Let’s take a Quick Look at how our future opponents did over the weekend that was Week One in college football.
Austin Peay – September 6th
APSU defeated Middle Tennessee State for its first win over a FCS opponent since 1987. APSU utilized a two quarterback approach between Chris Parson and Austin Smith, with Smith apparently being the Kryptonite to Kirby’s defenses – a mobile quarterback. It’ll be a nice test for Smart considering what’s coming in Ole Miss later this season.
Tennessee – September 13th
The hills are alive with the sounds of optimism, as they are every year among the Bobby Hillbillies. Joey Aguilar looked like a functional quarterback and the Nico Wafer saga was quickly forgotten as the Vowels trounced Syracuse, 45-26. Tennessee will be a tough early season test for the Dawgs, after all.
Alabama – September 27th
Lost to Florida State. And Gus Malzahan, FSU’s OC.
Situation critical. Full thermonuclear meltdowns have begun. I’ve said it before, there’s no reason why Georgia shouldn’t beat the hell and the jinx out of Alabama this season. An L here in the schedule, and we’ve got some serious explaining to do, especially with an off week prior.
Kentucky – October 4th
Beat Toledo 24-16, but were outgained by the MAC team and the majority of Kentucky’s 305 yards were on the ground (220). This plays into Georgia’s strength (?) on defense and this shouldn’t be close. Shouldn’t is a hell of a word here.
Auburn – October 11th
Beat Baylor 38-24, even with Baylor outgaining Auburn. There wasn’t much in the fireworks for the passing game, but with a mobile quarterback in Jackson Arnold, who ran for 137 yards and two touchdowns, I have Georgia Tech/Haynes King flashback concerns with this game. Also a night game, at Auburn, and Cam Newton’s jersey retirement, it’ll be a tough game. Also, they’ll declare another national championship for the team somewhere between the first and second quarter, so there’s that.
Ole Miss – October 18th
Destroyed Georgia State 63-7, amassed 700 yards of offense, 33 first downs, and 400 of that was through the air. Austin Simmons is the real deal, and we’re going to have trouble with this team, Athens, night game, or not.
Florida – November 1st
Beat Long Island University 55-0, and I’m not sure if the Sharks are Division II, III, or if they’re the Savannah Bananas of college football. Florida held LIU under 100 yards on offense, and Lagway made it through a game without an injury, so there’s that. Definitely tougher tests await Florida, who hosts South Florida next week (looked surprisingly good against Boise State) and LSU in two weeks.
Mississippi State – November 8th
Beat Southern Miss 34-17. Blake Shapen looks the part and the MSU offense presented a balanced attack throughout the game. Wedged between Florida and Texas on our schedule, and travelling to Starkvegas, this is the definition of a “trap game”.
Texas – November 15th
Don’t let the results from the weekend fool you. OSU is still a good team, and they went and hired Matt Patricia as their DC, rolled out some wild looks to a deer in headlights QB in the biggest game of the day and in the Horseshoe. I’m sure Arch will settle in and get better, and the Texas defense gave Julian Sayin just as many fits. Odd to say for a Sarkisian team, but this will be a hard-nosed defensive game for Georgia, and depending on how we’re holding up on the injury front, will still be a battle.
Charlotte – November 22nd
Lost to App State 34-11 and gave up 400 plus through the air. This would be better if Charlotte just forfeited the game, as we will be sleepwalking after the prior weekend in Athens.
Georgia Tech – November 28th
Beat Colorado 27-20. Haynes King did Haynes King things and Jamal Haynes is a good running back, but outside of that, if either of those two guys get hurt, the Tech offense doesn’t have much else to lean on. Also, it was Colorado, so it’s hard to say what you’re getting against a transfer heavy team like the Buffs.
Who do you see as being the biggest remaining tests for Georgia? Who are you worrying about more, and who are you worrying about less after week one?
Georgia will beat the piss out of Ole Piss
This is a tough schedule no doubt but if we’re going to be championship caliber then this is the type of gauntlet we need to roll through. We should have the D to manage this and Tennessee will be another good test for Gunner in a hostile environment. Please Lord keep the injury bug away from us.
People keep saying that Arch was a victim of tOSU’s new DC. Maybe that is partially true. But I also saw Arch throw multiple balls into the dirt and over the WR heads. I’m not a QB coach but side-arm throwing, I don’t think, is proper throwing mechanics for a Heisman frontrunner.
From what I saw of AU, they want to feature a running style QB attack. Maybe that holds up all season and maybe it doesn’t. I don’t think you can count on that because of injuries. Same thing holds true for Tech. King was limping around at the end of the 1st game.
All the more reason why we need to keep Puglisi fresh and ready. Though I think Gunner may be a little smarter in protecting his body.
Forgot to log in. That reply above is me!
Welcome to free agency, you literally can’t tell the players without a program. I’m waiting on real games to start in the SEC before I predict anything. I was beside myself happy at how bad Bama looked. They are getting a new coach next season if not before. Beck looked good, I always pull for UGA graduates. Notre Dame lost because they played on Sunday and a Hurricane got them.
I’m not writing Alabama off just yet.
Just as we say about the Dawgs…Alabama gets everyone’s “best shot”.
FSU looked like a stadium of crazed maniacs cheering for a head-hunting party of zombie warriors..
It was Bizarre.
Dork Camel Stadium is Bizzaro World anyway..but Bama should have been expecting it…after all they’ve played at Kneeland and the Lovelist s-hole on the plain every year.
While I hope this was the actual state of Alabama football that we saw in Tallahassee.. I think they’ll improve a lot in the next couple of weeks.
it ain’t going to be a cakewalk for the Dawgs.
This is one very, very hard schedule..and a loss to one of the excellent SEC teams will be treated as if it we lost to LaGrange College while a B1G or Texas loss to a cupcake will be excused as a hiccup resulting from a very tough schedule..
I’m sure the excuses for ND and TX are already out there.
The bama we see will not be the overconfident one that rolled into Doke. That trip to hillbilly heaven looks more difficult today. Everything else looks the same. Stay healthy and all things are possible.
I don’t feel any different about anyone yet. I said the Tide had OL, RB and DL holes, and they showed. Texas still has an elite defense and their offense will improve a lot before 11/15. The others haven’t okayed anyone yet (and neither has Georgia).