The college football season is finally underway, and there is a great battle in Atlanta on Saturday when the Pac-12’s Oregon Ducks take on the SEC’s Georgia Bulldogs. Georgia, ranked in the preseason top five, enters this contest as a decisive favorite.
Georgia and Kirby Smart are basically playing a home game about 80 miles outside of Athens, Ga., in Atlanta at Mercedes Benz Stadium. Home-field advantage will be in play on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. in Georgia.
New Oregon head coach Dan Lanning spent the last three seasons as the defensive coordinator and linebacker coach for Georgia, building the No. 1 defense in the country with Kirby Smart. Oregon quarterback Bo Nix has played Georgia three times at quarterback in his career at Auburn, so there are some familiar components here.
I sat down with Don Smalley of Ducks Wire for our Don to Don talk about the big matchup this weekend.
Trojans Wire: Oregon is a massive underdog to Georgia. What are Oregon fans realistically hoping for in this game?
Ducks Wire: I think if Oregon is within one or two scores in the second half, they see some adjustments made (ahem Mario Cristobal) and gain the respect of those nationally, Duck fans will be satisfied.
But hey, I was silly enough to pick Oregon to shock the world and win.
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Yes, Don did pick Oregon in our Pac-12 picks roundup here at Trojans Wire.
The Oregon Ducks shocked the world last September with an upset over top-five Ohio State. In hindsight, the Buckeyes were a pretty good matchup for the Ducks as a more finesse-oriented team on both sides of the ball.
Georgia, however, is annually one of the most physical teams in the nation under head coach Kirby Smart. Utah laid the blueprint for how that style of play can be used to dominate Oregon, and the Bulldogs should have no problems following the plan.
Lanning can create a new identity for the Ducks, but it’s a tall task to expect a turnaround in the season opener against the defending champs.
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