Tag: UGA Football

Kirby Smart on SECCG: LSU will be the ‘ultimate test’

Georgia football HC Kirby Smart discussed LSU and the SEC Championship.

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Nobody is giving Georgia much of a chance this weekend in the SEC Championship Game vs LSU.

But then again, nobody was giving Georgia much of a chance to even be in this situation after losing to South Carolina in October.

Hey, here we are. For the third year in a row, mind you.

The Dawgs have faced some awfully tough challenges over the last three seasons. Remember, this is the same quarterback, same running back, much of the same offensive line and defensive players that came one play away from winning the national championship two years ago. These Dawgs know what it takes to win. They know what the big stage feels like. To them, this is just another big game.

Kirby Smart finds himself making another trip back to Atlanta for the third time in four years as head coach of the Bulldogs. He’s gone up against some explosive offenses during his tenure at Georgia, too, but none better than this LSU group.

“It’s as explosive of a team as I’ve ever seen on tape,” Smart said. “This will be as great a challenge as we’ve had since I’ve been here, as far as playing an opponent.

They have an outstanding all-around team. It’s a tremendous opportunity to  measure where you are when you get an opportunity to play a team like this that’s firing on all cylinders.”

For LSU, the Tigers’ offense ranks No. 1 or No. 2 in just about every category. So when Smart says this as explosive of a team as he’s ever seen, that’s not just him hyping up his opponent as he tends to do. He’s being real with us.

But luckily for Georgia, the Dawgs possess the nation’s top defense. And just like LSU, Georgia is No. 1 or No. 2 in just about every defensive category.

And they did not get to that point off of star power. They got there by playing as a whole and everybody doing their jobs.

“We don’t have the natural star power on our defense,” Smart said. “A lot of the defenses I’ve coached had three or four first-rounders.

“This group plays hard and plays together.”

Smart’s teams have gone up against some of the best in the last decade of college football. That will be more of the same on Saturday, but if Georgia can control the clock and force Joe Burrow to stay off the field, I like our chances.

“This obviously will be the ultimate test,” Smart said. “(LSU has) the best offensive unit we’ve played, all the way around, and it’s really not even close.”

Georgia football opens as underdogs for SEC Championship Game vs LSU

Georgia football opened as underdogs vs LSU in the SEC Championship Game.

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Georgia has opened as underdogs for the SEC Championship Game vs LSU this Saturday.

The No. 2 ranked Tigers are favored by 6.5 points over the No. 4 ranked Bulldogs in Atlanta.

Odds via BetMGM. Access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Monday at 1:45 p.m.

Want to get in on the action? Place your bet now at BetMGM.

The two teams play completely different styles of football. For Georgia to win this game, it will need to control the clock, run the ball on LSU and force Joe Burrow and the Tigers’ offense to watch from the sideline. If that happens, I like Georgia’s chances. If Georgia’s offense sputters and proves incapable of converting on third down, then the Dawgs will be in trouble.

We can count on our defense to give us as good of a shot as possible, but if the offense does not help them out then things could get ugly.

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WATCH: SEC Shorts absolutely destroys Alabama in latest video skit

SEC Shorts team destroys Alabama football in latest hilarious video skit

SEC Shorts, the hilarious video production team, put together one more regular season video after this year’s Iron Bowl.

If you weren’t already familiar with the group, SEC Shorts creates a video each weekend, mocking a losing team in the conference.

This Monday, it was Alabama’s turn to be featured on the show, after a crucial loss to Auburn.

 

This might be the best SEC Shorts video we’ve ever seen. Given what happened to Georgia in 2017, it makes Auburn’s epic victory over Alabama that much sweeter.

A big game against LSU in Atlanta looms, but each fanbase can agree on one thing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Go Dawgs!

ESPN releases Top 25 power rankings after rivalry week

ESPN releases its latest Top 25 power rankings after rivalry week

As hard as it is to believe, the college football regular season is over. We have one more week of football before the Army-Navy game and bowl season, which is incredibly scary and sad.

Before we kick things off one last time, we’ll relish in the moment right now and go over some interesting power rankings.

Where does ESPN have the Dawgs in one of its finals power rankings? At No. 5 behind the Utes of Utah.

*Pauses for extended eye-rolling*

Below, you will find the network’s Top 10 teams.

  1. LSU
  2. Ohio State
  3. Clemson
  4. Utah
  5. Georgia
  6. Oklahoma
  7. Baylor
  8. Alabama
  9. Florida
  10. Wisconsin

The full Top 25 can be found here:

What do we dislike here? LSU at No. 1 over Ohio State is a coin flip, but works in this scenario. However, having Georgia at No. 5 and even Alabama No. 8 is a crime.

The Dawgs have a better resume than all of the other one-loss teams and we may be biased, but we sure do believe they deserve that Top 4 spot. As for Alabama, what the heck?

That’s one way to fight the ‘Bama Bias’ narrative, putting the Tide over a Gators squad trending in the right direction, with a better resume than Alabama. One could even make a case Wisconsin, Auburn, Minnesota and Penn State should be above the Tide in a power ranking.

But that’s none of our business… Ho hum, Alabama is still glum.

 

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.

WATCH: This SECCG hype video will get your blood boiling

This SEC Championship Game hype video will get your blood boiling!

The Georgia Bulldogs clinched the SEC Championship Game two weeks ago in Auburn and now, it’s finally time for the main event. Georgia and LSU for a spot in the College Football Playoff and bragging rights that will last a lifetime.

In the words of Brent Musberger, here we go!

This epic hype trailer might be the best we’ve ever seen for Georgia football and that’s saying a lot. Just look at how the scenery fits with the music. I mean, wow!

Go Dawgs!

College GameDay announces conference championship location

College GameDay announces its conference championship location.

College GameDay has announced its location for conference championship weekend.

ESPN’s flagship college football preview show will be headed to Atlanta for the biggest game of the season between Georgia and LSU.

Assuming the Playoff Committee does not do anything crazy, it will be No. 2 vs No. 4 and a play-in game for the Georgia Bulldogs.

This will be the first time these two teams have met in the SEC Championship since they played in 2011.

Georgia lost the game 42-10 and was completely overwhelmed in the second half by the Tigers secondary that included Morris Claiborne and Tyrann Mathieu. If you remember, though, Georgia actually dominated the first half and should have went into halftime with a two touchdown lead. The Dawgs dropped an easy touchdown pass and the Honey Badger returned a punt for a touchdown that he actually dropped before crossing the goal line.

Georgia and LSU met most recently in 2018, when the Dawgs travelled to Baton Rouge and got completely demolished by the Tigers in a hostile environment.

This time, nobody is giving Georgia a chance. However, if we can control the clock by running on LSU’s average defense and keep Joe Burrow and the offense off the field, I like our chances.

 

Georgia football S Richard LeCounte posts epic troll after Tech win

UGA football safety Richard LeCounte posted an epic troll a after the Georgia Bulldogs win over Georgia Tech.

Georgia safety Richard LeCounte played incredible football in the month of November, from breaking up a fourth and short for Florida to recovering a fumble after a great play vs Texas A&M to aiding in holding Georgia Tech to 139 total yards on Saturday.

Following the game, LeCounte posted one of the greatest photos of the 2019 season to Twitter, a picture of him posing in front of Georgia Tech students following the game.

Never change, #2.

 

 

Georgia football players talk George Pickens ejection

Georgia football players talk George Pickens ejection after fight with Tech player,.

On Saturday, Georgia freshman wide receiver George Pickens sat out the first half of the Georgia Tech game for what Kirby Smart described as a ‘team matter.’

When he returned in the second half, he made a splash, catching a 41 yard touchdown pass from Jake Fromm.

But that was the only good thing that came from Pickens playing in the rivalry game on Saturday. He and Georgia Tech defensive back Tre Swilling got into it in the end zone and eventually end up exchanging punches with each other. Swilling hit first, twice, including one to Pickens’ throat.

 

Following the Tech game, Georgia players discussed the Pickens incident.

“That’s a huge lesson for him to not have him do something dumb like that,” linebacker Monty Rice said. “He’s a vital part of the team, vital part of the offense. You see how productive he is. He’s just gotta be smarter.

Ain’t no way around it. Ain’t no woulda’, coulda’ shoulda’. All you have to do is not throw a punch or slap or whatever it was. You just have to be smart.”

Pickens will be suspended for the first half of Georgia’s SEC Championship Game vs LSU. Additionally, the Bulldogs’ top receiver Lawrence Cager underwent ankle surgery this past week will not play. That is huge news seeing as how Jake Fromm has struggled this season without his top receivers out there. Dominick Blaylock and Tyler Simmons, who commented below, will be the go to guys.

“There’s always going to be some chippy talk and a chippy game like this between two rivals,”  Simmons said. “But you can’t let that get to you.”

UGA football great after Tech win: ‘We still run this state’

UGA Football great Thomas Davis gave a shout out to the Georgia Bulldogs after beating Georgia tech again

On Saturday, Georgia beat rival Georgia Tech 52-7 for the 16th time in the last 19 meetings.

The Dawgs move to 11-1 on the season and will have a tough matchup with LSU for the SEC Championship, which for Georgia will be a College Football Playoff play-in game.

One former Bulldog who was proud to see his alma mater take home the Governor’s Cup once again is Thomas Davis, who is in his 15th NFL season and now with the Los Angeles Chargers.

Davis was a monster at Georgia, and though he made his NFL earnings as a linebacker for the Carolina Panthers, he actually played safety in Athens before becoming a first round pick. One of the hardest hitters in school history, Davis was a two-time All-SEC selection, making the second team in 2003 and the first team in 2004. Also, if that’s not enough, the dude has come back from three torn ACLs in the same knee. And you know who he credits his perseverance to? UGA.