Tag: 2020 cfb

Players we’ll miss most from the Big 10 and Pac-12: Stanford CB Paulson Adebo

Ranking the 10 football players we will miss watching the most from the Big 10 and Pac-12: No. 8 Stanford CB Paulson Adebo.

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The Big Ten announced its decision Tuesday to postpone fall sports. Minutes after, the Pac-12 made the decision to postpone its season as well.

With two of the Power Five conferences not playing, the entire college football season is up in the air. The SEC, ACC and Big 12 still have plans to have their conference-only seasons, but there are a number of players, coaches and teams that college football fans will miss watching dearly.

The No. 8 player we will miss watching most this year from the Big Ten and Pac-12 is Stanford senior cornerback Paulson Adebo.

Adebo set a school record at Stanford with 24 passes defended (20 pass breakups and four interceptions) and was also named a second-team FWAA All-American in 2018.

Adebo is long-limbed with a muscular frame, playing well at the line of scrimmage. He showed flashes of greatness in 2019, but also showed some inconsistencies. He often snapped his head back to the quarterback in man coverage which is something an NFL scout doesn’t want to see in a cornerback.

Adebo’s aggressive play is something that is highlighted in his game, but can also cause him trouble. He decided to return for his senior year to try and bump his draft stock back up, but now will not get that chance in 2020.

Georgia football play of the day

Watch the Georgia football play of the day here!

It’s Monday, July 27 and today’s play of the day comes from Georgia at Auburn in 2013.

No. 25 Georgia entered Jordan-Hare as a three-point underdog to No. 7 Auburn and found itself down 27-7 at halftime. Then the comeback began. The Bulldogs went to work and brought themselves within six points of the Tigers. With 1:57 to go in the fourth quarter, the score was 37-31 Auburn, with Georgia facing a fourth-and-goal from the Tigers’ 5-yard line.

Watch what happened here:

 

DawgNation, unfortunately we know what happened to end this one, but what a clutch play from Murray and the Bulldog offense.

2020 season countdown – 83 days until Georgia Football

Only 83 more days until Georgia football kicks-off versus Virginia in Atlanta

#83 – Jeb Blazevich

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

There are 74 days before return of college football and 83 days until Georgia kicks-off versus Virginia in Atlanta on Sept. 7.

Former Georgia tight end Jeb Blazevich played for the Bulldogs from 2014-2017, contributing heavily as a run-blocker and short yardage security blanket. In 54 games played, the Charlotte, North Carolina native caught 41 passes for 501 yards and three touchdowns. Blazevich was a pivotal leader of  Georgia’s 2017 National Championship run.

Athlon predicts Georgia record, final SEC standings — High on Florida

In Athlon Sports’ SEC season preview, the Florida Gators are 2020 SEC East champions over Georgia football. Details and the full list here.

Last week, Athlon Sports released a preview of its annual magazine, a look at the top 25 teams in college football and a prediction of the final college football rankings at the end of the 2020 season.

The 3-time defending SEC East champion Georgia Bulldogs didn’t get much love. Florida was projected to finish the season at No. 6, ahead of Georgia at No. 7.

“Georgia has an edge in overall roster talent,” Athlon Sports wrote. “But the Gators have a small advantage in crossover play (at home versus LSU compared to at Alabama for the Bulldogs) and coach Dan Mullen’s team has more continuity in staff and scheme.”

While I agree that at home versus LSU is not as challenging as Alabama on the road, “continuity in staff and scheme” is a reach. In 2019, Georgia rolled into Jacksonville with a new offensive coordinator and still scored 24 points and secured their third win in a row versus the Gators.

A new aspect of Athlon Sports’ magazine this year is its SEC season preview, and sticking with its previous predictions, Athlon has Florida as the 2020 SEC East champions over Georgia.

Athlon predicted the final SEC standings and projected each team’s overall record as well.

See here:

SEC East

#1 Florida, 11-2 overall, 7-1 SEC

#2 Georgia, 10-2 overall, 6-2 SEC

#3 Tennessee, 8-4 overall, 5-3 SEC

#4 Kentucky, 7-5 overall, 4-4 SEC

#5 South Carolina, 6-6 overall, 3-5 SEC

#6 Missouri, 5-7 overall, 2-6 SEC

#7 Vanderbilt, 3-9 overall, 0-8 SEC

SEC West

#1 Alabama, 12-1 overall, 7-1 SEC

#2 LSU, 10-2 overall, 6-2 SEC

#3 Texas A&M, 9-3 overall, 5-3 SEC

#4 Auburn 9-3, overall, 5-3 SEC

#5 Ole Miss, 7-5 overall, 4-4 SEC

#6 Mississippi State, 6-6 overall, 2-6 SEC

#7 Arkansas, 3-9 overall, 0-8 SEC

SEC Championship Game

Alabama over Florida

This year, Georgia has more offensive power behind transfer quarterback  Jamie Newman and new offensive coordinator Todd Monken, with a record-setting returning defense.

Georgia fans, don’t worry seeing Florida in the headlines. Jacksonville is our home-away-from-home and it always works things out.

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Athlon Sports releases 2020 CFB rankings: Projects Florida ahead of Georgia

Athlon Sports released its 2020 college football top-25 and projected the Florida Gators to finish above the Georgia Bulldogs.

Athlon Sports recently released its list of the top-25 college football teams going into the 2020 football season, saying the list specifically represents where they think these teams will finish the season.

From Athlon:

This is not a preseason ranking of teams going into the season. Instead, this ranking takes into account where we project teams to finish after the national championship in January

The SEC is represented six times. Alabama is at No. 2 behind projected national champion Clemson. LSU is at No. 8, Texas A&M No. 11 and Auburn at No. 13.

Most notably, Georgia, the three-time SEC East defending champion, is ranked at No. 7, behind Florida at No. 6.

Athlon Sports stated its reason for putting the Gators ahead of the Bulldogs, even though Florida hasn’t won in Jacksonville in three years, is because of the SEC crossover games and staff continuity.

“Georgia has an edge in overall roster talent,” Athlon Sports wrote. “But the Gators have a small advantage in crossover play (at home versus LSU compared to at Alabama for the Bulldogs) and coach Dan Mullen’s team has more continuity in staff and scheme.”

I suppose Athlon Sports has a point, a Joe Burrow-less LSU at home won’t be as tough as Alabama in Tuscaloosa. However, the SEC East runs through Jacksonville and Georgia has held the keys for the last three years.

And as far as continuity goes, the Bulldogs came into the 2019 season with a new offensive coordinator and still took care of business in Jacksonville.

Georgia and Florida meet this year on Halloween from TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Florida.

Here is Athlon Sports’ projected top-10 teams in college football for 2020:

Athlon Sports’ 2020 Projected top-10

#1 Clemson

#2 Alabama

#3 Ohio State

#4 Oklahoma

#5 Penn State

#6 Florida

#7 Georgia

#8 LSU

#9 Notre Dame

#10 Oregon

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Alabama QB Taulia Togovailoa makes transfer decision

Yesterday, Alabama football QB Taulia Tagovailoa announced on Twitter where he’ll attend in the fall. Details here

Alabama sophomore quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa, the younger brother of Crimson Tide legend Tua, has decided to transfer to Maryland.

Tagovailoa entered the transfer portal on May 8, per Matt Zenitz of AL.com, and posted his official statement declaring his signing with the Terps on Twitter yesterday.

Alabama still looks to be in good hands, though, with Mac Jones returning as a red-shirt junior. He was chosen to take the field over Taulia when his brother went down with the hip injury last season.

Why Maryland, though? The Terps went 3-9 last season, 1-8 in the Big 10, but head coach Michael Locksley spent three years under Nick Saban at Alabama before taking the Maryland job in 2018. It seems he still has some connections in Tuscaloosa.

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Georgia has two of the highest graded returning edge defenders in SEC

According to PFF, Georgia edge defenders Malik Herring and Azeez Olujari are two of the top three returning in the SEC in 2020.

According to PFF (Pro Football Focus) Georgia is returning two of the SEC’s top edge defenders for the 2020 season.

Georgia senior defensive end Malik Herring graded as the highest returning SEC edge defender at 90.5. Herring, from Forsyth, Georgia, played in 13 games for the Bulldogs in 2019 and recorded five tackles for loss and 26 total tackles as part of a Georgia defensive line that played mostly as a unit, rotating in and out to keep legs fresh.

A few points behind Kentucky’s Jamar Watson on the list is Georgia red-shirt sophomore Azeez Ojulari, who graded as the third best SEC returning edge defender at 78.0.

After a red-shirting his freshman season, Ojulari burst onto the scene for the Bulldogs in 2019, recording 36 tackles and six for a loss. Against Tennessee, the Marietta, Georgia native led the team with two sacks and 10 quarterback pressures.

The 2019 Georgia defense was one of the best the Bulldogs have ever seen. And with the help of returning starters like Malik Herring and Azeez Olujari with veterans like Monty Rice and Richard LeCounte III, Georgia could have another record-breaking defense in 2020.

Are Jamie Newman and George Pickens the next Matt Stafford and AJ Green for UGA?

Comparing Georgia football’s Jamie Newman and George Pickens to former UGA stars Matthew Stafford and A.J. Green.

Among all the doubt and speculations surrounding the 2020 college football season, there are still some exciting things Georgia football fans have to look forward to.

One of those things is the Jamie Newman to George Pickens connection.

Last season, Pickens put college football on notice as a true freshman…

In 2019, Pickens caught 49 passes for 727 yards and eight touchdowns, which included a dominating performance in the Sugar Bowl against Baylor where he caught 12 passes for 175 yards and a touchdown.

PFF (Pro Football Focus) rated Pickens as the best true-freshman receiver in the country. Keep in mind that was in a run-dominated offense which included quarterback Jake Fromm’s pedestrian deep ball.

Enter Jamie Newman..

According to PFF, Newman, a transfer from Wake Forrest, graded as the third best quarterback in the country last season. Newman was second behind Heisman winner Joe Burrow in throws into tight windows and throws beyond 20 yards.

The combination of Newman’s accurate deep-ball with Pickens’ hands and catch-radius is going to be a scary situation for opposing defenses in 2020.

The duo reminds me of a couple of Bulldog greats, Matthew Stafford and A.J. Green.

Back in 2008, the Stafford to Green combo was one of the best in the country.

As a freshman, Green caught 56 passes for 963 yards and eight touchdowns on his way to SEC-Freshman of the Year honors and Stafford went on to be the No. 1 pick in the 2009 NFL Draft.

Yes, the bar is set a bit high and maybe Newman to Pickens won’t be as dominant as Stafford to Green.

However, with new offensive coordinator Todd Monken’s passing game don’t be surprised if the duo has a record year for the Bulldogs offense.