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Georgia football: Expectations for QB Jamie Newman keep growing

Georgia football is expecting big things for new QB Jamie Newman.

The graduate transfer from Wake Forest was a hot commodity when he made his decision to depart the Demon Deacons and take his talents to Athens. As if replacing three-year starter Jake Fromm isn’t difficult enough, Newman will be challenged to implement a new, more RPO- oriented attack and add some swagger to the UGA offense.

The Las Vegas oddsmakers, who are more right than wrong, believe he made the right decision in choosing the Bulldogs.

Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook now has Newman at 12/1 odds to win the Heisman Trophy. Just after his transfer announcement, Newman was listed as 16/1 odds, tied for sixth-best. He is now tied for third with Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger and Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler. Westgate still has former Georgia and current Ohio State QB Justin Fields and Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence (Cartersville, GA) as the favorites at 4/1.

Newman was one of the top graduate transfers on the market. Miami, Oregon, Maryland and Washington, among others were seeking the services of the North Carolina native.

According to Pro Football Focus, Newman is the nation’s third-highest graded returning quarterback, behind only Fields and Lawrence.  He started all 13 games last season and led Wake to an 8-5 record. He completed 220 of 361 passes (60.9 percent) for 2,868 yards, 26 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He rushed for 574 yards and six touchdowns on 180 carries.

Being the starting quarterback at the University of Georgia always comes with high expectations and takes an extremely talented, confident and bright athlete to handle the pressure. Jamie Newman checks off all the boxes.

Georgia football LB selected for FWAA Freshman All-American Team

Georgia football had a linebacker named to the FWAA Freshman All-American Team

No doubt Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs have been pulling in major talent from across the country and the Peach State during the past four years. Redshirt freshman Azeez Ojulari from Marietta, GA became the latest Dawg recognized for his talent and hard work as he was named to the FWAA Freshman All-American Team.

The 6’3″, 240-pound Ojulari had a breakout season for Georgia. The outside linebacker recorded 34 QB pressures, 36 tackles and 5.5 sacks this season. He had five tackles in the Sugar Bowl victory including a third-quarter QB sack and forcced fumble. Ojulari started 13 of 14 games for the SEC’s total defense, scoring defense and rushing defense leader.

Ojulari earned the respect of his teammates by becoming the first freshman player in the Kirby Smart era to be named a team captain. He is the 13th Bulldog to be selected for the team in the award’s 19 years.

Following the trend of colleges recruiting nationally, 18 of the 32 freshman honored played high school football out-of-state from their respective college. Georgia State offensive lineman Travis Glover from Vienna, GA, a former non-rated prep, was the only other Peach State prep to make the team. Following is a list of all the award winners:

2019 FWAA Freshman All-American Team

Quarterbacks

Sam Howell – North Carolina, 6-2  225  Indian Trail, NC

Kedon Slovis – USC, 6-2  200  Scottsdale, AZ

Running backs

Javian Hawkins – Louisville, 5-9  182  Titusville, FL

Sincere McCormick – Texas-San Antonio, 5-9  200  Converse, TX

Receivers

David Bell – Purdue, 6-2  210  Indianapolis, IN

C.J. Johnson – East Carolina, 6-2  229  Greenville, NC

Dante Wright – Colorado State, 5-10  165  Navarre, FL

Offensive Linemen

Evan Neal – Alabama, 6-7  360  Okeechobee, FL

O’Cyrus Torrence – Louisiana, 6-5  342  Greensburg, LA

Ikem Ekwonu – NC State, 6-4  308  Charlotte, NC

Sean Rhyan – UCLA, 6-4  323  Ladera Ranch, CA

Nick Rosi – Toledo, 6-4  290  Powell, OH

Travis Glover – Georgia State, 6-6  330  Vienna, GA

Defensive Linemen

Gregory Rousseau – Miami, 6-6  251  Coconut Creek, FL

George Karlaftis – Purdue, 6-4  265  West Lafayette, IN

Solomon Byrd – Wyoming, 6-4  243  Palmdale, CA

Kayvon Thibodeaux – Oregon, 6-5  242  South Central Los Angeles, CA

Linebackers

Devin Richardson – New Mexico State, 6-3  233  Klein, TX

Omar Speights – Oregon State, 6-1  233  Philadelphia, PA

Azeez Ojulari – Georgia, 6-3, 240 Marietta, GA

Shane Lee – Alabama, 6-0  246  Burtonsville, MD

Defensive Backs

Ar’Darius Washington – TCU, 5-8  175  Shreveport, LA

Derek Stingley Jr. – LSU, 6-1  190  Baton Rouge, LA

Kyle Hamilton – Notre Dame, 6-4  210  Atlanta, GA

Verone McKinley III – Oregon, 5-10  192  Carrollton, TX

Ahmad Gardner – Cincinnati, 6-2  185  Detroit, MI

Tykee Smith – West Virginia, 5-10  184  Philadelphia, PA

Punter

Austin McNamara – Texas Tech, 6-4  175  Gilbert, AZ

Kicker

Gabe Brkic – Oklahoma, 6-2  175  Chardon, OH

Kick returner

Joshua Youngblood – Kansas State, 5-10  180  Tampa, FL

Punt returner

Kyle Philips – UCLA, 5-11  181  San Marcos, CA

All-Purpose

Kenneth Gainwell – Memphis, 5-11  183  Yazoo City, MS

Player of the Year

Kenneth Gainwell, Memphis

Paul Finebaum gives his top-six following Week 13

Paul Finebaum released his new top-six after Week 13. Where is Georgia football?

Following a Week 13 that saw Georgia’s offense struggle in a win over Texas A&M, the SEC Network’s Paul Finebaum released his new top-six teams as we creep closer to the College Football Playoff.

This weekend, the CFP’s top five teams all took care of business, but No. 6 Oregon’s CFP dreams came to an end with a loss to Arizona State.

1) LSU beat Arkansas by almost 40 points, but the Tigers defense managed to allow 20 to Arkansas, which has the nation’s 106th ranked offense.

2) Ohio State looked good again in a win over top-ten Penn State, but Justin Fields did fumble three times.

3) Clemson took a bye week ahead of its game vs South Carolina next weekend.

4) Georgia, No. 4, looked like, well, Georgia. The defense played great as it usually does, but the offense continued to show its inability to find the end zone yet again. The thing is, we can’t blame offensive coordinator James Coley for this one. Jake Fromm missed two, maybe three touchdown passes vs the Aggies. Coley called a game that should have yielded 30+ points. They just need to execute better.

5) Alabama looked fine in a big win over Western Carolina.

6) Oregon went down to Arizona State 31-28.

Finebaum, who said that he thinks Georgia can still win it all, left the Bulldogs in his top-four and seems pretty high on the Dawgs and their style of play.

Utah found its way into the top-six thanks to the Oregon loss.

Here is his new top-six.

Where’s Georgia football in Paul Finebaum’s new top-six?

Where did Paul Finebaum rank Georgia football after beating Auburn. What about Alabama?

Following Saturday’s action, the SEC Network’s Paul Finebaum revealed his top new top-six teams in college football.

Last week, Finebaum had Georgia at No. 5 after beating Missouri, while Alabama was sitting one spot ahead at No. 4.

On Sunday, however, taking into consideration Georgia’s road win over Auburn and the loss of Tua Tagovailoa at Alabama, Finebaum moved the Bulldogs to No. 4 and dropped Alabama to No. 6.

Minnesota also dropped out after losing to Iowa and was replaced by Oregon.