Tag: bama football

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 unveils his latest top six rankings

ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit released his rankings of the top college football teams including UGA, Bama, Clemson, and more

ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit released his rankings of the top college football teams who have played so far this season. His top six excludes top teams such as Ohio State, Penn State and Oregon because they haven’t played.

Herbstreit ranked his College Football Playoff contenders after the Georgia Bulldogs defeated the Tennessee Volunteers 44-21 in this week’s top SEC matchup. The Texas A&M Aggies upset the Florida Gators as well. Now, there are only two undefeated teams left in the SEC.

Clemson knocked off Miami, Alabama beat Ole Miss in a shoot out, and UNC outscored Virginia Tech in notable action from the weekend.

Below is who Kirk Herbstreit puts in his top six rankings. He ranks the Georgia Bulldogs second (remember no Pac-12 or Big Ten). He rated UGA fourth last week, so this is an upgrade for the Dawgs.

It is hard to disagree with the top three teams in Herbstreit’s rankings. The Clemson Tigers look strong, Georgia may have the best defense in the country, and Alabama has an explosive offense. Georgia and Bama square off this week, so that will settle any debate of which team is superior.

Notre Dame, who Herbstreit ranks fourth, beat FSU in a win on Saturday. The Fighting Irish have a fairly easy schedule until they host Clemson. They will also play UNC in November.

UNC and BYU round out Herbstreit’s rankings. BYU seems overrated considering who it has played and how unimpressive they were in a seven point win over UTSA. The Cougars face a this Friday against Houston.

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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

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.

CFN predicts outcome of Georgia vs Alabama

College Football News predicts the outcome of Georgia vs Alabama in September.

Georgia vs Alabama will be one of the most anticipated games of the 2020 college football season, and certainly the biggest matchup in September among all FBS games.

If Georgia wins this game, the Dawgs might jump all the way to No. 1 in the rankings…they’d certainly deserve to. But a loss is not the end of the world for UGA either. Play the Tide close and Georgia will earn America’s respect. If we get blown out like we have in recent years on the road vs SEC West teams, Kirby Smart will have to run the table the rest of the way if he wants to get back to the College Football Playoff.

Pete Fiutak of College Football News previewed the September 19 game in Tuscaloosa, and gave reasons on why both Georgia and Alabama can win this game.

Why Georgia Will Win

Via Fiutak:

The defensive front seven should be in place to hold up against the pounding that Alabama is going to try to apply.

The Bulldog secondary, though, will be the strength early on.

It’s going to be one of the nation’s best defenses after getting dates against Virginia and East Tennessee State to tune-up.

To see Fiutak’s reasons for why Alabama will win, click here.

In the end, Fiutak has Alabama winning in a close battle, which would be ok with most Georgia fans. The playoff committee would have to gain a lot of respect for these Dawgs if they play the mighty Tide like that on the road.

Read Fiutak’s full prediction here.

Barrett Sallee picks Florida to win SEC East, projects Georgia record

CBS college football writer picks the Florida Gators to win the SEC East over Georgia football, as well as SEC records.

College football experts have already begun to submit their predictions for the 2020 season.

CBS Sport’s college football writer and analyst Barrett Sallee posted his SEC win total predictions for 2020 on Friday, via Twitter.

Sallee has Georgia as the 2nd team in the SEC East, with Florida as No. 1.  He also predicts the Dawgs to drop two games on the season, both being to SEC teams.

UGA has a rather tough schedule this season, playing Alabama away in Tuscaloosa. Georgia also has tough matchups against Auburn, Florida, Tennessee and Kentucky, all of which could be ranked meetings.

The Dawgs have won the past three matchups against the Florida Gators, and have a massive wave of new talent coming in with the No.1 recruiting class in the country for 2020.  Florida had the No. 9 2020 recruiting class.

The Gators and Bulldogs face off on Halloween (Oct. 31) this year in Jacksonville.