Tag: SEC

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.

Phillip Fulmer responds to Jauan Jennings’ suspension

SEC suspends Jauan Jennings.

KNOXVILLE — The Southeastern Conference announced that Tennessee redshirt senior wide receiver Jauan Jennings has been suspended for the first half of the Vols’ bowl game.

The suspension stems from Jennings being involved in an altercation with an opposing player (against Vanderbilt) in which he committed a flagrant personal foul determined by a video review by the conference office.

Following the announcement, Tennessee Director of Athletics Phillip Fulmer responded to the SEC’s decision.

“Commissioner (Greg) Sankey shared his perspective on the actions in question, we had a long conversation about the matter, and we will honor the suspension,” Fulmer said in a statement released by the University of Tennessee. “Jauan has been nothing but outstanding for our team and program this entire season.”

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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SEC issues half-game bowl suspension for Jauan Jennings

SEC suspends Jauan Jennings.

BIRMINGHAM — The Southeastern Conference has announced that Tennessee wide receiver Jauan Jennings has been suspended for the first half of Tennessee’s post-season bowl game.

SEC press release:

Tennessee football player Jauan Jennings has been suspended by the Southeastern Conference for the first half of Tennessee’s post-season bowl game for actions against an opposing player during the Vanderbilt at Tennessee game on November 30, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey announced Wednesday.

With 3:06 remaining in the fourth quarter of the game, Jennings was involved in an altercation with an opposing player in which he committed a flagrant personal foul as determined by a video review by the conference office.

The suspension is consistent with NCAA Football Playing Rule 9-6-2 which states “If subsequent review of a game by a conference reveals plays involving flagrant personal fouls that game officials did not call, the conference may impose sanctions prior to the next scheduled game.”

The Southeastern Conference considers this matter concluded and will have no further comment.

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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What LSU media is saying about Georgia ahead of SEC Championship

Here is what the LSU media is saying about Georgia football ahead of the SEC Championship Game on Saturday.

No. 4 Georgia (11-1) takes on No. 2 LSU (12-0) this Saturday in the SEC Championship Game, in case you have not heard.

It will be a battle of two completely different teams. For LSU, the Tigers make their living on an explosive offense that centers around the arm of Joe Burrow.

For Georgia, the Dawgs play defense and they play it so well that they allow an average of 10 points per game.

It’s the nation’s best offense vs the nation’s best defense, and I for one cannot wait.

I took a little dive into the LSU media to see what their writers are saying about Georgia and the SEC Championship matchup that is Burrow vs the Dawgs D.

Wilson Alexander – The Advocate

Title: LSU thumped No. 2 Georgia last year; this time, Tigers are favored — and Bulldogs remember

Their styles are almost opposites of each other. Georgia wants to run the football behind a massive offensive line; LSU has smashed school passing records with five-receiver sets. Redshirt freshman outside linebacker Azeez Ojulari said Georgia has not faced a similar offense. But the Tigers have not faced a better defense.

This time, LSU will have to play inside a stadium familiar to the Bulldogs, who are aiming for their second conference title in three seasons. The Tigers think Georgia wants payback for last year.

Read full post here.

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How Georgia, LSU stack up ahead of SECCG: Statistical breakdown

How Georgia and LSU stack up statistically ahead of the SEC Championship Game, which is college football’s biggest of the weekend.

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The big one is here.

On Saturday at 3:30 p.m. on CBS, Georgia and LSU will square off in the SEC Championship Game in what will be a College Football Playoff play-in game for Georgia.

Flor LSU, the Tigers can probably afford to drop this one given their undefeated record and body of work to date.

But for the Dawgs, this is it. It’s win or go home. We suffered defeat in the exact same scenario last season and Kirby Smart will put out all the tricks to make sure that does not happen.

Georgia and LSU are two very different football teams.

LSU’s offense is incredible. Georgia’s, well, is not.

Georgia’s defense is equally as good as LSU’s offense. LSU’s defense is nothing special.

How this game plays out will be fun to watch. LSU will score points, less points than usual I would assume. Can Georgia hang in there and match them?

Here are how these two teams match up statistically.

OFFENSE:

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Recapping an eventful college football Sunday in the SEC

Recapping an eventful college football Sunday in the Southeastern Conference

After Georgia defeated Georgia Tech on Saturday to advance its playoff hopes another week, the college football world began to take a turn.

Sure, there was the Iron Bowl, which virtually eliminated Alabama from playoff contention, but that was an afterthought by Sunday afternoon.

The Sunday after the final day of the college football regular season began to work its magic, or terror, depending on who you are.

Arkansas’ Chad Morris was already fired weeks ago, but Sunday brought the end to the Barry Odom and Matt Luke era’s in the conference, at least for now.

 

Though both firings make sense, they didn’t go as easily as the athletic departments had initially planned. Odom, dealing with a program on probation from the postseason for 2019, kept every returning player on the roster last spring. Meanwhile, Luke guided the Rebels through a couple probation years of their own, to what seemed like a bright future with John Rhys Plumlee at quarterback.

Neither coach ever pulled any massive upsets or got their teams into the Top 15, but a case could be made on retaining them for a few more seasons. However, this is the current age of college football, where change is to be expected.

If you thought we were done, you’re in for an even bigger twist. Remember Feleipe Franks and Jake Bentley, the quarterbacks many picked to upset Georgia in 2018? Well, they’re gone too.

Franks, the uber-confident three-year Florida starter, took to Instagram to announce he intended to transfer out of Gainesville or enter the NFL Draft. As for Bentley, it’s on to a new path as well, after having an almost identical storyline to Franks’ in 2019.

Both quarterbacks suffered unfortunate season-ending injuries at the beginning of the season and saw their jobs get taken by once unproven backups in Kyle Trask and Ryan Hilinski.

The future in Athens seems much more clear, with Fromm returning for his senior year and Smart coaching another season on the sidelines almost a sure thing.

Of course, we have no confirmation that Fromm will return, but it seems very likely at the moment.

As of right now, this is where we’re at. However, it wouldn’t be a shock if South Carolina’s Will Muschamp gets sent packing in the next couple of days, though several minor changes have already been made in Columbia.

Stay tuned to UGA Wire throughout the week as we bring you the latest on the changes coming to the SEC.

Ohio State stays at No. 2 in Amway Coaches Poll, closes gap to LSU

The Ohio State Buckeyes stayed at No. 2 in the Amway Coaches Poll this week, but the gap to No. 1 LSU is shrinking.

The Ohio State Buckeyes stayed at No. 2 in the Amway Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports after throttling Michigan this week, but the gap to No. 1 LSU is shrinking.

LSU, for its own part, easily blew out Texas A&M, but that wasn’t enough for some voters to keep the Tigers over the Buckeyes. Last week, Ohio State trailed LSU by 51 points and only received seven first-place votes. This week, the gap between the two teams shrunk to 29 points, and the Buckeyes received 17 first-place votes.

Clemson and Georgia remained at No. 3 and 4, respectively, while Utah joined the Top 5 for the first time since the final ranking of the 2008 season. (Utah did reach the Top 5 of the AP Poll for a short time in 2015, but never was that high in the Amway Coaches’ Poll.) Alabama, who held the No. 5 spot last week, fell to No. 9 after its loss to Auburn.

The Big Ten once again leads the poll with six ranked teams, while the SEC trails with five. The Pac 12 and AAC each have three teams ranked, while the Big 12, SEC, and Mountain West each have two. One Sun Belt team and independent Notre Dame are each ranked as well.

Michigan fell a surprising seven spots, from No. 11 to No. 18, after its loss to Ohio State. Oklahoma State and Virginia Tech fell out of the poll this week, while Virginia and Air Force moved in. By my unofficial count, this is the first time that two service academies have been ranked in a major poll since 1958.

The Wisconsin Badgers, Ohio State’s opponent in the Big Ten Championship Game, will enter the game ranked at No. 10.

Arkansas Razorbacks football team is dealing with a serious mumps outbreak

More than a dozen Arkansas players are out on Friday because of a mumps outbreak.

The Arkansas Razorbacks season seemed like it couldn’t get much worse, with just two wins on the year and several blowout losses to SEC powerhouses, but the team was forced to play its final game of the year without a significant portion of its roster on Friday due to a mumps outbreak on campus.

According to a report last Sunday, a total of nine cases of the mumps were reported at the University of Arkansas. According to Arkansas beat reporter Trey Schaap, Razorbacks secondary coach Mark Smith was diagnosed with the mumps, and John Nabors reports that “around 15 players” would be held out of the game.

A mumps outbreak in Arkansas in 2016 resulted in more than 3,000 cases of the disease.

Via Arkansas.gov:

“Mumps is a viral illness that is transmitted by direct contact with respiratory droplets or saliva from an infected person. It is best known for painful, swollen salivary glands that show up as puffy cheeks and swollen jaw. Boys may also have painful, swollen testicles. Other symptoms include fever, headache, muscles aches, tiredness, and loss of appetite. There is no treatment, and symptoms usually resolve themselves within a few weeks. Mumps is usually a mild disease in children, but adults may have more serious disease with complications. Vaccination against Mumps is available with MMR vaccine.”

St. Louis Post-Dispatch writer Dave Matter tweeted that some media members covering the game were contacting their parents to find out if they had received the MMR vaccine.

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