrigued by the om/bama match up. i would have thought there would have been more coverage by the media heading into this one.
nothing new here, but kiffin really has an elite offensive acumen. he gave fits to uf and i have little doubt that he hasn’t caused some extra mtg time over in tuscaloosa in game-planning against him. he’ll assist the rest of the league in pointing out the bama defense’s greatest weaknesses
Georgia rolls. 41-10.
Tennessee just isn’t that good. You know who they are? They’re the Jim Donnan Dawgs. They’re forever. 7-5 or 8-4. It’s what they’ve been for TWO DECADES. It’s what they’ll be for the foreseeable future. An illiterate redneck coach from Alabama ain’t changing that.
Always with classy and unbiased commentary and an uncanny ability to predict the “foreseeable” future into eternity. The one and only, original Nostradumba$$
Welp, I haven’t been wrong yet about Floriduh and Tennessee vis a vie my Dawgs, now have I?
Don’t worry ‘turd, your disappearing act will come soon enough.
That week you were gone following another Kirby Smart suffocating beatdown of Sideshow Dan the Clown was oh so nice.
Congrats on attempting to use sophisticated words and phrases, however so far you have not succeeded in mastering them. “vis a vie” reminds me of the time you said you made a “type O”
Did you look into that job offering I recommended for you the other day
You really are the biggest moron on this site.
Stupid comment after stupid comment. Must really stink being an ignorant little punk.
for him it’s Moron, capitalized
Nothing sucks like a big orange.
Delusional lol. Your D couldn’t manage a halftime lead on the worst team in the SEC.. We’re going to see JT come in after SB gets stuffed. If you can’t see whats on this team now compared to the last 15 years or longer, you need to take up another sport. Like ballet..if you can call that a sport..lol
If A&M gets rolled by Florida, Jimbo’s seat is going to heat up quickly. Their best chance might be to try to win a shootout, because I think their defense (and most defenses in general) will only slow them, but not stop them. Florida’s offense is for real and there are playmakers all over the place. Also, while it brings me no actual joy, I do somewhat like the Heisman chatter around Pitts since I’d love to see that award go to a non-QB and right now Pitts is one of the best non-QB offensive players in the country.
Tennessee at Georgia is going to be a very good game. Tennessee currently has some very legitimate strong points in a way they haven’t in quite some time. Pruitt has done a good job returning them to a proper SEC team. I think some elements of the UT fanbase might be getting ahead of themselves a bit, but as a UGA fan I’m all too familiar with that concept.
if saying I think we have a chance if we get to the 4th, down by 7 or less is getting ahead of myself then I am ahead of myself for sure. Seems like a reasonable take to me. There are three other comments from TN fans on this article, none of which predict anything but a good georgia D and a close game. On the other hand you have corch, which really needs no explanation. Georgia by a hundred in his view, vs the green bay packers. You have a great defense but you dont have a great offense. That doesnt spell guaranteed victory, let alone guaranteed by 30. I would definitely take UT and the points.
This looks like a big letdown game for UGA to me: they’ve been hearing nothing but how we should all pencil them in for a playoff spot already and I bet you every Tennessee player shows up with a chip on their shoulder after seeing that 14 point spread.
We’re in this game from start to finish.
This is also a uga squad that has come up short the last two years of making the playoff. i think the outside noise factor that you’re referring to more applies to teams that have started strong, but have no real history of success or finishing strong.
uga has finished well the last two years in going 11-3 and 12-2, but they certainly fell short of their expectations. i expect…or at least hope both teams to be motivated going into this game.
No, UGA has been hearing about how bad they looked against Arkansas and have no QB. Then they heard about how Auburn would “smoke” them, according to guys like Barrett Sallee. After the Dawgs crushed the Tigers the story shifted to Auburn not really being very good. All this while praise rains down on TN for a squeaker win over SC and running over powerhouse Mizzou. The Vols and their fanbase are in for an ugly dose of reality Saturday afternoon.
Volman, no UGA is not being penciled in for the playoffs. So far this season, that’s Bama and Florida.
Factor in 80% chance of rain in north Georgia Saturday, possible tropical storm passing through. Unknows abound if that happens.
You notice this spread shrinking by the day. Already down from 14.5 to 13.5 at midnight last night. Looks like Vegas is recognizing the hype around UGA is just that, thus far. Also, this game is getting eyes to finally research what’s on this team, and they are finding a lot more 4 and 5 stars than they realized, with experience.
To your point fuzzy..the same thing was said about the Auburn game….
But I agree as I mentioned above, I’d take Tenn and the points, but I took Auburn and the points……
Fuzzy, my comment wasn’t directed towards you or comments like the ones you’ve posted. There are a few nutty Tennessee fans on SDS and beyond. Those are who I was referring to.
Taking Nix and Auburn with the points made sense based on “hey, its Auburn”, and assuming they’d live up to their depth ranking(13th), TN is 14th(before Mays) and I promise you TN will live up to it. Also, straight up, JG is more accurate and a better passer than Nix..
UGA is definitely the better team on paper, but UT has closed the gap. Is it closed enough? We’ll find out Saturday.
yes, tn has closed the gap. i don’t know many that are expecting a 41-0, or 38-12 or 43-14 outcome, but I don’t see an outcome under 15 pts.
UT has definitely closed the gap. But when the gap is averaging 32 pts per game the last three years, 14 point spread seems like a big improvement. Not sold on Guarantano with QBR of 73 and 83 against Missou and USC. If UGA can hold UT rushing to under 3.5 per carry, UGA wins.
What? No man, you averaged 22 points on offense last season. Since Chaney left, he took the points with him. Look at where you ended last season points per game. Through two games this season against one non-existent D and one that well was missing alot of people and just bad, your gonna hang your average on that for the future.. No.. lol
Tennessee is closing the gap on UGA like a newborn baby is closing the height gap with Shaquille O’Neal.
The Tennessee vs. Georgia is indeed about defense…but it is about Tennessee’s defense. Georgia’s defense is elite…we’ll find out how good the Vols defense is. It better be improved vs. what I saw in the TN/SC game…too many defensive lapses.
We had a host of center secondary defenders out.. and half the team only got a slight amount of practice, we got a few back for the Mizzou game.. The D will be better. I just wonder how many plays the UGA D will be on the field on Saturday. I’m predicting too many and if it rains, only makes it worse.
I don’t see the way to beat GA as being to run through their D line. Just don’t see that happening. If you go over them with quick passes it doesn’t matter how good their line is. Beat their secondary, not their badass D line
UGA’s secondary has been ripe for good QB’s. That looks even more doable this season. UGA does not beat elite teams because their secondary isn’t elite and their D line tires against good O’lines. This is a very very good O’line for TN and its size advantage.. TN should control tempo in this game. Even more so if it rains.
GA No.1 Rushing Defense vs. Vols No.2 Rushing Offense.
Georgia No.3 Rushing Offense vs. Vols No.8 Rushing Defense.
Can UT establish a consistent run game? They will need 150 plus to stay in the game. I think GA will be able to establish the run, which will allow Bennett to use play-action and keep the offense balanced.
I believe both defenses will set up to stop the run. There should be plenty of one on matchups between the receivers and DB’s in this one.
It’s going to be a great chess match type game to watch.
Illustration is correct. Just not the run game for UGA. Your going to have to pass to beat us and do it better than you have thus far. JG straight up will hit your secondary while you crowd the line. Your D is good but not good enough to keep JG from hitting slants. When your not having your secondary tested through two games, it goes against preparing that secondary.. AR and AU still had plenty of wide open receivers and backs waiting for a ball that never came.
It’s natural to think that fans of a team that is winning have an excessively positive bias, but sometimes they are just more familiar with their own team than outsiders. That’s why Florida fans knew that losing the 2019 senior wide receivers to the NFL wouldn’t be a problem. In that vein, I think Florida will roll Texas A&M because the offense let their foot off the gas in the second half against SC and it left a bad taste. I think the Florida offense comes out wanting to blow a game wide open and keep piling it on.
I think the Florida defense will get a bit better each week. That said, the outside linebackers have not looked good. Save for Houston, they aren’t really built to defend the run, but they’re not covering well and they’re getting sealed off on the outside.
The Ole Miss offense is about to come to a screeching halt. But only for a week. While Alabama’s secondary may be a bit vulnerable and Ole Miss will score some points, I think Corral is going to have a long day with the Bama pass rush.
I’m really looking forward to an old style smash-mouth football game between Tennessee and Georgia this week. Can Tennessee slow this game down and even score some TDs with its offensive line and running backs? They’re going to have to because even if Guarantano plays his tail off, the UT receivers aren’t likely to get separation from the Georgia DBs and Georgia is fast enough to contain the Guarantano short pass game. If Tennessee can run the ball effectively, they’ll also keep their defense — which doesn’t have a lot of depth yet — fresh. If Tennessee can’t run the ball, Georgia’s offense likely wears down the UT defense and goes over 30 points.
The assumption with Kentucky since that 2018 team — which sent six guys to the NFL, five that year plus Lynn Bowden last year — is that the coaching staff’s player evaluation and development abilities would turn more than a few 3-stars into 4-stars. But they’ve been a big disappointment. One possibility is that some teams just didn’t practice as much because of COVID protocols. If that’s true, Kentucky should ramp up its quality of play and reduce the mistakes.
I don’t see the UT UGA game going this way. Got to have a better offense to keep TN’s D on the field for any length of time. UGA does not have that at this point. TN receivers are more than capable of juking the UGA DB backs.. In the AR and Auburn games there were plenty of wide open targets. Auburn just did not have the O’line protection needed for Nix to find them in time. TN will. UGA D has looked but Auburn won the second half 6-3 and the first half of the AR game, happened. Good D but no, not elite at this point and the secondary has never been against top 5.
Tennessee fans, I so hope you beat Georgia. That would absolutely make my day. But with that said, it’s not happening. Tennessee isn’t good enough yet to beat Georgia playing Georgia’s game, and when your team is built so similarly to another, the team with the most talent usually wins, and usually wins comfortably. I hope I’m wrong, but right now I’d go Georgia 34-13.
The better team on paper has oftentimes lost in this rivalry. Even though Georgia has won the last three, we tend to think of em as long term losers.
UGA leads the series. Exactly who are the “losers”?
The team that last won the National title in 1980. Wow that sure is a long time.
Yeah, 1998 seems like yesterday followed by 22 years of wandering in the desert.
Peyton Manning did indeed turn out the lights when he left. I think he closed the blinds too.
The 40 year pain is all too real for UGA
Yea, Mizzou said the same thing.. UGA’s D wont match our O’line. Sorry but Auburn won the second have vs UGA 6-3 and are we going to pretend the first half against AR never happened. This is far from elite D at this time. The secondary was good against zero prolific passers last year, but when they saw one it wasn’t good. We don’t need prolific passing to beat UGA, we just need our normal gains and short passes with a few longer long balls with good rushing. This O’line is Bama level. How well does UGA D do against that level of O’line? See my point. We also have a decent size advantage.
UT’s realistic goal is to not get a fourth consecutive blowout. UGA has to win this game (I believe they will) and the cocktail party, since they’re likely playing Bama three times again (should they be the East contender). Kirby has to deliver a natty in the next three years (discounting this year) or I think recruiting will suffer.
UGA’s goal is to try to find an offense that is effective against a good team. This UGA team i don’t feel would be a close game with Bama. They will lose by three touches due to the lack of O’line size and QB skill and won’t do much to keep their D off the field. Hope i’m wrong but a good study of these two teams and you can see this UGA team is not last years UGA team unless JT is the answer..
Bama is looking good but three touchdowns is a wide margin. One less than they won by against aTm and more than they beat Mizzou by. UGA is much better than either of those teams.
When he says Mizzou is a “better than average defensive team”, he must be including high school programs.
LOL
As a Tennessee fan, this is not a game I expect us to win. I think our only chance though is JG has to play his best and grittiest game since at Auburn in 2018. He’ll have to find a way to move the ball consistently in the air and hit on a couple shot plays. It also goes without saying that we HAVE to establish a running game to avoid being one-deminsional. If that happens, it’ll be a long afternoon. Also you must be even or win the turnover battle. I think the Dawgs win, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see them play better than Auburn did. If we compete hard for 60 minutes and cover the spread, that’s a successful week in my book.
It will be a total upset if TN couldn’t run and throw on UGA. No slight to UGA but the only lines you’ve seen like this O’line at TN is Bamas and you’ve yet to beat those kinds of O’lines, especially late in games.
Word of caution. We thought same thing about SC last year. But I believe that lesson was learned. We win and cover.
So what you’re saying is that Nick Saban is either gay or he’s a girl?
This is the only game we have a legit chance of winning this year.
Hmmm, will LSU be simple? How can we know before Missouri shows they can stop a simple LSU. Every LSU fan should be saying they hope the over-rated coach Walters of Missouri blew off yet another week of practice. But what if Walters caught himself in free-fall and actually was capable of teaching a team to play defense…. Then what is LSU second best area of attack?
Wow… So incoherent. Someone give this guy a pi$$ test.