Tag: Alabama Football News

Kirk Herbstreit makes SEC Championship Game predictions

ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit makes his precision for the 2020 SEC Champion Game.

The SEC revealed its schedule for the 2020 college football season on Monday night.

Following the schedule reveal, predictions came rolling in from some of the more prominent analysts in the world of college football.

One of those being ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit, who made his prediction for the SEC Championship Game this December.

Herbstreit projects another Georgia vs Alabama showdown in Atlanta this year, he said on the SEC Network.

“I felt Alabama would be the team in the West,” he said. “I love LSU and Coach O, but I think they lost a lot there, so I would favor Alabama, even though that schedule looks tough. I would put Georgia. I was sneaky wanting to pick Florida with all the Georgia hype, but that (Florida) schedule makes me nervous. I have Georgia and Bama with Bama prevailing and winning the SEC.”

This would be a rematch of the upcoming October 17 matchup between the Tide and the Dawgs in Tuscaloosa.

4-star WR Malcolm Johnson makes commitment, reclassifies

Four-star WR Malcolm Johnson has announced both his commitment to the Auburn Tigers. Johnson was a Georgia Bulldogs recruiting target.

Four-star wide receiver Malcolm Johnson has announced both his commitment to the Auburn Tigers. Johnson was a Georgia Bulldogs recruiting target. Johnson plays high school football at St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes in Virginia.

Johnson, who was a member of the class of 2021, plans to reclassify to the class of 2020. His recruitment was expected to come down between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Auburn Tigers.

Johnson had Georgia, LSU, Auburn, Florida and Alabama in his top five schools.

UGA’s recruiting class has 12 commitments. Kirby Smart and Georgia just secured another commitment. Johnson will likely play against the Bulldogs over the years.

Johnson caught seven touchdowns passes last season. In the process, he hauled in over 800 receiving yards. Now, he will forgo his senior season to enroll at Auburn. He could see immediate playing time if there’s a season this year.

Johnson announced his commitment to Auburn via Twitter:

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Amway Preseason Coaches Poll Released: Where’s Georgia ?

Where does Georgia football rank in the preseason Amway USA TODAY Coaches Poll?

Coming off a 2019 that saw Georgia come so close to reaching the College Football Playoff, the Bulldogs will look to make another run for glory in 2020.

Things will look awfully different this year due to massive scheduling modifications as a result of COVID-19.

However, there’s still football to be played, and the Dawgs will start the season ranked No. 4 in the  Amway Preseason Coaches Poll, powered by USA TODAY Sports.

That ranking places Georgia second in the conference, behind Alabama which ranks No. 3 in the nation.

The full top-ten is as follows:

  1. Clemson
  2. Ohio State
  3. Alabama
  4. Georgia
  5. LSU
  6. Oklahoma
  7. Penn State
  8. Florida
  9. Oregon
  10. Notre Dame

Other SEC teams in the rankings include Auburn (11) and Texas A&M (13).

If Georgia – which should be favored in every game minus a visit to Alabama – takes care of business, then UGA should close out the season in its backyard of Atlanta.

The Dawgs return a lot of talent in 2020, mostly on a defense that ranked No. 1 in the nation last season.

On offense, Georgia lost a ton of production, including its starting quarterback, its top two running backs, four starting offensive linemen and a star wide receiver.

By looking at the losses lost from last season’s offense, it’s difficult to picture the Dawgs making another big run, but it’s important to remember that Kirby Smart has secured three consecutive top-ranked recruiting classes. In addition to the loads of talent waiting on the depth chart, Georgia was also able to land Heisman hopeful quarterback Jamie Newman in a transfer from Wake Forest.

If Georgia is going to have another memorable season, it will need these new offensive faces to be capable of moving the ball more than James Coley’s offense was able to in 2019.

The addition of Todd Monken, who I’d say was Georgia’s biggest acquisition this offseason, should make that possible.

With a ferocious defense and revamped offense, let’s see what these Dawgs can do.

Georgia low, Florida even lower in Phil Steele’s preseason CFB top-25

Georgia football checked in lower than expected, but not as low as Florida, in Phil Steele’s preseason CFB top-25.

Phil Steele has released his annual preseason college football top-25, and this year he is not terribly high on Georgia.

Steele has the Dawgs sitting at No. 7 in America, by no means a bad a ranking. It’s just not necessarily where DawgNation would like to see their guys start the season — Most outlets have placed the Bulldogs anywhere from 4-6.

In these rankings, Steele has Georgia as the fourth best team in the SEC. Conference teams ranked ahead of the Bulldogs include Alabama, LSU and, surprisingly, Texas A&M.

You’ll have to scroll allll the way down to No. 13 to find the Florida Gators, a team that is receiving a ton of preseason hype by practically every analyst other than Steele.

Georgia returns 8 defenders from last year’s No. 1 ranked defense, added two elite quarterbacks, signed the nation’s No. 1 ranked recruiting class and got an upgrade at offensive coordinator.

We’ll see.

Here’s Steele’s full rankings:

  1. Ohio State
  2. Clemson
  3. Alabama
  4. Oklahoma
  5. Texas A&M
  6. LSU
  7. Georgia
  8. Notre Dame
  9. Oregon
  10. Penn State
  11. USC
  12. Texas
  13. Florida
  14. Wisconsin
  15. Michigan
  16. North Carolina
  17. Miami
  18. Virginia Tech
  19. Auburn
  20. Tennessee
  21. Kentucky
  22. UCF
  23. Iowa
  24. Oklahoma State
  25. Memphis

College Football News ranks SEC head coaches: Where’s Kirby Smart?

College Football News ranked the top SEC head coaches. Where is Georgia football’s Kirby Smart?

Pete Fiutak of College Football News recently released a list ranking the SEC head coaches heading into the 2020 season.

Checking in at No. 3 on the list is Georgia’s Kirby Smart, who trails only Nick Saban (1) and Ed Orgeron (2).

At No. 4 is Dan Mullen and at No. 5 is Gus Malzahn.

As much as I’d love for Smart to be in that No. 2 spot, I do not disagree with Fiutak here.

Smart’s time will come, and within the next five years he may very well occupy that No. 1 spot.

For now, he’s sitting at No. 3 on Fiutak’s list, likely right on the verge of taking over that No. 2 ranking. As long as he keeps winning the SEC East, beating rivals and putting his team in striking distance for the College Football Playoff…he’ll be considered a top-five coach in America.

Orgeron or Smart at No. 2 was likely a somewhat difficult decision. Fiutak went with Coach O since he accomplished something Kirby hasn’t yet, a national championship.

I’ve heard it all – “Anyone could win with that roster.”

Sure, Smart probably would have won it with that roster LSU had last year. But, at the end of the day, he didn’t have that roster. No other way around it.

Also, how can you not love Coach O?

As for Saban, there’s no arguing that one.

Georgia football target Dallas Turner set to make commitment

Georgia and Alabama football recruiting target Dallas Turner is committing July 1st.

The Georgia Bulldogs are looking to land a commitment from St. Thomas Aquinas High School outside linebacker Dallas Turner. Turner is a four-star player in the class of 2021. Turner is set to make his commitment on July 1st at 1 PM.

St. Thomas Aquinas is an elite high school football program. They won the Florida’s state championship last season partially due to 2020 University of Georgia signee Marcus Rosemy.

Dallas Turner anticipates playing against high-level competition in high school  next season. He’s trimmed down his list of top schools significantly. Here are Turner’s top five schools:

Turner puts Michigan, Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Florida in his top five. Turner will likely be another talented recruit head outside the state of Florida for college. Georgia and Alabama are considered the top two schools for Turner at the moment according to 247Sports, but they project him go with the Crimson Tide.

Turner is one of three juniors to make all-state defense as a junior. It’s even more impressive considering the elite talent in the state:

Dawg fans hope Turner will consider being the latest Florida recruit to come north to Athens. Either way it is looking like he’ll be another talented recruit to leave the Sunshine State.

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College Football News makes game-by-game predictions for Georgia in 2020

College Football News recently released its game-by-game predictions for each SEC team for the 2020 season, including Georgia football.

Pete Fiutak of College Football News recently released his game-by-game predictions for each SEC team for the 2020 season.

Fiutak also predicted which teams would be playing in the SEC Championship Game on December 5th in Atlanta.

Fiutak has Georgia playing Alabama in the conference championship, with both teams going into the game at 11-1. In this scenario, the SEC Championship would basically be a College Football Playoff play-in game.

Fiutak sees Georgia’s only loss being on September 19th to Alabama in Tuscaloosa. If so, Georgia would be hungry for revenge when the two meet again in Atlanta.

As for the Crimson Tide, Fiutak has Alabama dropping just one game in the regular season – that being at LSU in early November.

In these predictions, Florida finishes the regular season 10-2.

To see each teams’ game-by-game predictions, click here.

Here are his full UGA predictions:

2020 Georgia Football Schedule Prediction

2020 Record: 0-0
2020 Preseason Prediction: 11-1
2020 Preseason SEC Prediction: 7-1
2019 Preseason Prediction: 10-2
2019: 12-2, 2018: 11-2
2020 Georgia Preview

Sept. 7 Virginia (in Atlanta) W
Sept. 12 East Tennessee State W
Sept. 19 at Alabama L
Sept. 26 ULM W
Oct. 3 Vanderbilt W
Oct. 10 Auburn W
Oct. 17 at Missouri W
Oct. 24 OPEN DATE
Oct. 31 Florida (in Jacksonville) W
Nov. 7 at South Carolina W
Nov. 14 Tennessee W
Nov. 21 at Kentucky W
Nov. 28 Georgia Tech W

247Sports places 2020 CFB contenders into tiers

247Sports placed the top 2020 CFB contenders into tiers, and created a tier specifically for Georgia.

247Sports recently placed their top playoff contenders for the 2020 college football season into tiers.

In tier one, considered the teams with the best shot of reaching the College Football Playoff, was Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State.

It looks like 247 added a tier specifically for Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs, as UGA is the only team listed in tier 1.5.

From 247:

Tier 1.5: Georgia Bulldogs

Georgia is a weird team to place. The Bulldogs’ talent stacks up player-to-player with Alabama and Ohio State. Its history, three straight seasons with at least 11 wins, does too. But there are a few big-picture reservations with Georgia that the programs above it lack.

247Sports proceeded to discuss experience as a possible weakness on the 2020 UGA roster, noting the introductions of new quarterback Jamie Newman and offensive coordinator Todd Monken, plus the departures of four offensive linemen and Lawrence Cager.

The departure of James Coley, who has been replaced by Monken, is good news for Georgia in the long run, as 247’s Chris Hummer wrote. He mentioned, however, that given the nature of this restricted offseason, it may not yield immediate success. On that one, we’ll just have to wait and see. It can’t get much worse, though.

Oklahoma was alone in tier two.

You’ll have to scroll to tier three to find Florida, which is accompanied by LSU, Notre Dame and Penn State.

Top-three quarterbacks Georgia will face in 2020

Here is our list of the top-3 quarterbacks Georgia will face this season.

Georgia players arrived on campus this month after the SEC voted to allow student-athletes back on campus for voluntary workouts starting June 8.

There are still concerns for the 2020 college football season revolving around the impact of COVID-19, but as far as we know, all signs point to football being played this fall.

The Bulldogs are coming off a 12-2 season in 2019, where they secured their third-straight SEC East title and dominated Baylor in the Sugar Bowl. Not a bad resume whatsoever, but in most Georgia fans’ minds, without a playoff bid and a blowout loss to LSU in Atlanta, the season was a disappointment.

To reach the college football playoff this season and play for another championship, Georgia will have to make improvements on the offensive side of the ball – and they have. Credit Kirby Smart and the Georgia coaching staff for bringing in former NFL offensive coordinator Todd Monken, and signing Wake Forest transfer quarterback Jamie Newman.

Defensively, Georgia is once again in great hands. The Bulldogs return most players from the record-breaking 2019 unit that was ranked No. 1 in rush defense and No. 1 in scoring defense. That said, the SEC East was not exactly a hot bed for quarterback talent in 2019, and Georgia will be facing more experienced signal callers in 2020. Here are the top-3 SEC quarterbacks the Bulldogs will play this season.

1. Kyle Trask – Florida

2019 Stats: 66.9% passing for 2,941 yards, 25 touchdowns and seven interceptions (63 carries for eight yards and four touchdowns).

Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports

Kyle Trask doesn’t take up much space in Georgia fans’ minds, but that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t. We all know how well Dan Mullen works with quarterbacks – Tebow, Prescott – so we should expect Trask to make better decisions in 2020 and Florida has plenty of talent to give the Bulldogs a game in Jacksonville.

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Urban Meyer’s top-five running backs for 2020 CFB season

Urban Meyer ranks the top-five running backs for the 2020 college football season.

Legendary college football coach Urban Meyer recently named his top-five running backs for the 2020 college football season while speaking with the Big Noon Kickoff crew.

With Jonathan Taylor, D’Andre Swift, J.K. Dobbins and Clyde Edwards-Helaire off to the NFL, it opens the door for the next wave of great running backs to make a name for themselves.

And with those guys gone, here are Meyer’s top-five running backs for the 2020 season, a list which includes Georgia’s Zamir White.

  1. Oklahoma State’s Chubb Hubbard (2019: 2,094 yards, 21 TDs)
  2. Clemson’s Travis Etienne (2019: 1,614 yards, 19 TDs — 432 receiving yards, 4 TDs)
  3. Alabama’s Najee Harris (2019: 1,224 yards, 13 TDs — 304 receiving yards, 7 TDs)
  4. Georgia’s Zamir White (2019: 408 rushing yards, 3 TDs on 78 carries)
  5. Ohio State’s Trey Sermon (385 yards, 4 TDs on 54 carries)

Redshirt sophomore Zamir White is ready to take college football by storm in 2020. The former No. 1 ranked running back out of Laurinburg, North Carolina in the class of 2018, White’s been dealt a tough hand. He tore his ACL twice within the calendar year, but was able to perform well last season on limited opportunities. He turned 78 carries into 408 yards with an average of 5.2 yards per carry.