Georgia opens as a 19-point favorite over Tennessee. Too much?
- Bloviation for the Dawgnation
-
Quote Of The Day
-
“We remember the Sugar Bowl, I think it my junior year of high school, we let Alabama beat us twice,” Brinson said of a team that also lost to the Crimson Tide in the SEC Championship game. “We’re not letting Alabama beat us twice. In the Sugar Bowl in 2018, they… thought they should have been in the playoffs and lost to Texas.” -- AB-H, 12/27/23
Search
Categories
Archives
Blogroll (ND)
- 82 Sluggo Win
- And The Valley Shook
- Banner Society
- Black Heart Gold Pants
- Black Shoe Diaries
- Blatant Homerism
- Braves & Birds
- Brophy Football
- College Football Talk
- EDSBS
- Eleven Warriors
- Lost Angeles
- MGoBlog
- RazorBloggers Network
- Rock M Nation
- Rocky Top Talk
- Saturday Down South
- Saturday Tradition
- Shakin The Southland
- Smart Football
- Team Speed Kills
- The National Championship Issue
- The Wizard of Odds
- Tide Bits
Dawg Blogs
Dawg Links
Media Links
Stats/Info Links
- All-Time Division 1-A CFB Standings
- American College Football
- American College Football – Rankings
- cfbstats.com
- College Football at Sports-Reference.com
- College Football by the Numbers
- College Football Data Warehouse
- College Football Recruiting Map
- College Nicknames
- Football Outsiders – College
- Football Study Hall
- GBE College Football Ratings
- MapGameDay.com
- NCAA Division I Football Statistics
- SEC Statistics
- Statistically Speaking
- Strangestbrew's College Football Schedulizer
- The Helmet Project
- Varsity Numbers
Useful Links
Time, time…
GATA
Blog Stats
- 73,807,375 hits
Get The Picture · Bloviation for the Dawgnation
Get The Picture 
Seems too high to me. Expect this to be a nail biter, but then again, they all are for me.
LikeLike
If we don’t stumble all over ourselves, I think that number is about right. They aren’t as good as Clemson, and we’re at home. If the defense gets shell-shocked, the offense has all of its players go down with injuries, and the officials call phantom penalties on us, we’ll be in for the fight of our lives. The bottom line is that we’re better than Tennessee right now on both lines of scrimmage, and that with home field should be enough for the Dawgs to win.
LikeLike
In other words if it is a typical Georgia game.
LikeLike
We know what that means 😉
LikeLike
Attn: Penn Wagsrs, your charter to Athens, GA is leaving now.
LikeLike
All I know is that the line was similar last year and it took a definite miracle to beat the bastards.
Willie comes home. Oh goody.
Yeah, 19 points is too optimistic…good for the bookies, though.
LikeLike
You don’t think injuries had even a teensy, weensy affect on the outcome?
HINT: Why do you think Gurley never saw the field again after the second series against Troy?
LikeLike
Yes, of course injuries (assume you mean ours) had a teensy, weensy effect on the outcome last year.
In spite of that excuse, it took the only miracle we had had in what…several years? to beat a rotten Tennessee team in the Brick Bat’s first year on the job.
We won’t have some of the same folks who got hurt last year.
The Tennessee defense is not Troy.
So, yes, 19 points is good for the bookies, bad for the fan psyche.
LikeLike
That rotten Tennessee team knocked off South Carolina a couple of weeks later.
LikeLike
Yeah, and that same SC team lost to a team coached by Bobo and Richt, with Aaron Murray at qb. Clearly, they weren’t very good.
LikeLike
no doubt.
I’m shocked SOS didn’t commit harikari at midfield when he lost to that CMR/Bobo/Aaron Murray team last year.
If only we had Mett….
LikeLike
Scorp, we’ll have Todd Gurley, Sony Michel, and, likely, Nick Chubb. That makes up for the loss of Keith Marshall in last year’s game. We didn’t have Malcolm Mitchell last year and likely won’t this year, so that’s a push. I assume this game will be Justin Scott-Wesley’s return to the lineup (huge for us) since Richt said he was suspended for the Troy game. The big differences between last year’s game and this year’s game are the home field (positive), the loss of Aaron Murray (negative), and the loss of the entire Tennessee offensive line (positive). I also don’t see them getting the special teams’ gifts they got in the game last year.
19 is a big number. I wouldn’t touch it with a $10 bill. I’ll take Georgia with more than Tennessee right now and move on to Vandy.
LikeLike
The thing that really makes me itch about Tennessee, other than the fleas you get from watching them onTV is that while
A: they lost nearly all their starters,
B: the guys behind the starters played a lot and
C: the guys behind the starters are generally better players…more talent.
And proly most of all I worry about payback in some fashion from somebody (I am looking at you Bitches) for the gift from little Piggy.
LikeLike
I get it. A lot of people forget we were on the way to taking them to the woodshed last year until Marshall’s injury. A couple of mistakes on special teams especially the blocked punt gave them what they needed to get back in the game.
If our front 7 plays to their potential, they is better than the Vols’ offensive line. Justin Worley is not a quality SEC QB, but we’ve been beaten by similar UT QBs.
I’m nervous about this Saturday for a lot of reasons, but if we play well, we’ll take care of business.
LikeLike
sorry for the grammatical errors – should be “they are better …”
LikeLike
“They is better”…that’s, like, wrong? 🙂
LikeLike
Dawgs: 31
Vols: negative 7
LikeLike
Yes. But would be ecstatic with a no.
LikeLike
Absolutely. I would not be surprised if Penn Wagers works this game
LikeLike
No fu$ked up field to play on this year. An Urnge beat down to tell the children about.
LikeLike
My inner Vince Dooley and Larry Munson says no way. Would love it, but I am one of those guys who simply wants a W.
LikeLike
UGA 45 – Hillbillies 20
LikeLike
IDK. It could be, but I can also see us winning by 20+. I still think it’s a dangerous game.
But then again, after watching our game yesterday, I watched Florida, Vanderbilt, Missouri, Arkansas, et.al, all the while thinking about our defense. Now they all seem dangerous.
~~~
LikeLike
Smart guy, that Ivey Leaguer.
LikeLike
Waaaaaayyyyy to big of a number. 5-7 points is my guess.
LikeLike
Way too high. I would have us a 4 pt favorite based on the fact we have problems covering receivers.
LikeLike
I thought 40 was too many pts yesterday…
LikeLike
The bookies need more Big Orange money is my guess.
LikeLike
Looks like they’re getting it – the line has already moved to 17.5.
LikeLike
I just don’t know what the hell to expect anymore.
LikeLike
Yep. I thought we were going to have the mindset and preparedness to beat South Carolina by 17 b/c of our pass rush and DT’s previous tendency to throw footballs sideways when pressured. That didn’t exactly happen…
I feel like we should have the talent, experience overall, and home field advantage to beat TN by three touchdowns. Happy with just a win? Yes, but if we can’t shellac TN at home with some of the insane talent on this team I will probably recalibrate my expectations.
LikeLike
Yes too much. Tenn likes to play their best game against us like south car does.
LikeLike
Yep. I thought we were going to have the mindset and preparedness to beat South Carolina by 17 b/c of our pass rush and DT’s previous tendency to throw footballs sideways when pressured. That didn’t exactly happen…
I feel like we should have the talent, experience overall, and home field advantage to beat TN by three touchdowns. Happy with just a win? Yes, but if we can’t shellac TN at home with some of the insane talent on this team I will probably recalibrate my expectations.
LikeLike
whoops – double commented. Y’all read that twice, y’hear?
LikeLike
Dawgs win by 24+
LikeLike
We’re either gonna blow them out or we’ll let them hang around. Good passing game, yes, but their OL honestly sucks from what I’ve seen. Our pass rush should be on par with the Clemson game. I’ve seen nothing from their D that scares me. I’m trying to be more realistic than after the Clemson game and I honestly think the only way they hang around is if were have penalties and turnovers….or we’re flat. They have some skill guys but I just don’t see much on either side of the line for them.
LikeLike
+1
LikeLike
if there’s one problem we don’t seem to have in Athens this year, it’s a lack of focus. That doesn’t bode well for the Dogpatch Nation, in my opinion. UGA seemed to remember what happened at Clemson last year, and played hard all night. UGA seemed to recall what happened at Columbia two years ago, and played hard all night (if not always effectively).
UT hasn’t got the horses to run with UGA for four quarters. If UGA comes out ready to play hard, UT is going home with a limp.
LikeLike
That’s what I’m hoping to see, 81.
~~~
LikeLike
I think they’ll be pesky for a while and then wear down. I don’t believe it will be a four-quarter thriller. Dawgs by 17; Gurley with 150+ yards; defense with 2 turnovers; Dawgs lose a great punt return to a holding call.
LikeLike
Oh, and Vince Dooley Field is christened!
LikeLike
Honestly, I think this is a game to unleash all kinds of blitzes from all areas, all damn game. Especially against their young OL. We couldn’t afford to do that against USC’S OL but this is a chance to take advantage. If there was ever a SEC game to unleash hell this is probably it. We know the secondary is gonna get beaten a decent amount either way.
LikeLike
Vol OL is not good. They cannot run. So like Clemmons in the second half, our DL will control their OL. The SC tackles were the key to that game. Until we face Arky we will not see O tackles that good. Our DEs will control the game. We will score 30-40, and the urange will get 20 at most.
LikeLike
If we win, we tie up the lifetime record with UT at 21-21-4. Just win, baby.
LikeLike
Been waiting for that for a very long time.
~~~
LikeLike
Same here. A looooooooonnnnnnnnnng time.
That 10+ game hole we went into during the dark days of the 90s was brutal.
LikeLike
UGA actually had a 10-8-2 lead in the series when Dooley retired in 88, then Goff and Donnan went a combined 1-9 against UT before that Sunday School teaching, mediocrity lovin’ Mark Richt guy came along and has since gone a weak ass 9-4.
LikeLike
+1 – good use of the sarcasm font 🙂
LikeLike
Butch has been prepping his squad for this game for 2 weeks now. The Vols need a big win, another “Brick” to add to their foundation. The Great Mason will throw out the kitchen sink to get this W. 19 points is way too many! I expect to see a close game. V
LikeLike
Clemson had all summer to prepare and lost by 24. You think Tennessee is better than Clemson? In what ways?
LikeLike
We had all summer to prepare for Clemson too. I agree that Clemson is based on a few games better than Tennessee but the concern that they have had more time than us to focus on this game is a valid one.
LikeLike
If preparation were everything, Georgia wouldn’t have lost in Columbia.
Both of UT’s lines are subpar. Worley is mediocre. I get the “any given Saturday” aspect of any SEC game, but why is everyone so scared of UT?
LikeLike
Preparation is not everything but I get the concern over 2 weeks vs. 1 week. Too your larger point, while you definitely run the best UGA blog on the internet by a wide margin, you have a little less Munson-istic pessimism than some of us. I hope you are right, I nice 38-14 or so when would suit me just fine, and the best part is it would be a noon game and we’d have the rest of the day to gloat and absorb other games.
LikeLike
I think the way I’d put it is that when it comes to Georgia fans, familiarity tends to breed contempt. I doubt anyone has followed UT too closely so far.
The Vols are thirteenth in the conference in total offense and dead last in offensive yards per play.
I get that the Georgia secondary is a weak link, but when the Dawgs are averaging better than three yards a play more than the Vols, it’s hard to see why there’s so much pessimism about this game.
LikeLike
So which way you leaning? Whichever it is, I’m going the opposite. You’ve burned me twice now by getting me to switch in the Fabris Pool (and at least I’m over .500)! 😉
LikeLike
“I doubt anyone has followed UT too closely so far.”
Oh, you doubt that, do you? You don’t live where I do.
I don’t dispute any of your suggested weaknesses, but their defense gets after it and the Vols are a better looking football team physically than at any time in the past five years.
If you want to do the “be happy, don’t worry two-step” go right on ahead with your happy self.
I got the worrying covered.
LikeLike
“Their defense gets after it.”
Since Georgia is higher ranked in total defense and scoring defense, how would you describe the Dawg D?
I would not be so presumptuous as to assume there’s nothing to worry about. I just don’t get the feeling of dread that seems to consume many of you about this game.
LikeLike
Describe the Dawg D? Georgia’s defense gets after it statistically more than doth the Vols defense.
Remember what the late Tech conah back Ed Burke said “Them ar boyz who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.”
“feeling of dread that seems to consume many of you about this game.”
Boss, it ain’t just this game, wait till we get to Vandy…it is ANY game…I am a Georgia fan, worry is what I do.
LikeLike
FWIW, to me it’s more of a sense of danger.
I’m always leery of a 2nd year HC who’s recruited well and knows how to coach. They generally knock somebody off, sometimes more than one, and this guy was doing it his first year. They should have gotten us and they did get SC.
But like our first two games, this one is really about us. About who we are. If we don’t beat ourselves, we’ll win (and forgive me, but also don’t do anything to beat ourselves from the bench). And though we flirted with that tendency at SC, we haven’t shown that mentality so far. Even with the mistakes we made there, the team hung tough and finally figured out a way to win and set up the finish.
And THAT is something we haven’t seen in years (the 2012 SECCG notwithstanding), especially from the defense. So it’s about who we are. If we really are different this year, if the culture is really undergoing change, as we’ve all hoped, we’ll come out and take care of business. And that’s why, IMHO, we have a chance to cover. And if Tennessee plays us tough, plays to their potential, we’ll have to hang tough and win it late, as any good team would.
But if not, if we revert back to our old ways, and start giving things away, anything can happen. Most of it bad. I think the prospect of that is what’s causing the heaviness you sense from the guys.
~~~
LikeLike
I would like to raise another issue. Last year UT played dirty. They intentionally went low on Marshall and ruined his season and maybe his whole career. They also injured several other Georgia players, on purpose, IMHO. The only other game where I saw that happen was 2010 at Auburn with Fairley. What ought to be done, if anything, about that this year? I’m not suggesting anything. I’m interested in what everybody else thinks.
LikeLike
That is silly mane. The hit on Marshall last year was just football. The injuries to cuz Bennett and JSW were freakish. I don’t recall any real hits.
LikeLike
The hit on Marshall was not necessary. The ball had already bounced off Keith’s hands and was going to be incomplete. A defender playing with his head up would not have hit Marshall given that he was defenseless. It MAY not have been dirty but was clearly unnecessary and should have drawn a personal foul penalty.
LikeLike
Seems too high and it really makes me nervous….
I was in UGA law school during Tenn’s 10 or so wins in a row against us. As a result, my hate for them is particularly strong.
I really hope we can handle them a lot more easily than last year.
LikeLike
That’s a long time to spend in law school.
LikeLike
Giggle.
LikeLike
classic
LikeLike
Looks too high to me, even at the adjusted 17.5. These ‘Billies ain’t your big brother’s 90’s era Vols, for sure, and by all rights this Dawg team should win by several TDs. But if you’re looking for some basis for Nervous Nellishness in the Munsoners amongst us, maybe it’s the “Stepping Stone” syndrome, as in, “Beating Georgia shows we’ve stepped up at” among others “Oklahoma State, Colorado, Mississippi State, Central Florida, Vanderbilt, Nebraska.” In other words, they may show up with a mission in mind, and we may show up just to play the game. Bad things have happened in recent years when that disparity in passion exists.
Ultimately, Georgia showing up to take care of business should be enough for us to win, but I’ll be pleasantly surprised if we cover.
LikeLike
As I said, familiarity breeds contempt. 😉
LikeLike
I suggest offering a free visit to the UTK School of Butt Chugging for the Vawls offensive line.
LikeLike