Tag: Bama football news

Where do UGA, Bama rank in Joel Klatt’s top ten?

The Georgia Bulldogs and Alabama Crimson Tide are both in position to make the College Football Playoff according to Joel Klatt.

Joel Klatt, a Fox Sports college football analyst, ranks the Alabama Crimson Tide as the third best team in the country. He puts the Georgia Bulldogs just behind Alabama at No. 4.

Klatt rates Trevor Lawrence and the Clemson Tigers as the top team in the country. He’s got the Ohio State Buckeyes, who are led by quarterback Justin Fields, as the second best team. Ohio State hasn’t played a game this season. The Buckeyes open the season against Nebraska on Oct. 24.

Here’s the full top ten rankings that Klatt released following another week of college football action. He acknowledges that after Notre Dame, the rankings are quite fluid.

These rankings look pretty sound at the top. It is hard to imagine a much more complete team in the country than Clemson. Ohio State returns a lot of talent and should have a better defense than Alabama, so it is understandable to prefer the Buckeyes to the Crimson Tide even though they haven’t played a game yet.

Beyond No. 4 is where the rankings get murky. Notre Dame still hasn’t faced stout competition. That will change in November, when the Fighting Irish are slated to play Clemson and UNC.

Penn State will be an interesting team to watch. They should be Ohio State’s biggest competitor in the Big Ten. UNC deserves to be rated highly, but the Tar Heels had to fight and scratch to beat a pesky Boston College team.

Texas A&M hasn’t been rated above Florida in most polls, so it is refreshing to see Klatt place the Aggies over the Gators. Texas A&M upset Florida at home last week.

The Oklahoma State Cowboys are the only remaining school in the Big 12 with realistic college football playoff hopes. Look for the Pac-12 to remain an afterthought this season. The conference doesn’t begin play until Nov. 7 and with all of Oregon’s opt outs, the conference’s best team will lack elite talent in some key positions.

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Georgia TE Tre’ McKitty could be a matchup nightmare for the SEC

Georgia football TE Tre’ McKitty is coming off his first game back from injury and could be a serious matchup nightmare for SEC defenses.

Georgia tight end Tre’ McKitty, who transferred from Florida State this offseason, left the field during preseason with a minor knee injury that required him to undergo arthroscopic surgery.  The injury was very minor and now McKitty is cleared and back for good.

McKitty played his first game in a Bulldog uniform this past Saturday against Tennessee.  The 6-foot-5, 245 pound Wesley Chapel, Florida native made some big plays in that game against the Volunteers.  In the Dawgs’ 44-21 win, McKitty caught two balls for 47 yards.

Georgia is now starting to put together a seriously dangerous receiving corps.  With George Pickens, Kearis Jackson, Demetris Robertson, freshman Jermaine Burton and now McKittty, the Dawgs could be a problem for opposing secondaries this season.

McKitty averaged 23.5 yards per catch last week and is about to make a big splash in SEC football play.  At Florida State, McKitty didn’t get many reps his freshman year but during his sophomore and junior seasons he caught 49 passes for 497 yards and two touchdowns.  He averaged 10.4 yards per catch in his time at FSU before making the transfer to Georgia.

Look for McKitty to play a pivotal role in the Dawgs’ offensive scheme this year and become Stetson Bennett’s new favorite target.

Twitter reacts to Nick Saban contracting COVID-19

The Twitter world reacts to Alabama football head coach contracting COVID-19 just days before game against Georgia football.

On Wednesday afternoon, Alabama football head coach Nick Saban, as well as Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne tested positive for COVID-19, reported by ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi.

No statements have been released on the status of Saturday night’s game between No. 3 Georgia and No. 2 Alabama.  Kickoff is still scheduled for 8:00 P.M. ET and is expected to go on as long as more positive tests don’t come back these next couple of days.

Her is how the college football Twitter world reacted to the breaking news:

 

UGA Football Live with J.C. Shelton – S1, Ep. 4 – Keith Marshall and Alabama preview

I got a chance to talk with former Georgia running back Keith Marshall about Georgia’s matchup with Alabama. Listen here!

Your friends at “UGA Football Live” and UGA Wire present your one-stop shop for all things Georgia football!

We are releasing episodes and interviews each week during the 2020 college football season, with a little bit of everything sprinkled in between.

In this week’s episode, I got a chance to talk with former Georgia running back Keith Marshall about who was the fastest Dawg on the 2012 Georgia football squad. And I ask Marshall what he’s seen from Georgia’s running backs this season – he says one young back earned some future carries, due to his performance versus Tennessee.

Plus, I talk:

CFB roundup

  • The biggest games of the college football Saturday.

Tennessee review 

  • What happened, who played well and what can be improved before the Bulldogs take on Bama.

Alabama preview

  • What does Alabama look like this year and how does Georgia stop them?

Bonus

  • Buffoonery in the Swamp.

Listen here through Spotify:

Or here, in Apple Podcasts:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/uga-football-live-with-j-c-shelton/id1533295384#episodeGuid=Buzzsprout-5903014

 

Make sure to rate, subscribe and review and check out our other episodes, featuring guys like Aaron Murray (Episode 2) and Tavarres King (Episode 3)

Alabama HC Nick Saban tests positive for COVID-19

BREAKING: Alabama head coach Nick Saban tests positive for COVID-19, what that means for Georgia football.

Breaking news has come out of Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Alabama football head coach Nick Saban, as well as Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne have tested positive for COVID-19, per ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi.

This is a major shakeup for the college football world as Georgia was scheduled to play the Crimson Tide this Saturday in a heavyweight showdown.

Reports say that both Saban and Byrne left the facility immediately and are now quarantining in their homes.  Saban announced that offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian will act as head coach while Saban works from home.

“I found out earlier this afternoon that I had tested positive for COVID-19. I immediately left work and isolated at home. At this time, I do not have any symptoms relative to COVID,” Saban released in his statement today. “I informed our team of my positive test at 2 p.m. today on a Zoom call and let them know offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian will oversee preparations at the complex while I work from home.”

There have been positive player tests at Ole Miss, who Alabama beat last week, and the SEC has already bumped two games this week due to COVID-19 outbreaks.  The Missouri vs Vanderbilt game and the Florida vs LSU game will both be played the week of December 12 due to positive tests at Florida and Vanderbilt.  Nineteen players tested positive for Florida.

No statements have been released on the status of Saturday night’s game between Georgia and Alabama.

Georgia vs Alabama: Expert picks and predictions

The UGA Wire presents our weekly expert score, stat and game predictions ahead of Georgia football at Alabama.

The No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs (3-0, 3-0) travel to Tuscaloosa this weekend to face off against Nick Saban and the No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide (3-0, 3-0).

This matchup features two of the top quarterbacks in all of college football so far.  Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett, A.K.A. ‘The Mailman’, currently has the No. 3 QBR at 93.1 while Alabama quarterback Mac Jones has the No.2 QBR at 95.3.

Alabama currently leads the series 40-25-4 and is sitting on a five game win streak that dates back to 2008.

This is without a doubt both teams biggest game on their 10-game conference only schedule for 2020.

With that said, the UGA Wire staff has put together a number of score, stat and game predictions ahead of Saturday’s matchup.

Here are the picks:

The money makers:

No. 3 Georgia (+6) @ No. 2 Alabama (-6)

(Odds courtesy of BetMGM)

UGA WIRE Game Picks:

Joe Vitale: Georgia

James Morgan: Alabama

Henry Sillen: Georgia

J.C. Shelton: Georgia

 

Spread Pick (Georgia +6 / Alabama -6):

JV: Georgia +6

JM: Alabama +6

HS: Georgia +6

JS: Alabama +6

 

Over/Under (57):

JV: Over

JM: Over

HS: Under

JS: Over

 

Score prediction:

JV: Georgia 31, Alabama 34

JM: Georgia 24, Alabama 35

HS: Georgia 27, Alabama 24

JS: Georgia 30, Alabama 28

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4

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.

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.

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