Two Georgia assistants could be candidates for Florida Atlantic’s head coaching vacancy
A few college football teams have already fired head coaches, so the coaching carousel is already turning. The Georgia Bulldogs have several viable coach candidates on their staff. Last offseason, two UGA assistants found head coaching jobs.
Florida Atlantic parted ways with coach Tom Herman on Nov. 18. According to Athlon Sports, Georgia tight ends coach Todd Hartley and wide receivers coach James Coley could be candidates to replace Herman.
Hartley serves as Georgia’s tight ends coach and assistant coach. Hartley has coached with Georgia, Marshall and Miami. He has also held positions as a safeties coach and a special teams coordinator. At Georgia, he developed Brock Bowers into a star NFL rookie and won two national championships with the Bulldogs.
Coley serves as Georgia’s wide receiver coach. He has coached since 1997, taking positions with LSU, Florida State, Miami, Texas A&M and the Miami Dolphins. He has served as the offensive coordinator for Georgia (2018-19) and Texas A&M (2022-23). At Florida State, he was considered the ACC’s top recruiter in 2011 and 2013. Florida State won a national championship with his recruits.
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Florida Atlantic is rife with recruiting opportunities. FAU’s campus is located in the Miami area, which is home to some of the best recruits in the nation. The Owls opened a state-of-the-art athletic facility in 2021. Whoever gets the chance to coach at FAU will inherit a young program in the American Conference.
Where does the University of Georgia rank in U.S. News & World Report’s latest college rankings?
The University of Georgia is ranked among the top 20 public university according to U.S. News & World Report. Georgia has been ranked in the top 20 for nine straight years. UGA is ranked as the No. 18 public school in the country.
“I wanted to acknowledge the University of Georgia again was recognized for U.S. News and World Report’s top public institutions in the country,” said Georgia football coach Kirby Smart. “We’re blessed to be part of a university that is one of the top public institutions in the country and consistently been in the top 20.”
“We sell that in recruiting hard. It certainly is a great academic institution, and we’re blessed to be a part of it. A lot of credit goes to our administration, President Morehead, our faculty, our students,” said Smart.
So how does U.S. News & World Report rank colleges? It heavily weighs graduation rates, peer assessment, graduation rate performance and financial resources per student as the most important factors.
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UGA is one of the best public schools in the country. So many folks have been so passionate about Georgia since UGA was founded in 1785.
The Georgia Bulldogs are expected to be without four players on Saturday against Auburn
The Georgia Bulldogs, like many teams, have dealt with injuries all season. Georgia is dealing with more injuries as they to host the Auburn Tigers Saturday, Oct. 5 at 3:30 p.m. ET.
Senior linebacker Smael Mondon Jr. suffered an injury over the course of the week that will keep him out of the Auburn game. There wasn’t an update on his injury after the Alabama game, but he was listed as out on the availability report, so it’s fair to assume the injury was suffered in practice. This will be his first missed game of the season.
Georgia fans should expect an uptick in snaps from sophomores Raylen Wilson and CJ Allen. The Bulldog defense is very young down the middle, but is also very talented. Redshirt sophomore Terrell Foster is a candidate for increased playing time along with freshmen Chris Cole and Justin Williams.
As for the rest of the inactives, Roderick Robinson is still out due to preseason surgery from turf toe, London Humphreys will still be out due to mononucleosis, and Tate Ratledge will continue to recover from his injuries. He’ll more than likely not see the field until November.
Here are the injury updates on Georgia Bulldogs like London Humphreys, Carson Beck, Mykel Williams, and Tate Ratledge.
Coming into a tradition-based matchup at No. 4 Alabama, the No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs have been nicked by the injury bug quite a bit into this matchup. There are some notable players on it, and head coach Kirby Smart will need all the relief he can get for those injuries to improve his record against the Crimson Tide.
Already down guard Tate Ratledge and running back Roderick Robinson, the Bulldogs will also have to deal with wide receiver London Humphreys missing some time with a diagnosis of mononucleosis.
At least for Bulldogs fans, they won’t have to worry about Carson Beck not playing. After Beck suffered an AC sprain in his shoulder in the game against Kentucky, he’s healthy and expected to start.
Unfortunately, Bulldogs fans are still holding their breath on three players: Mykel Williams, Warren Brinson, and Jordan Hall. According to Kirby Smart, “They’re all working to come back. They’re all doing the rehab process, Warren’s (Brinson) really close, he’s out there doing stuff now. Mykel’s (Williams) running, Jordan’s (Hall) running, so we’re hoping to get those guys back.” Mykel Williams is “considered a game-time decision,” according to Pete Thames of ESPN.
Losing all three of those defenders, especially Williams, could be a huge blow, with Alabama’s stalwart offensive linemen all being healthy.
Here’s the full injury report Georgia has brought out before gameday:
The media has several different takes on the high-profile Georgia-Alabama matchup, and here are some of them.
After a bye week last week, Georgia will face one of its many tests of the year against the tradition-rich Alabama Crimson Tide. This is ‘Bama’s first game in conference this year, and Kalen DeBoer has a lot on the line keeping alive the 5-1 record the Crimson Tide have on Georgia since Kirby Smart was hired.
Georgia is still considered the favorite, albeit not by that much. Of course, Smart’s 1-5 record against Alabama says otherwise, but Carson Beck will have to overcome his past performance, losing Alabama in the SEC Championship to knock Georgia out of the playoffs and give Alabama the nod for the last spot.
Of course, with the expanded College Football Playoff, there shouldn’t be an issue of a one-loss team missing the playoffs this time around, especially the SEC, but Georgia will need to win this game to get back to the No. 1 spot they lost in Week 3 after an ugly 13-12 win over Kentucky.
With this game getting so much hype, here’s what the media is saying about this game:
A Shootout
Colin Lynch of College Football Network believes this game will be a shootout that will rely on clutch quarterback plays to decide a winner:
“Expect a high-powered showdown when Georgia and Alabama face off, featuring two of the best quarterbacks in the country. Carson Beck leads Georgia with 680 passing yards, seven touchdowns, and no interceptions, showcasing his precision and poise.
Reputation
Brandon Marcello of CBS Sports gives a team the nod based on the superior reputation, from this season and in the past. It was a last-second pick.
“I was leaning toward Alabama early in the week on Alabama, which gets the benefit of a great home crowd and the underrated off-week preparation of DeBoer, but then I couldn’t stop thinking about what I saw in person when Georgia drilled Clemson in the season opener. That game could have been closer if the Bulldogs hadn’t adjusted their offense near the end of the first half by attacking the edges instead of running into the mouth of Clemson’s beastly defense. Georgia does seem more limited offensively this season, especially at receiver, but the Bulldogs also had another week to erase that putrid performance at Kentucky (worst offensive performance in three years).
Defensive Duel?
Greg Bosworth of Bama Hammer believes that the biggest decider of the game will be the Alabama defense:
“ For me the answer is simple and that is the Alabama defense.The Alabama defense shows up for the whole game like we’ve seen in spurts throughout the first three weeks in the season, Alabama will win the game. On the other side if the defense doesn’t show up and show out on Saturday night then Georgia will walk out of Bryant-Denny Stadium as the winner.”
Don’t Doubt the Old Empire
The writers at ForTheWin have a split decision on each team, but most of them are leaning towards the old empire of the SEC.
Blake Schuster: “The Crimson Tide are a home underdog for the first time in 17 years. You don’t tempt fate in Alabama. You don’t crown a new SEC dynasty until you’re absolutely sure the old one is dead. Jalen Milroe Heisman SZN is here.“
Mitchell Northam: “New Bama beats the old Bama at Bama.“
Christian D’Andrea: “Home underdog Bama? With Jalen Milroe looking like a full-stop stud?”
Michelle Martini: “I have my reservations about this Crimson Tide team, but Jalen Milroe seems to be improving each week. And with both teams coming off a bye, I have a feeling Kalen DeBoer has some moves that may surprise the Bulldogs.”
Tyler Nettuno: “I’m still a bit skeptical about this Alabama team, and it’s hard for me to imagine Kalen DeBoer scores a win over Kirby Smart in his first try, even at home.“
Ranking the enrollment of every SEC schools including UGA
The Southeastern Conference is well known for its athletic dominance, particularly in football. However, following the conference’s recent additions of the University of Oklahoma and the University of Texas, the SEC now has over 600,000 total students.
The SEC is home to some of the largest colleges in the country. Thirteen of the SEC’s 16 schools have over 30,000 enrolled students. The average SEC school has 37,912 students enrolled. It is no wonder that with such large enrollments that the SEC is also home to some of the largest college football stadiums in the country.
Enrollment figures include both graduate and undergraduate students. We used the enrollment totals from the SEC media guides of each school entering the 2024 college football season. These enrollments numbers are primarily from the 2023-2024 academic year.
Ranking SEC schools by enrollment (from largest to smallest)
Texas A&M University has the biggest enrollment of any college in the SEC. Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
After suffering an injury in the Bulldogs’ matchup against Kentucky, the extent of the injuries to Georgia guard Tate Ratledge have been confirmed.
The Georgia Bulldogs offensive line had a rough outing Saturday night against Kentucky Wildcats, in large part due to an injury suffered by 2023 first-team all-SEC guard Tate Ratledge.
Ratledge was carted off the field. While the Bulldogs pulled away with the victory, fans nervously awaited news on Ratledge’s status.
As first reported by On3’s Rusty Mansell, Ratledge avoided a season-ending injury. He is, however, expected to miss around six weeks with a sprained MCL and ankle, which would put a potential return date for the Nov. 2 matchup with the Florida Gators after Georgia’s second bye week of the season.
Ratledge is projected to miss the massive upcoming road games against Alabama and Texas, meaning Georgia will need Micah Morris to step up in his place. Morris, a former four-star recruit in the class of 2021, has played in 28 games over his four years with the Bulldogs including all three thus far this season. Morris consistently sees snaps as a part of the offensive line rotation.
Georgia will have a bye week to settle the rotation along the offensive line before heading to Tuscaloosa to take on the fourth-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide in a prime-time matchup with major implications for the SEC and the College Football Playoff. The line will have to play significantly better than was seen against the Wildcats for Georgia to win in Tuscaloosa for the first time since 2007.
UGA freshman, former FSU commit turned down “at least” $200 more in NIL money from other programs to attend Georgia
Georgia Bulldogs true freshman defensive back K.J. Bolden, a former five-star recruit, made an immediate impact in Week 1 for Georgia. Bolden finished the Clemson game with four tackles, which was tied for the second-most on the team.
Bolden had a highly contested recruitment. He had been committed to Florida State from August into December 2023 before flipping to the Bulldogs. Auburn was also a factor in his recruitment. He had a strong offseason and started the opening game against Clemson, turning in and impressive performance including a crucial third-down stop on the first drive.
The recruiting landscape has changed greatly over the past few years with the introduction of name, image and likeness licensing. However, program reputation remains a prominent factor in the recruiting process, something that Kai Bolden gave insight into this week in an interview with On3’s Phillip Dukes. Kai Bolden is the father of K.J.
“Did he (K.J. Bolden) really get $2 million to go to Georgia?” asked On3’s Phillip Dukes.
“Nah, man,” Kai Bolden said. “Actually we could have went to other schools and got more money. It just actually came down to where he wanted to be, and the team he saw that gave him the best possibility to play on Sundays. But, nah. Georgia definitely did not offer him the most money.”
Kai also estimated that K.J. turned down “at least” $200,000 in NIL in order to attend Georgia over other schools.
“Georgia is gonna put 10 other elite athletes out there with you,” Kai Bolden said. “When you go to a school like Georgia, you just gotta do your job. And, you know, it makes it easier for you as a DB when you’re playing with a great defensive line.”
College football analyst Joel Klatt released his updated rankings after Week 1
Fox Sports college football expert Joel Klatt released his top 10 college football teams, and he put an SEC team on the top of the list.
His top nine includes three other SEC schools, three Big Ten schools, one ACC school and one independent school. It goes to show that the top competition this year is coming from the SEC and the Big Ten, and both teams that win those conferences will have a significant advantage in the playoffs.
With the 2024 season including an expanded College Football Playoff, there’s a likelihood that all of these teams could make the playoffs, even if they don’t win their division.
Here’s Joel Klatt’s top 10 teams:
No. 10: Oregon Ducks
Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK
Result: Win vs. Idaho 24-14
Oregon finds themselves down a few rankings from No. 3 in the preseason. This mostly has to do with them keeping it close against Idaho. They’ll have more chances to show they belong in the top 10, but squeaking by a Football Championship Subdivision school does not inspire confidence.
After winning the national championship last year, this year looked to be harder for the Wolverines, who lost 13 players and their head coach in 2024. If their first matchup is any indication, though, they should be fine in the Big Ten; at least, defensively. The Wolverine’s defense sacked Fresno State QB Mikey Keene three times and picked him off twice, one returned for a pick-six near the end of the game.
The Penn State Nittany Lions could be in position to make the playoffs for the first time in school history. They strengthened their case with a dominant win over West Virginia last week. There was a lot of hype for quarterback Drew Allar, and he didn’t disappoint, throwing 216 yards and three touchdowns for a 229.7 passer rating.
Mississippi finds itself moving down a couple of spots in Klatt’s power rankings. This despite Mississippi having the largest margin of victory of the top nine teams. However, some of that may have had to do with its competition: Furman is a Football Championship Subdivision team. Even then, Mississippi dominated on both sides of the ball. Its offense totaled 772 yards and 37 first downs. The defense allowed only 172 yards and seven first downs.
This team was probably the most surprising inclusion into this list. Going up against the Florida Gators, this was expected to be a tossup game that would be close to the end, but it wasn’t. Cam Ward was absolutely dominant, throwing for 385 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception for a 189.3 passer rating.
“@CanesFootball looks like the clear ACC favorite.” said Klatt in another tweet.
In Kalen DeBoer’s first game as new Alabama coach, the Crimson Tide took care of business against one of the weakest FBS teams, the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. Jalen Milroe barely passed the ball, but he still threw for 200 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for 79 yards and two touchdowns.
When most teams had a softball opponent on this list, Notre Dame had the No. 20 Texas A&M Aggies in prime time on Saturday. It was a grind. Neither team mustered a touchdown in the first half, but Notre Dame pulled through with a touchdown run with 2 minutes left to steal victory away from the Aggies. This inclusion seems purely for the quality of victory, as Notre Dame showed they can beat a good team this week. Their first true test was passed.
Mikala Compton/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK
Result: Win vs. Colorado State 52-0
The Longhorns looked like a strong contender against the Colorado State Rams, who have a former UGA running back on their athletic training staff. Quinn Ewers threw for 260 yards, three touchdowns and one interception, while Archie Manning made his debut with 95 yards and his own touchdown throw.
Barbara J. Perenic/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
Result: Win vs. Akron 52-6
To little surprise, Klatt has the Buckeyes ranked as the best Big Ten team. This is despite only putting up 404 yards against a mid-major school. Their defense was incredible through, racking up five sacks and two picks against three different quarterbacks. Still, you’d be hard pressed to argue that Ohio State, at its best, deserves to be up here.
This comes as little shock for anyone who watched Saturday’s game. While Notre Dame’s win against Texas A&M was impressive, Georgia’s win against Clemson was otherworldly. They took a team that looked like it could compete for the ACC crown and likely third playoff spot and broke them in half. They dominated Clemson completely, allowing only 188 yards (mostly in garbage time) and mustered 447 yards, including 169 on the ground. Joel Klatt said it best when he tweeted this.
African penguins make bold prediction for the Georgia-Clemson football game
The pick is in! Three penguins have predicted the winner of the Georgia Bulldogs versus Clemson Tigers game. After much deliberation, one penguin took the reins and predicted that Georgia will win!
The three African penguins’ diet primarily consists of fish, crustaceans and squid. They all live at the Georgia Aquarium which is located quite close to the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta and is home to the Georgia-Clemson game.
Doubters and Clemson fans may say that these penguins don’t know football or aren’t smart enough to make a prediction. However, we have to disagree.
Many of the penguins create art that sells at a premium rate. African penguins are also advanced at communicating and are excellent swimmers. “They have a variety of vocalizations that they make to communicate different things,” said Georgia Aquarium.
Here’s the moment the penguins picked Georgia to defeat Clemson.
The penguin pick is in! 🐧👀
After much deliberation, our penguin friends at the @GeorgiaAquarium. have made their Clemson vs. Georgia prediction! 🐅🐶
There’s just something gravitating about Georgia’s red and black logo that draws respect across the animal kingdom. In fact, the trio of African Penguins join Yang Yang, a giant panda, in picking Georgia to win against a highly ranked opponent. Yang Yang correctly predicted that Georgia would defeat Ohio State in the 2022 Peach Bowl.
