Tag: Georgia Football

Aaron Murray provides insight into D’Andre Swift’s health ahead of SECCG

Georgia football great Aaron Murray discussed D’Andre Swift’s shoulder injury ahead of the UGA vs lsU SEC Championship.

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D’Andre Swift has been dealing with a shoulder injury for part of the season and re-injured it after fumbling during Georgia’s win over Georgia Tech last weekend.

The injury is described as a shoulder contusion, which is something that only time will allow to fully heal.

But time is not on Swift’s side, so when he plays this weekend he will be doing so in some pain.

Aaron Murray, while on his show powered by CampusLore, provided some insight into Swift’s current health status, citing a “little birdie in the locker room.”

Aaron Murray explains how Georgia can beat LSU in the SEC Championship

Georgia football great Aaron Murray explains how the Bulldogs can win the UGA vs LSU SEC Championship Game.

Georgia’s all-time leading passer Aaron Murray played in two SEC Championship Games during his time as a Bulldog.

In 2011, Murray actually played against LSU, a team that had a smothering defense and an average offense. This year, it’s the other way around.

Nobody is giving Georgia much of a shot in this game, despite its defense being the best in the nation.

Murray, when breaking down the Georgia vs LSU matchup with former Bulldog punter Drew Butler, made mention of how defense has always won championships and then pondered whether or not that will still be the case on Saturday.

On their show, the Punt and Pass Podcast, powered by CampusLore, Murray went into detail on how Georgia can win the ball game. He noted that the Bulldogs coaching staff has to let Jake Fromm, who has struggled at times this season, just go out there, sling the ball around and do his thing.

Watch the clip here.

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Matchup preview: Georgia’s defense against LSU’s offense

Georgia enters the SEC Championship ranked fourth in total defense. LSU is ranked second in total offense. Something’s gotta give.

Georgia enters the SEC Championship ranked fourth in total defense behind playoff locks Ohio State and Clemson and playoff hopeful Utah. They’ve given up the fewest touchdowns (12) in FBS.

LSU’s offense is led by Joe Burrow, the Heisman Trophy frontrunner who recently broke the Southeastern Conference record for passing yards in a single season.

The Tigers are ranked second in total offense and thus poses the greatest threat that the historically great 2019 Georgia defense has yet seen.

Something’s gotta give, right?

It’s worth noting that LSU’s main offensive strength plays well against the Georgia defense’s primary weakness whereas the Silver Britches’ defensive strengths play well against LSU’s offensive weakness.

Maybe the Tigers shouldn’t be labeled a “pass first” offense, but they have attempted 25 more passes than runs on the year (438 to 413). The Dawgs’ secondary has been great but is at times prone to giving up chunk yardage in quick passing plays. As we saw against Auburn, Georgia’s cornerbacks tackle well but occasionally have trouble covering in quick-release short-yardage scenarios.

Without opponents stacking the box in anticipation of a possible pass, LSU’s air attack in turn opens things up for a group of tailbacks who have accumulated more yards than any of the Bulldogs’ prior competion excluding Kentucky (who have rushed for over 3000 yards this season despite only gaining 160 ground yards in a rain-plagued contest in Athens).

Behind Clyde Edwards-Helaire’s 1233 solo rushing yards, the Tigers have combined for 2299 yards on the ground.

Georgia’s defense is second in the nation in rushing defense, giving up 71 ground yards per game and having allowed only 16 plays of over ten yards rushing this season. They’ve given up just 852 yards this year. The Junkyard Dawgs have proven they can contain tailbacks.

With a Heisman hopeful and one of the most talented group of wide receivers in college football, LSU will almost certainly attempt more passes than runs at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Saturday. Now more than ever, expect Ed Orgeron’s Tigers to go to the air against a defense that can stop tailbacks before they get a chance to run.

For a full statistical breakdown of how the Dawgs match up against the Tigers, click here.

Georgia versus LSU: keys to winning the SEC Championship

The Georgia Bulldogs and LSU Tigers face off in another classic SEC Championship Game. Kirby Smart will try to slow down LSU’s Joe Burrow

The Georgia Bulldogs and LSU Tigers are set to face off in another classic top-five SEC Championship match-up. LSU is favored, but both teams are facing arguably their biggest challenge of the season. It’s the best defense LSU has seen and the best offense Kirby Smart and Georgia will face all season.

Georgia must win the turnover battle, get off the field on third downs, and put pressure on Joe Burrow. Georgia will have to look to limit Burrow the way the Auburn Tigers did weeks ago. Georgia’s defensive line hasn’t gotten the recognition that Auburn’s defensive line has received, but Jordan Davis, Tyler Clark, and Devonte Wyatt have been rock-solid inside. The defense has yet to allow a running back to rush for a touchdown all season (Bo Nix scored the only allowed rushing TD).

At the very least, Georgia must shut down LSU’s run game and make the Tigers offense one-dimensional. LSU will be tough to stop, but sacks can throw any offense off schedule. LSU’s offensive line allows significantly more sacks than Georgia’s elite offensive line:

Georgia is eighth in the SEC with 26 sacks. The Bulldogs must disrupt the timing of LSU’s passing game. LSU will be willing to abandon the run game, like they did in their road game at Texas, if they don’t have any success running the ball. LSU ran the ball at-will against Auburn, Florida, and Alabama. Joe Burrow was a large factor against the Crimson Tide touting fourteen carries. LSU will try to involve him in the run game if they can’t get the dynamic Clyde Edwards-Helaire going.

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Georgia football K Rodrigo Blankenship wins another prestigious SEC award

Georgia football K Rodrigo Blankenship has won yet another prestigious SEC award.

Georgia kicker Rodrigo Blankenship has earned yet another prestigious SEC award.

On Thursday, it was announced that Blankenship had been named the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year for football.

Blankenship is Georgia’s fourth winner of this award. David Greene (2004), Aaron Murray (2013) and Chris Conley (2014) are Georgia’s previous recipients.

With a 3.71 GPA, Blankenship graduated cum laude with a degree in Digital and Broadcast Journalism in 2018 and is currently working toward a master’s degree in journalism.

Blankenship is the school’s all-time leading score, a record he broke this season, and the conference’s second all-time leader in points scored.

He has been named the SEC’s Special Teams Player of the Week six times this season.

Ed Orgeron previews Georgia football and SEC Championship Game

LSU head coach Ed Orgeron previews Georgia football, 2019 SEC Championship Game Saturday December 7th at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

In a press conference with LSU head coach Ed Orgeron, Orgeron talked Kirby Smart, Jake Fromm, Dawgs defense and more, previewing Saturday’s matchup for the SEC Championship.

Orgeron and the #2 ranked Tigers are 12-0 on the season (8-0 SEC) and come into the game favored by 7.5 points.

“They’re going to play their best, man,” said coach Orgeron. “This is their third time here in a row. They’re going to be hungry. They’re well-coached. We beat them last year, so they have a little chip on their shoulder. Know what I’m saying?”

The Dawgs lost a tough one last year in Death Valley by a score of 36-16.  On the similarities of the matchup, coach O acknowledged that a lot can change in a year.

“Whole different time, whole different circumstance.”

Coach Orgeron knows more about the Dawgs players than you’d think.  Although they don’t usually meet in the regular season, many of his opponents’ toughest matchup of the year is Georgia, having Coach O watching plenty of Dawgs film.

“Again on defense, by far the best defense we’ve seen. 10 points per game. They basically are a 4-3, some 3-4. Only giving up 257 a game. Tyler Clark and their defensive line, I watch them all the time, because I watch opponents’ offensive line.”

Coach O is also very familiar with Georgia’s Kirby Smart.

“A lot of respect for Kirby and the job he’s done… Go against him recruiting, know the players he’s recruiting. Know the type of coaches he has on his staff. Well-coached football team, very athletic.”

A question came up wondering if Orgeron believed his team would still be in the playoff even with a loss to Georgia.  Coach O was having absolutely none of that.

“Not even thinking about it,” Orgeron said. “Uh-huh. I’m not buying into that at all. We got to win. I don’t know if we got to win to get in the playoffs or not. I’m not even talking about that. Our goal is to beat Georgia and win the SEC, then let’s see what happens.

Two well coached teams collide on the gridiron in Atlanta for the SEC Championship this Saturday, December 7th at 4:00 p.m. EST.

Georgia football fans expected to take over SEC Championship

UGA football fans are expected to take over the SEC Championship in Atlanta

If you’ve been following along with the Georgia Bulldogs this season, you probably already know about the impressive takeovers fans have made at Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Auburn and Georgia Tech.

Now, it’s time to turn our attention to the SEC Championship game, which is supposed to be played at a neutral-site in Mercedes Stadium.

However, Vivid Seats has informed us that the forecasted fan ratio is 69% Georgia fans (nice) and 31% LSU fans on Saturday.

If this is true, we expect a pretty significant Bulldog advantage over the Tigers in crowd noise, which could play a factor in the game. Earlier in the week, Coach Ed Orgeron mentioned he was getting his team ready for the noise at practice, but even that might not be enough for what is about to come.

“We will have crowd noise on Tuesday, Wednesday. Be very well-prepared for all the Georgia fight songs they’ll play on our field all week.”

Can the Dawg Nation help lead this Georgia team to victory? We’ll see, but it’s certainly not going to be easy.

Go Dawgs!

 

John Curtis three-star RB Corey Wren decommits from Georgia

Corey Wren decommitted from Georgia. Is he still interested in Arizona State and Houston, or does the three-star athlete have his sights elsewhere?

Shortly after his final game of the high school season, John Curtis (River Ridge, Louisiana) running back Corey Wren announced he had decommitted from Georgia.

Wren had originally committed to the Bulldogs over summer. After leading John Curtis to the semifinals and rushing for 1,146 yards and 17 touchdowns to go with 132 receiving yards and two touchdowns, the three-star recruit decided to look toward other options.

Prior to his commitment, Wren had been heavily considering Arizona State and Houston, according to UGAWire. He has 31 offers, according to 247Sports.

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Wren is listed on the 247Sports Composite Rankings as the No. 25 athlete and No. 23 player in the state of Louisiana.

While he can line up in the backfield or as a receiver, with John Curtis’ run-happy offense, Wren took the bulk of the load at running back.

Georgia has had a strong recruiting class. Ranked No. 5 in the nation on 247Sports, it includes four-star offensive playmakers Kendall Milton and Marcus Rosemy, ranked No. 37 and 40 in the country, respectively.

Wren now will look toward a different school in which he could get immediate playing time.

Arizona State could be an option. With wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk projected as an early-round draft pick and running back Eno Benjamin a potential to enter the draft, the Sun Devils may be in need of offensive weapons next season.

As for Houston, Wren would immediately jump to the top of the Cougars’ recruiting class alongside wide receiver Reginald Johnson, ranked No. 513 overall (Wren is No. 520 overall). Leading wide receiver Marquez Stevenson and running back Kyle Porter are both juniors, giving Wren an opportunity to take one of their roles once they leave school.

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5 reasons why Georgia beats LSU in SEC Championship

Here are five reasons why Georgia football beats LSU in the SEC Championship Game on Saturday in Atlanta.

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With the biggest game of the year in college football on the horizon, Georgia vs LSU in the SEC Championship, we preview five reasons why the Bulldogs could take down the Tigers on Saturday.

Nobody is giving the Dawgs a chance this weekend, but key players on this team have defied the odds for the past three seasons.

I have faith. Here’s why:

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Georgia football injury report ahead of SECCG vs LSU

Georgia Football full injury report ahead of the SEC Championship Game this Saturday December 7th @ 4:00 p.m. on CBS.

Last Saturday’s game at Georgia Tech was the largest margin of victory Georgia has ever beat the Yellow Jackets by, but it didn’t come without a price.

As if losing WR Lawrence Cager for the rest of the season to an ankle injury wasn’t bad enough, the Dawgs star RB and engine to their offensive game D’Andre Swift got placed on the injury report for the first time all season. On top of that WR George Pickens got himself suspended for the first half of the SEC Championship Game by the SEC for throwing punches.

All of this sounds like bad news for Dawgs fans, but Kirby Smart has faced a little bit of adversity in his time in Athens.  Kirby has lost his offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, top 5 receivers, a 1,000 yard rusher, a Jim Thorpe Award winner and has nearly 70% freshmen and sophomores on his team this year (youngest in all of SEC).

All of this and he still has the Bulldogs playing for a College Football Playoff for the third year in a row.  Pretty incredible if you ask me.

Here’s Georgia’s full injury report ahead of the 2019 SEC Championship Game against LSU.

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