UGA fights for their playoff hopes this Saturday in Athens against the #7 Tennessee Volunteers. Who would have thought that the Vols would come into this game ranked higher than UGA? After a crushing defeat at Ole Miss, UGA limps into this must-win game banged up and deflated. Tennessee is having an even better year than expected after beating Alabama at home again and defeating historic rival Florida in overtime. Their only loss comes against Arkansas on the road. Let’s break down this game.
It started perfectly for UGA. Then it became a disaster. Safety Dan Jackson intercepted Jaxon Dart in Ole Miss territory, which resulted in a Nate Frazier touchdown for the Dawgs to go up 7-0 early against the Rebels. With Dart headed to the locker room, it looked like UGA was prepared to throttle Ole Miss’ vaunted offense like they did to Texas.
Take a look at the top 10 teams in the College Football Playoff, and you’ll see some familiar names in the mix. However, there’s a few more that are far less associated with being a blue blood.
Indiana at No. 5 overall. SMU with an inside track at a top-four seed. BYU still undefeated and in the top 10.
After last year’s defeat, Lane Kiffin seemed to have an epiphany. Ole Miss was simply not good enough along the line of scrimmage to compete with a team the caliber of UGA. So, during the offseason, Kiffin invested heavily on the defensive line in particular, bringing in major names like Walter Nolen and Princely Umanmielen through the portal. Plus they nabbed WR Juice Wells from South Carolina to add to an already formidable offense attack. Ole Miss seemingly has been built to win this game.
It was the same song, another verse for the UGA Bulldogs as they faced off against their rivals in Jacksonville once again. UGA once again looked vulnerable as QB Carson Beck underperformed. And yet, with their backs against the wall, the Dawgs pulled it out and continue to stack up wins. Let’s check out the best and worst of this game.
It’s not that Michigan State is a great, or even a good team. The Spartans are middling. But they’re at home, and this game comes right before Indiana faces the Michigan-Ohio State double.
Oregon seems to have gone to another level since its win over Ohio State. The Ducks now have a clear path to the Big Ten title game with Ohio State out of the way, and they’re going to be favored in every game they play the rest of the way, barring a screw-up before then.
For the last time in Jacksonville, at least for a couple of years, the Dawgs and the Gators will face off in one of college football’s best rivalry games. For the first time, the game will be called by Kirk Herbstreet and the ESPN crew at 3:30pm. The Dawgs enter into the game as 16 point favorites, as both teams seem to be improving. UGA comes off of upsetting Texas and Florida manhandled Kentucky and barely lost in overtime to Tennessee in their previous two games. Let’s take a look at this year’s matchup.
The Cardinals have actually never beaten Clemson, despite having some pretty good teams and playing the Tigers every season as ACC members. It just so happened that Louisville joined the ACC right at the time of Clemson’s rise to a national power, and the Cardinals found themselves playing second or third fiddle pretty quick.