Let all the Bulldog faithful rally behind the men who now wear the red and black with two words, two simple words which express the sentiments of the entire Bulldog Nation: Auburn Sucks.
Let’s start with the fact that the whole conference plays their out-of-conference games in their first four matchups. Of those OOC games, it looks like many actually scheduled some entertaining ones, too.
Also, every PAC team is a State team. Hmmm. I heard Florida State is seeking a new home.
Next, you move into the regular season where you play seven conference games, with a bye week, and the final week is a Flex game. How does that work?
The Flex is just a bonus game, as the conference championship game participants are decided the week prior…but what it does provide is the opportunity to see another opponent in another stadium, as it’s geared towards making sure redundancy is avoided.
It’s a nice way to “get to know” your fellow conference opponents, who just joined your conference recently from the previous PAC-2.
Call it what you will, but I personally welcome the smaller conference feeling here as opposed to the mega-conference, “you might play these folks sometime this decade” scheduling. You know, like playing Texas A&M once since they joined the SEC 13 years ago….meanwhile, we’ve already played Texas three times in just their second year of conference membership. Go figure.
I gotta be honest, I’m kind of rooting for them to find a resurgence among the Power 4 money grabbers. As evidenced by Indiana, all it takes is the right group of investors, and you’re right up there again.
So JMU is the ultimate Cinderella story in this year’s CFP. Unlike the actual story, though, JMU’s trip is more than a transformed pumpkin and a glass slipper. Let’s just say their path to their Cinderella moment is a little more convoluted than that:
It took the stars aligning in nearly every way imaginable for James Madison to make the College Football Playoff this year.
If ANY SINGLE THING in this list happened, the ACC Champion would have been a ranked team and James Madison would not have made the CFP:
Georgia Tech beats NC State
Georgia Tech beats Pitt
SMU beats Cal
Miami beats Louisville
Miami doesn’t get flagged for not realizing a whistle had been blown on 4th & 9 against SMU
A phantom call isn’t made to keep Duke alive when Clemson had them beat
Clemson stops Duke’s 2-point conversion attempt in the final minute
Duke doesn’t fumble at the goal line and have Georgia Tech pick it up and return it 99 yards for a touchdown
Wake Forest doesn’t hit a 50-yard field goal as time expires vs. SMU after getting the ball back down by 2 with 12 SECONDS LEFT.
Pitt doesn’t blow a 17-0 lead at home against Louisville
Wake Forest beats Duke
Duke beats UConn
Duke beats Tulane
Duke beats Illinois
North Carolina doesn’t allow Duke to score a go-ahead touchdown with 2 mins left in the game
Duke beats Virginia in the regular season
Virginia beats Duke in the ACC Championship
If any of those happened, JMU is not in the Playoff and the ACC has two teams in. It took every single possible thing happening to create an extremely rare scenario.
The Dawgs and Irish square off later tonight on the floor of the Caesar’s Superdome in the Big Easy in the quarterfinal nightcap at the Sugar Bowl. These are the type of games the powers that be anticipated when they came up with the 12-team expanded College Football Playoff with two tradition-rich programs from different parts of the country showing who plays the best brand of football. This game seems to be between 2 of the teams built from the line of scrimmage back as both teams’ strengths appear to be in the trenches. Let’s get to the preview.
When Georgia Has the Ball
Gunner Stockton makes his starting debut tonight under the brightest of lights after the season-ending elbow injury to 2-year starter Carson Beck. I have no idea what he is thinking right now, but the closest I can come to it is when I took my national certification examination for the profession I’m in. You’ve been attentive in the classroom, taken the practice repetitions, studied as much as you possibly can, and now have to be ready to take the examination. We’ll know early if the moment is too big or not for Stockton. I like the kid from Tiger, Georgia who has the high school records and the patience to be ready for this. Todd Monken doesn’t recruit Gunner and pull him away from South Carolina if he didn’t believe the young man could be a successful starter.
Everywhere else, the matchup between the Georgia offensive line and the Notre Dame defensive line appears to be a matchup of strength against strength. Notre Dame will be missing 2 key starters tonight including their best pass rusher. The Dawgs are down in the running back room again, and we’ll be depending on Trevor Etienne, Nate Frazier and Cash Jones to get the majority of the touches. We haven’t really turned the running backs loose in the passing game so far this year. Tonight may be the time to see if the Irish can match up in space against this athletic trio.
If the Georgia offensive line plays well, I do believe we can be explosive enough on offense to get to the magic number of 30. Whether we do or not remains to be seen.
When Notre Dame Has the Ball
I expect Notre Dame to try to use the Georgia Tech formula on offense with a running QB and outstanding running back behind a stout offensive line. The Irish need a strong running game to keep the chains moving and the Georgia defense on their heels. Don’t be surprised if early in the game Marcus Freeman tells Riley Leonard to take a deep shot off play action to serve notice that they are not going to be afraid to take the top off the defense if Schumann decides to commit extra players to the box. An interesting statistic to consider for tonight: Of the players who have caught 10 or more passes, none have averaged over 15 yards per catch, and only 2 pass catchers have averaged over 15 yards per catch. Both have 1 catch for the year. Teams that have given Georgia problems in the Smart era generally have a guy or 2 who can be difficult to cover.
The bottom line is that if Notre Dame can’t get some intermediate or deep passing game established, it allows the Georgia anaconda defense to suffocate you as the defense can then focus on stopping the run.
What Will Happen
Georgia has lost 2 games to non-SEC opponents in the Kirby Smart era with the last being to Texas in New Orleans. Notre Dame’s offense isn’t as good as either Oklahoma 2017 or Ohio State 2022, but they are better than Georgia Tech 2024. That’s what makes this game hard to predict. If the Georgia defense that put the clamps on Clemson, Texas, and Tennessee shows up tonight, I see no path for Notre Dame to win without a lot of help from the Georgia offense through mistakes, penalties, and turnovers. If the Georgia defense that played against Alabama, Ole Miss and Georgia Tech (for most of the game) show up, I’m not sure the Dawgs can win.
I think the team rallies behind Gunner Stockton to play its best complementary game of the season. The talent advantage Georgia enjoys eventually wins out, and the Dawgs get ready for a semifinal showdown in south Florida against last night’s winner.
Final Score: Georgia 27, Notre Dame 20
That’s what I think. Let us know what you think in the comments.
I hated writing that headline, but I’ve run into more than a couple of Oregon fans on X over the last week who believe college football began when Phil Knight started pouring his personal wealth into the Oregon football programWhile , and probably aren’t aware of how bad for decades Oregon was in all sports except track and field. I was in southern California a number of years ago where I saw a number of Oregon supporters at Disneyland. They reminded me of the fans of the school that thinks college football started in 1990 and ended in 2010 … the Handbags.
Anyway, I love Dan Lanning and detest the Just for Men spokescoach, Ryan Day. While Oregon fans don’t rise to the toxicity level of Ohio State, I only have the perspective that someone has to lose, so I’m here for the impending fan meltdown occurring about 8:00 on Wednesday night regardless of who is doing the melting. Let’s get to the first look at run for the roses.
Series Record: Ohio State leads 9-2, but Oregon enjoys a 2-game winning streak in the series.
Last Meeting: Oregon knocked off Ohio State 32-31 earlier this season in Autzen Stadium in what was likely the best game of the season to date. Oregon kicked a late field goal and then held off a final drive using an illegal substitution penalty as a way to waste precious seconds off the clock. The teams combined for over 960 yards of total offense with a -1 turnover margin being the difference maker for Ohio State.
Gambling Degenerate Facts: Ohio State is a 2.5-point favorite and is -109 on the money line (Oregon is -111) with a point total of 55.
How Should a Refugee Watch This Game: I know many of you will be watching the game to pull for Coach Lanning and to get Ohio State out of the playoff. I can totally understand that perspective. That’s the only reason I consider Oregon as the lesser of two evils. I detest Ohio State … enough said.
From the perspective of the game itself, as Georgia fans, I’m guessing many of us haven’t seen much of Oregon this year. I’ll be watching them to see how well we may match up with them if the two teams meet in the championship game especially against the Oregon passing game. I’m also interested in how we can find a way to move the ball consistently against the Oregon defense.
Interesting Statistic: 4.06 / 4.89 yards per play allowed by OSU and Oregon, respectively
The teams have been generally mirror images of one another, but the OSU defense has been consistently better than the Oregon defense throughout the season. The difference in yards per play really reflects how the Buckeyes’ defense has been the unit that Day has built his team around. They have been solid against both run (2.94 yards per carry allowed) and pass (104.06 defensive passer rating) and have been spectacular defending the red zone (59% conversion rate with touchdowns only being scored on 63% of those red zone conversions).
Early Outlook
As I have thought about this game, the more and more I come back to the fact that the main reason Oregon won round 1 due to a short field created by an early turnover although Oregon made plenty of mistakes as well. If one of the teams plays a clean game from a turnover and penalty standpoint, that team is likely going to have the inside track to victory. If OSU puts a game together like they did in Columbus against Tennessee, the Buckeyes will win. The Ducks are going to need to be better on defense than in game 1 to advance to the semifinal in Dallas.
While I hate the prediction, I just think Ohio State eventually gets the job done and sends Oregon back to Phil Knight for more NIL money to spend in the transfer portal. Ohio State heads to Dallas to get a shot at the winner of the Peach Bowl.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.
On New Year’s Day, the quarterfinal tripleheader starts in Mercedes-Benz Stadium with SEC runner-up Texas taking on the Big 12 champion Arizona State. Similar to the Fiesta Bowl, this game matches up teams that on paper appear not to produce a game that will be close without some assistance from the favorite. The Longhorns have been consistently in the top 5 for the year while Arizona State has been consistently climbing the rankings while continuing to win. Let’s get to the preview.
Series Record: Texas leads 1-0.
Last Meeting: The Longhorns beat the Sun Devils 52-34 in the 2007 Holiday Bowl in San Diego. Texas led by Jamaal Charles rushed for 300 yards and ran out to an early 21-0 1st quarter lead. Colt McCoy kicked in 258 yards and a couple of touchdowns.
Gambling Degenerate Facts: Texas is a 13-point favorite and is -503 on the money line with a point total of 51.5.
How Should a Refugee Watch This Game: This game is conference loyalty vs. what is best for us. If Texas loses, the SEC is overrated meme will have fuel thrown on the existing fire. If Texas wins, that keeps one of the teams built to compete with us in the playoff. I do think the way to watch this game is to see if Texas has improved over the 2 losses to Georgia around turnovers and penalties.
Interesting Statistic: 4.77 / 3.11 rushing yards per attempt (ASU) and defensed (Texas)
If ASU can’t get Cam Skattebo going, the Sun Devils have no chance to win. He had multiple games where he did not get close to 100 yards, and they haven’t really faced a defense with the athletes that Texas will put on the MBS turf. It’s going to be tough sledding for Arizona State to keep the ball moving and the Texas offense off the field.
Early Outlook
Arizona State hasn’t played a team to date with the talent level and the athleticism of Texas. I just really think this is a bad match-up for the Sun Devils. Let’s put it this way. They beat the worst team in the SEC (Mississippi State) by 7 at home in the 2nd game of the season. Texas beat the Bizarro Dogs by 22 in Austin with Arch Manning at quarterback.
For ASU to win, they are going to need turnovers and special teams to create field position and to control the clock and field position with the running game. That just doesn’t seem like too narrow of a path to pull a big upset.
Texas wins and covers to get ready to play in a semifinal in front of what will be a home field advantage at Jerry World in the Cotton Bowl against the Oregon-Ohio State winner.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.
I’m sure the lines will move once teams take the field and show what they’re made of. Question is this – if Georgia curb-stomps the Palmetto Pussycats in Atlanta in the opener, what will the lines look like after? What does DeBoer have to do to be at least even odds with Georgia and a favorite against LSU?
