Tag: georgia vs virginia

2020 CFB countdown: 50 days until Georgia football

Join us as we count down the days until Georgia kicks off Sept. 7!

There are 50 days until Georgia is scheduled to kick off versus Virginia in Atlanta on Sept. 7

Georgia guard, No. 50, Warren Ericson is a redshirt sophomore from Suwanee, Georgia.

In 2019, Ericson saw action in six games and started at right guard against Baylor in the Sugar Bowl. Part of Georgia’s 2017 No. 1 ranked recruiting class, Ericson was rated as the No. 12 guard and the No. 5 center out of North Gwinnett High School.

Because of former Georgia guard Cade May’s transfer to Tennessee and Ben Cleveland’s history of injuries, Ericson should see plenty of game time in 2020.

See our projected 2020 offensive depth chart here.

A look ahead to the Georgia football season opener vs Virginia

The Georgia football season opener will feature a UGA vs UVA matchup in Atlanta. The Virginia Cavaliers have not played Georgia since 2000.

Georgia and Virginia have met 19 times in the history of the two programs, with the first meeting dating back to October 30, 1897, a game that UVA won 17-4.

More recently, Georgia and Virginia met three times between 1995-2000. The Bulldogs are currently on a two-game winning streak against the Cavaliers.

The programs are again meeting on Monday, September 7th at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta for their season openers.

Georgia is coming off of another SEC Championship appearance and has hopes of returning to the College Football Playoff, while Virginia is a team that represented its division in last year’s ACC Championship Game against Clemson.

Both teams played in big bowl games. Georgia beat Baylor in the Sugar Bowl and Virginia fell to Florida in the Orange Bowl by a score of 36-28.

For Virginia, there’s absolutely zero pressure to go out and win this game. Georgia’s going to be the one with a top-five ranking playing in its home-state with lofty expectations.

Virginia’s offense will look different than it did last year, losing quarterback Bryce Perkins and some other offensive starters. But nine of its top ten tacklers return on defense.

That’s similar to Georgia’s scenario, though. UGA lost a ton of talent on offense, including star quarterback Jake Fromm, running back D’Andre Swift and four starting offensive lineman.

For both teams, we are asking the same question:

How will Georgia’s revamped offense do against Virginia’s experienced defense? 

How will Virginia’s revamped offense do against Georgia’s experienced, but also extremely talented defense?

Virginia did not play Wake Forest last season, so for many of these player it will be their first time facing Georgia QB Jamie Newman, a Wake Forest transfer. Expect them to bring pressure all night and try to make life difficult on Georgia’s offensive line, which will be starting a number of inexperienced players.

When Virginia has the rock, don’t expect it to be able to do much of anything. The Georgia defense is going to be just as, if not more ferocious than last year’s FBS-leading group.

Virginia’s running game ranked 12th in the ACC last season, and Georgia boasts the nation’s top run defense. At receiver, Virginia will be ok but if it can’t move the ball on the ground it’s going to be a long night for the Cavaliers.

Georgia hopes to end the season in the same stadium it starts it in, so look for the Dawgs to come out and make a statement, much like Alabama does when it plays these Power 5 programs in Arlington every few years.

Prediction: Georgia 38, Virginia 14

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Georgia vs Virginia Fearless Prediction, Game Preview, Preseason Version

Georgia vs Virginia early preseason fearless prediction and game preview.

Georgia vs Virginia early preseason fearless prediction and game preview.

CFN Podcast
Will there be a season? HOW?

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How crazy is it to try predicting a college football game months in advance when 1) there wasn’t any spring ball, 2) there aren’t any real depth charts to go off of, 3) no one has ANY clue how to get sports going again, and 4) we don’t even know what the 2020 season is going to be?

Just crazy enough to potentially get some fantastic values on the early lines.

You can bet now at BetMGM on a whole lot of college football games – including going really insane looking at lines in November – with the possibility of hitting something big.

We’ll be diving in a whole lot deeper when we do this for real just before the season – crossing fingers that there is one. But for now …

[jwplayer ofLWiSAD]

Georgia vs Virginia Broadcast

Date: Monday, September 7
Game Time: COMING
Venue: Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Ga
Network: COMING

– All of the CFN Fearless Predictions

Georgia vs Virginia Game Preview: Preseason Version

Why Virginia Will Win

The pressure is all going to be on the other side.

Georgia is going to be a preseason top five team – if not top three – the game is in Atlanta, and anything less than a great opening performance will start up the warning sirens.

Virginia might have lost QB Bryce Perkins and some other stars to the show that ended up in the Orange Bowl, but nine of the top ten tacklers are back. The offense might need a little while to get going against the Georgia D, but the other side should control the game early on.

The Cavs didn’t face Wake Forest last season and didn’t play new most-likely Bulldog QB Jamie Newman, but they’re going bring the pressure into the backfield from the start against a Georgia line that loses three NFL first round starting talent.

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Why Georgia Will Win

The Georgia defense returns loaded, too.

11 of the top 14 tacklers are expected to be back, and even with the defensive front going through a wee bit of an overhaul the defense that finished No. 1 in the nation against the run should come out every bit as nasty.

It probably won’t take a whole lot of points to get this done. Virginia’s offense will be just fine in time – everyone is back up front and the skill spots will be just fine – but the ground game that finished 12th in the ACC last season isn’t going to be a whole lot better against this D.

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What’s Going To Happen

These two last played in the Oahu Classic Bowl in 2000 – Georgia won 37-14. Georgia also won the first time these two started the season against each other with a 30-22 victory to kickoff 1987.

From 1913 to 1915, Virginia owned the series with three straight wins. From 1916 on, it’s Georgia going 9-3-3 …

This time, it’s personal.

It’s also going to be when Georgia makes a wee bit of an early statement. The offense will be good enough to get by, but it’ll be the suffocating performance by a jacked up defense that will be the difference.

Georgia vs Virginia Prediction, Line: Preseason Version

Georgia 34, Virginia 16
Bet on this game now at BetMGM
Georgia -17.5
Money Line: Georgia -1250, Virginia +750
ATS Preseason Confidence out of 5: 3.5

Must See Rating: 3

5: The Last Dance: Unedited version with all the swearing
1: The Last Dance: Edited version with all the beeps

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Georgia football opens in Atlanta

Georgia football 2020 opens with the Virginia Cavaliers in Atlanta on September 7th, in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff game.

ATLANTA, Ga.–Palpable excitement is already building in certain circles in Atlanta for the University of Georgia Bulldogs college football season opener. Considered by many to be the world capital of college football, winning more in the nationally prominent games played in downtown Atlanta is of the utmost importance if Kirby Smart’s program is going to be atop the tip of the upper echelon of the old sport, entering its 151st season.

Under Coach Smart, Georgia has fared extremely well at Grant Field in Midtown Atlanta while playing its in-state rival. But after opening 2-0 in big games played in the domes (Georgia Dome, Mercedes-Benz Stadium), UGA has somewhat alarmingly dropped three straight such contests. Each loss came to a powerful SEC West opponent: a national championship overtime defeat to Bama; a near replay of that game featuring the same two programs in an eerily similar SEC championship game; finally, a disheartening blowout at the hands of the current national champions, LSU.

Opening with the ACC’s Virginia Cavaliers in Atlanta could get the big city mojo flowing in the right direction. Georgia is plainly planning a return trip for a fourth straight SEC championship game and well-positioned amongst the favorites to win the SEC title.

The action commences on September 7th, on the holiday weekend Monday. UGA will be playing football on back-to-back weekdays for the first time, after beating Baylor in a midweek Sugar Bowl, on the first day of the new decade. Winning a New Year’s 6 bowl definitely pushed Georgia in a positive direction.

Hoos ahead for Dawgs: The Bulldogs are 1-1 in Chick-fil-A Kickoff   games, including 1-1 versus the ACC, with a defeat of North Carolina in Kirby Smart’s head coaching debut in 2016. UGA and UVa met twice in Atlanta for Peach Bowls, which I attended. Virginia won 34-27 in 1995 after a gallant comeback effort by polyglot quarterback Hines Ward came up short in the final seconds, in Ray Goff’s final game as a coach. After that defeat, the all-time series stood at even. Then, Georgia was able to win the next two meetings between the programs, a narrow 35-33 escape in Atlanta in 1998 and a 37-14 blowout in Hawaii for the Jeep Oahu Bowl of 2000, in Jim Donnan’s last game coaching.

Nov 16, 2019; Clemson, SC, USA; Wake Forest Demon Deacons quarterback Jamie Newman (12) drops back to pass the ball against the Clemson Tigers during the second half at Clemson Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joshua S. Kelly-USA TODAY Sports

Virginia, who finished ranked 25th in the final Coaches Poll off a competitive defeat by the Florida Gators in the Orange Bowl, of the New Year’s 6, should be familiar with grad transfer quarterback Jamie Newman, a former Wake Forest Demon Deacon.

Kirby Smart is 4-0 in season openers as a head coach.