Tag: usa today sports

Georgia opens as favorite in Sugar Bowl vs Baylor

The Georgia Bulldogs and the Baylor Bears will meet on January 1st for the 2020 Sugar Bowl. See the opening spread for the Dawgs here.

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The Georgia Bulldogs lost a tough one this past Saturday, falling to LSU in the SEC Championship by a score of 37-10.  The Dawgs have lost SEC Championships two years in a row, and have dropped from #4 in the CFP rankings to #5 yet again.  Oklahoma jumped to the #4 spot after their Big 12 Championship win over Baylor.

The Dawgs will play in the Sugar Bowl for a 2nd straight year and open as 7.5 point favorites over the Baylor Bears.

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.

Most teams in the college football world would kill for a chance to play in the Sugar Bowl, but for Dawgs fans it feels like more of a consolation game than anything.  Last year hit a little bit harder due to dropping after an incredible game against Alabama in the SEC Championship.

Georgia opened the Sugar Bowl last year to Texas as two touchdown favorites, but we all know how that went.

Georgia will be without some key contributors, including Dominick Blaylock, Lawrence Cager and possibly a few starters who are headed to the pros  Hopefully Kirby Smart and the Dawgs can pull out an impressive victory and go into next season with a chip on their shoulder and smile on their faces.

The Sugar Bowl kicks off at 8:45 p.m. on New Years Day in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, and will be airing on ESPN.

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Details: Sam Pittman’s new Arkansas contract

Former Georgia football OL coach Sam Pittman signs new head coach deal with the Arkansas Razorbacks. See the details of the signing here.

Georgia lost a good one yesterday as offensive line coach Sam Pittman signed a deal with Arkansas to become the Razorbacks’ new head coach.

Pittman, who has played a critical role in beefing up the Georgia offensive line through recruiting and coaching, is getting paid well by the Hogs.

Related: Sam Pittman’s departure is a huge blow for Georgia

Pittman contract is a five-year deal that starts at $3 million annually, per Steve Berkowitz of USA TODAY Sports.

At Georgia, Pittman was valued incredibly high by Kirby Smart, earning $900,000 per year as a position coach.

Berkowitz provided all the info necessary on Pittman’s new contract.

 

 

This is a huge loss for the Bulldogs but is understandable looking at the business perspective of the deal.

We wish coach Pittman and his family nothing but the best as he embarks for Fayetteville next season.

Once a Dawg…always a Dawg.

Georgia football SECCG: Expert picks and predictions (UGA vs LSU)

The UGA Wire staff has put together a list of expert picks and predictions ahead of Georgia Football’s game vs LSU for the SEC Championship.

Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs have won the SEC East three straight years, earning them their third straight SEC Championship game vs LSU, this Saturday at 4:00 p.m. EST at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA.

Besides former Bulldog Justin Fields and Ohio State, LSU has been the hottest team of the 2019 college football season.  The #2 Tigers are 12-0 on the season including wins over Florida, Auburn and Alabama.

Georgia comes into the game a bit banged up and not exactly peaking at the right time.  The Dawgs will be without senior WR Lawrence Cager who underwent ankle surgery as well as freshman WR George Pickens who was suspended for the first half for on-field incidents.  Those are the Dawgs top two receivers on the year.

D’Andre Swift also left the Georgia Tech game with a shoulder injury but should hopefully be back for Saturday’s matchup.

LSU QB Joe Burrow has been putting up exceptional numbers for the Tigers as he currently sits in 2nd for the Heisman Trophy race.  Burrow has a total QBR of 93.4 and has thrown for 4,366 yards, 44 TDs and 6 INTs on the season.

Kirby will need to draw up a near flawless game plan and Jake Fromm needs to find his guy in a shallow receiving core if the Dawgs want to pull this one out and secure a spot in the College Football Playoff.

The UGA Wire staff has put together a list of score, stat and game predictions ahead of Saturdays matchup.

Here are the picks:

The money makers:

#2 LSU (-7.5) vs #4 Georgia

Game pick: If you think LSU will win and cover, write LSU. If you think LSU will win but not cover, LSU*. If you got Georgia winning, write Georgia.

Odds via BetMGM. Access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Thursday at 3 p.m. ET.

Jackson Fryburger: UGAWire.com- Georgia

Joe Vitale: UGAWire.com-  HBTFD

James Morgan: UGAWire.com- LSU*

Jackson Stone: UGAWire.com- LSU

Henry Sillen: UGAWire.com- Georgia

Garrett Shearman: UGAWire.com- LSU*

Over/under (54.5) 

If you think the total will go over, over. If you think the total will go under, under.

Jackson Fryburger: UGAWire.com- Under

Joe Vitale: UGAWire.com-  Under

James Morgan: UGAWire.com- Over

Jackson Stone: UGAWire.com- Over

Henry Sillen: UGAWire.com- Over

Garrett Shearman: UGAWire.com- Under

Score prediction:

Jackson Fryburger: UGAWire.com- Georgia 27, LSU 24

Joe Vitale: UGAWire.com- Georgia 24, LSU 20

James Morgan: UGAWire.com- LSU 34, Georgia 27

Jackson Stone: UGAWire.com- LSU 35, Georgia 24

Henry Sillen: UGAWire.com- Georgia 31, LSU 28 OT

Garrett Shearman: UGAWire.com- LSU 26, UGA 20

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

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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.

Eamon’s Corner: Politics & golf

Eamon Lynch discusses Phil Mickelson, along with other notable golfers, electing to play in the Saudi International on the European Tour instead of the Waste Management Phoenix Open next month.

Eamon Lynch discusses Phil Mickelson, along with other notable golfers, electing to play in the Saudi International on the European Tour instead of the Waste Management Phoenix Open next month.

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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