Georgia Has Something to Prove
Oregon vs. Georgia, Saturday, 9/3 3:30 ET
The title defense starts now for the Bulldogs. Fortunately, or unfortunately for Georgia, they have to start the season against the Oregon Ducks. Fortunately, because they don't have to wait for a test to see how they rebound this year, but unfortunate because the Ducks are a good team. Let's take a minute and break down the game.
Starting with the Bulldogs, everyone preached about how great their defense was last season. Many were saying they were the best defense ever in college football, and while not all stats support that, they were an outstanding team and they were able to hoist the ultimate trophy to end last season. Now, a ton of that defense that was so good is gone to the NFL. Can they be as good this year? I don't think so, but they aren't going to just fall off a cliff either. Let's just say for a second that they are good but not great, is this the year that Stetson Bennett takes a big step forward and gets more credit for winning Georgia games. He hasn't been a bad quarterback, he had a nice season, but it almost is like he has the categorization of "game manager" instead of being a guy that leads the team.
The Ducks are ranked #11 coming into the game, and yes, we've already mentioned that the Bulldogs defense will still be good. I think Orgeon will play well, but they have some things to figure out at the quarterback position. Will new starter Bo Nix be able to lead the Ducks past the tough defense? I kind of doubt it. Before going down with an injury and not playing much last season, he wasn't really impressive. In two games last season, he had around a 50% completion percentage. He did face Georgia last year when he was at Auburn. It wasn't a super impressive game and he had one interception with no touchdowns. That might help with a bit of familiarity. Plus the fact that Oregon has some nice playmakers.
I think both teams will be happy with the way their seasons end up, but I do expect Georgia to come out of the game with trying to prove that they can still win without their historic defense. Not only that, but Georgia is going to want to prove defensively that they are still tough. Offensively they are going to look for ways to showcase that side of the ball as well. Oregon did make a big difference beating Ohio State in the second week, on the road, last season. I don't see that happening here. I'm going to take Georgia -17 to win this game.
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