College Football
Call It What It Is
By: Teddy Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Okay, is it the Georgia-Florida game, or the Florida-Georgia game?
Well, my oldest son is a Georgia fan, and my youngest son and my daughter are Florida fans, so for the purposes of this article, I’ll just refer to it as THE Game.
The bitin’ Bulldawgs started the season ranked #3 with visions of winning a national championship. And they certainly moved in that direction until the Gamecocks from Columbia (South Carolina, not South America) rolled into Athens (Georgia, not Greece) and upset the Dawgs in double overtime, 20-17. Georgia could still make the playoffs, but, well, not really.
As for Florida, the Giant Water Lizards started the season at #7, having made improvements over the last two seasons. The Lizards from Gainesville (Florida, not Georgia) were rolling merrily along until they had to go to Red Stick, Louisiana and play the Big Kitty Cats. Final score: 42-28.
So, both teams come into THE Game with one loss.
Quarterbacks are always important in THE Game. In Athens, Jake Fromm kicked Justin Fields’ butt on the practice field and sent Fields packing.
Fields appealed for a hardship case, saying a Georgia baseball player was prejudiced. The NCAA bought his story and allowed Fields to play in Columbus (Ohio, not Georgia) without sitting out a season.
The rumor on Fields was that he couldn’t decipher the Dawg playbook and Fromm could. I guess Ohio State doesn’t have a playbook because Fields has done excellent work for the Buckeyes. (Can anyone tell me what a Buckeye is? I looked it up and it’s either a shrub/tree, a butterfly, or a coupling for a railroad car. That’s right off the internet, so it’s got to be true. I originally thought it had something to do with a male deer’s vision capacity, but apparently not. By the way, do you know the difference between beer nuts and deer nuts? Beer nuts cost $4.95. Deer nuts are under a buck.)
At any rate, Justin Fields has taken Ohio State to a #3 ranking while the Dawgs have fallen to #10, making some people suggest that Kirby Smart should have kept Fields and let Jake Fromm at the mouth.
Speaking of Smart, Kirby has done an excellent job in Athens, despite the loss to SC.
Down in the swamp, Dan Mullen has Gator fans talking national championship again, but not this year.
When Florida quarterback Feleipe Franks left the Kentucky game with a season-ending injury, backup Kyle Trask entered the game and took the Lizards to a comeback win. And Trask has played well, the LSU game notwithstanding.
Georgia’s offensive line is very good, and that could be a key to THE Game. They’ve opened holes for D’Andre to show how Swift he is. The Dawgs also have some pretty good receivers as do the Lizards. It could come down to the running game.
Whichever team can establish the running game early should have the inside track to winning the game.
THE Game will be played in Jacksonville (a neutral site) again, although Kirby Smart has expressed an interest in a home-and-home series. Tailgating will start at least a day ahead of time, even in Brunswick (Georgia, not Maine).
I guess it has come down to predicting the final score, so here goes: 24-17. (Smiley Face!)
Florida Georgia Line
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Florida-Georgia football rivalry began in 1915 and they have played every year since 1926, except for 1943(canceled due to war). The “World’s Largest Cocktail Party” started in 1933. Jacksonville has hosted the game with the exception of 1994 and 1995.
Georgia leads the series with 51 wins 43 loses and 2 ties.
Let’s take a look at the series by decades. Georgia owned the 1980’s winning eight times during that period.
The 1980 game, Georgia trailed 21-20 with time running out, facing a third down and long from their own 7-yard line.
Georgia quarterback Buck Belue scrambled around his end zone then found wide receiver Lindsey Scott open in the middle of the field. I can still hear legendary Georgia radio announcer Larry Munson’s call of the play. “Run Lindsey” lives on today in my memories.
In 1990, Florida hired its prodigal son, Steve Spurrier. The 1990’s belonged to Florida winning 9 times during that decade.
The 1993 game, Florida was leading 33-26 with five second remaining. Eric Zeier, the Georgia quarterback completed what looked like the tying touchdown to Jerry Jerman.
However, Gators cornerback Anthone Lott had called a timeout. On the next play, Lott was called for pass interference giving the Bulldogs one last chance. Zeier last pass was incomplete. Gators won 33-26
The 1994 and 1995 games are the only game since 1933 not played in Jacksonville. In 1994, the Bulldogs traveled to Gainesville and took a beating 52-10.
In 1995, the Gators went to Athens and embarrassed Georgia 52-17. Coach Spurrier stated after the game, “we wanted to be the first team to hang half a hundred on them in their own stadium, we heard no one had ever done that before.”
The 2000’s belonged to the boys from Florida. The Gators won 8 times during the 2000’s.
The 2007 and 2008 games stand out during this decade. In 2007, after a short touchdown run by Knowshon Moreno, the entire Bulldog bench rushes the field to celebrate.
Coach Mark Richt stated that he ordered his team on the field after the touchdown. That celebration fueled the Bulldogs to a 42-30 victory. This game is remembered as “The Gator Stomp.”
The 2008 game featured two top ten teams with an inside track to the SEC Eastern Division race. The Bulldogs dominated the first half on the field but missed two field goals and failed to recover an onside kick. The Gators lead at half 14-3.
The second half was all Gators just like the 2000’s. Tim Tebow lead the Gators to a 49-10 rout of the Bulldogs.
The 2010’s are up for grab this Saturday. Georgia leads the 2010’s 5 to 4 wins. With a win on Saturday, Georgia would win the decade battle for the first time since the 1980’s.
This may be the most significant Florida-Georgia game since 2008. The winner takes control of the division and their college playoff hopes are still alive.
Keys to the Game for the Bulldogs:
- Establish the running game (entire offense revolves around running the ball)
- Win the turnover battle
- Pressure Trask
Keys to the Game for the Gators:
- Tackle, Tackle & Tackle (no yards after contract)
- Contain D’Andre Swift (there is not a team in College Football that can stop him)
- Win the cornerback/wide receiver battles
Georgia is a 3.5 point favor. My prediction: Florida takes it 24-16
The Best Rivalry
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The SEC has some great programs and traditions. It seems like every team in each division is a rival with the exception of the two newest members (Mizzou and Texas A&M).
Some of the great rivalries are Alabama-Auburn, Ole Miss-Mississippi State, Arkansas-LSU and Florida-Tennessee. We can also add anyone that shares a border with Tennessee as one of their rivals.
The best rivalry in the conference has to be Georgia and Florida. There are several factors that make this very unique. Both teams are in talent rich states. They both recruit the best players from states that are top five in the nation in talent.
Both teams are extremely competitive and produce a lot of NFL talent consistently. Some of them have won the Heisman Trophy. Some legendary names that played in this series include Herschel Walker, A.J. Green, Matthew Stafford, Hines Ward, Emmitt Smith, Tim Tebow and Danny Wuerffell.
We cannot say the same for other programs in the conference like Arkansas, South Carolina, Kentucky, Mizzou and Vanderbilt.
This game is also played at a neutral site. The Auburn-Alabama game used to be played in Birmingham at Legion Field. Since 2000, they are played on campus.
Arkansas – Texas A&M game is played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Tx. The contract was signed before A&M joined the conference and it ends in 2024.
The first time both teams met was in 1915 and has been played every season since 1926, except for a war-time interruption in 1943.
The game has been played in Jacksonville since 1933 with just two exceptions. It was formerly called the “World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party” but that name is no longer used officially.
The schools also dispute their first meeting, which UGA counts as a 52-0 win in 1904. UF does not count this because it was one of their predecessor institutions, called Florida Agricultural College based in Lake City.
The modern university was established the next year in 1905 and fielded the first officially recognized football team in 1906.
Since the league was divided into two divisions in 1992, both teams have been competing to win the SEC East. The game is high stakes and that makes it more entertaining.
This year both teams have one loss and are ranked in the Top Ten. The team that wins this game will win the division. As long as they continue to win, they will make the College Football Playoff.
Steve Spurrier was known for taking shots at rival teams and it seems current Gators head coach Dan Mullen is continuing the tradition. He trolled UGA this offseason when he announced the attendance for the spring game was 39,476. Mullen previously admitted he has having fun with the spring game numbers to rile up his rivals.
Georgia has not won a championship in 39 years and has played 476 games during this drought. Now, Mullen claims he doesn’t know where that number came from.
“I had no idea. I don’t even know how they came up with that number, the most random thing ever,” Mullen said. “But everybody started freaking out about it, I guess, until three days later somebody put enough math together to go figure that out. Maybe Georgia fans were really so uptight they haven’t won in 39 years they got all uptight and tried to figure it out. But it was pretty random actually, it was pretty funny.”
I hope this game lives up to the heavyweight matchup we are all expecting.
The Good, Bad and Lucky
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
As someone who grew up in North Carolina and didn’t start really following college football until the late 80’s/early 90’s, I never had much interest in the Georgia/Florida rivalry.
At that time Florida was dominating the series like a father does in basketball against his 7-year-old, so unless you had some connection to either team, it was just a regular game with a clever nickname.
It wasn’t until my wife and I began our short, two-year stint in Athens (‘01-‘03), that I realized just how big the entire game, and the festivities surrounding it, were.
I don’t remember much about the 2001 game, other than the fact Florida won, but the day before the 2002 certainly stands out in my mind.
All sports fans are superstitious to some degree, whether they want to admit it or not. In the case of a fellow employee I worked with at an Athens carpet store during the 2002 season, his superstition involved a Georgia t-shirt he wore every Friday before the weekend’s game.
Leading up to the Florida game, I suppose the superstition was working, since Georgia was undefeated and ranked in the top 5. So, you can understand my surprise when this person showed up to work on that Friday, the day before arguably the biggest game of the season to that point, without his Georgia shirt.
Now it wasn’t just those of us in the warehouse that were aware of this ritual, everyone else in the building, including the owner, knew about it.
As word of the forgotten t-shirt trickled throughout the store like a game of telephone, the owner, who was apparently well versed in superstition lore, decided to step in.
Not only did he send my co-worker home to collect his t-shirt, while on the clock, but he stepped right in and filled in for him while he was gone. He, like most everyone else, didn’t want to be the jinx that caused Georgia to lose.
Since I didn’t have a dog in the fight (no pun intended), I thought the whole ordeal was pretty funny, especially since I thought Georgia was going to win.
Florida had really struggled to begin the season and Georgia was clearly the better team; just goes to show records don’t matter in any rivalry, even if it’s one you don’t pay much attention to.
Even though Florida won, the magical shirt continued to be worn every Friday as Georgia finished the season with only one loss. I guess it wasn’t only that the shirt had to be worn, but it needed to be on his body before he arrived at work in order for its mystical powers to flourish?
Now, I realize this isn’t some scandalous story, or one that ends with my buddy running down Broad St. screaming “Danny Wuerffel is my Dad”, but, when was the last time the owner of the business you work for paid you to go home because of a superstition?
Plus, over the course of the two years I lived in Athens, and five years in Georgia overall, I never encountered a situation that embodied how important the Georgia/Florida game is to its fans.
If you’re a Georgia fan, I can only hope my former co-worker remembers to wear his shirt to work on Nov. 1.
From my experience, the outcome of the game depends on it.
Cocktails In The River City
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The University of Georgia and the University of Florida have fought the same battle on the same battleground for nearly a century. That won’t be changing for the next several years.
The city of Jacksonville, Florida, where the two rivals have played their annual game since 1933, agreed to continue hosting the collegiate contest through at least 2023 with an option to extend to 2025.
Press releases were sent out with all parties involved expressing a positive feeling about the deal, espousing words of tradition and history; if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, essentially.
The idea behind playing this game in Jacksonville each year is housed in the notion that it’s a neutral ground. With the two teams claim to be the “University of” their respective states, Jacksonville also serves as a borderland over which the game’s victors can claim.
But it’s not quite neutral territory, is it? Ignoring the fact that the game is played inside the state lines of Florida, the geography is actually staggeringly lopsided.
The rabid, eager fans of the Georgia Bulldogs make the trip every year, often with a pit stop on a beach or coastal island like St. Simon’s, to cheer on their team. Thus, is the level of their passion.
It’s an overnight trip, for sure. It takes over five hours to make the trek from Athens, Georgia to Jacksonville.
Gas money, hotels, food and alcohol, and eleven or more total hours in a car are all costs that the Bulldog faithful must pay to root for their home team.
The Florida Gator Nation? They could easily sleep in their beds the night of the game. It’s less than an hour and a half travel time to get from Gainesville to Jacksonville. Sure, many Gators will stay in Jacksonville and revel in the festivities, but with a DD in tow, driving back home is very much an option.
Granted, so many fans of college football – and these two teams in particular – aren’t current (or have ever been) students of their respective schools; but the stadiums in Gainesville and Athens aren’t filling up with 5-hour commuters every Saturday. They’re being attending by people who can commute to the games.
So, even those season ticket holders for UGA, who aren’t living in Athens aren’t living an hour and a half from Jacksonville either.
This isn’t to say that Florida has home field advantage every year but it’s not a far cry from it.
There’s been talk of moving the game from Jacksonville in the past. Recently there has been a notion for a home-and-home series between the two teams, for example.
I’ve even heard it suggested that the annual game switch between Jacksonville and Atlanta (for those counting mileage, the travel times essentially switch, but with a slightly shorter trip time from Gainesville to Atlanta than Athens to Jacksonville).
Last week’s news of the game remaining in Jacksonville puts those options to bed, for now, anyway.
Truthfully it does seem unlikely that a game with such rich history in one location would be altered. Especially now that they’re locked in for a 90th year, why stop shy of a century?
Who knows if either of those options, or a third, heretofore unknown choice, will ever be utilized.
The game is too big each year to not involve some kind of pomp and circumstance, even when the teams aren’t having their best years.
So maybe Jacksonville isn’t the most elegant solution; it doesn’t seem like there will be another one anytime soon.
Lurking Gators
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Florida (6-1) is back in familiar territory as a top 10 team and national championship contender. The Gators beat No.7 Auburn about two weeks ago.
The Tigers came into the game as the favorites but left Gainesville with a convincing 24-13 loss. Florida was feeling great after that win and headed to No. 5 LSU the following week.
UF won the game in Gainesville last season, 27-19. The Tigers had revenge on their mind and pulled away in the second half. The game was tied at 21 at halftime. LSU won 42-28.
LSU coach Ed Orgeron declared that holding Florida’s defense without a sack was “the biggest stat of the night,” noting how the Gators’ defensive ends had “destroyed” opposing offensive lines in previous games.
Kyle Trask was 23-of-39 passing for 310 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception.
“There’s two ways you can go: You can either lose and start pointing fingers or you can lose and start coming together,” Trask said. “We have a great group of guys and at the end of the day; it’s just going to make this team better.”
This is the toughest part of Florida’s schedule. So far, they are 1-1 during these four games. The remaining games are at South Carolina and Georgia at a neutral site (Jacksonville).
Previously I did not think the USC game would be difficult. The Gamecocks were under .500 prior to this weekend.
They shocked the college football world by beating No. 3 UGA in Athens. The Bulldogs turned the ball over four times and South Carolina did not have any. Now this game in Columbia looks like a heavyweight matchup.
South Carolina (3-3) gave up 468 yards to Georgia but forcing the turnovers was the difference. The Gamecocks also lost freshman quarterback Ryan Hilinski to a knee injury. He’s actually a backup and has been playing since senior Jake Bentley suffered a mid-foot sprain in the season opener.
Third string freshman quarterback Dakereon Joyner played several snaps against Georgia. Currently, it does not sound like he will start the Florida game because Hilinski is expected to return.
“He’s got a sprained knee,” Muschamp said of Hilinski. “It’s nothing serious. I’ll know more Tuesday. He’s a little sore, obviously, today. But again, it’s nothing serious. We expect him to play on Saturday.”
So far, I give the early advantage to the Gators. They are ranked 20th nationally in total defense but they have played at least one more game than all of the teams ranked higher. That means they are actually better than many of them.
The Gamecocks are not good on offense and they are led by an injured true freshman QB.
If he cannot make it through the game, the third string QB will come in and they were not effective with him. They should be able to stop them and hold them to under twenty points.
I don’t think they will overlook this game since they know Carolina is capable of beating them. After that, they will go in to the bye week with two weeks to prepare against Georgia.
Ramblin Wreck
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
I have to imagine Geoff Collins begins each day staring at the mirror, doing his best Stuart Smalley impression.
However, instead of repeating the self-affirmation quotes that end with “….and doggone it, people like me” I picture him reciting all the reasons he decided to take the Georgia Tech head coaching gig in the first place- $3 million dollars a season…it’s not Temple…close proximity to The Varsity.
I feel as though it’s pretty safe to assume most anyone who watches college football knew this would be a tough transitional year for Georgia Tech, but I’m not sure even the most ardent of Yellow Jacket fans thought it would be this rough.
Not only are they the worst team in the ACC, but you could argue they are the worst of all the Power Five schools. The team is really living up to the whole Ramblin’ Wreck nickname, but for all the wrong reasons.
It’s hard to find many bright spots when your opponents are out gaining you by over 100 yards per contest, you haven’t scored more than 24 points in any game and you lost not only to an FCS school, but a bad one at that.
I could go even more in depth, but it would be close to bullying at that point, especially since you can’t really blame the current coaches or players for what’s taking place.
When you’re struggling through a season like Georgia Tech is currently going through, you can usually point to a litany of reasons as to why it’s happening. While that’s true in this case, the main culprit has to do with recruiting; the talent just isn’t there.
Paul Johnson did a decent job early in his tenure of bringing in players that fit his system, even if they weren’t the most talented.
That wasn’t necessarily the case over the past few seasons, so what’s left is a group of players brought in to play in a system no longer being used, most of whom just aren’t talented enough to compete at this level on a weekly basis.
To use the “Cook the meals, buy the groceries” analogy from Bill Parcells, Johnson bought the groceries he thought he needed to make lasagna and now Collins is having to turn those ingredients into stir fry.
Given the circumstances it’s hard to tell how much of an impact the new head coach has made, but the free pass you could argue he should be afforded lasts for this year only.
Now, I know contracts don’t necessarily mean a lot in today’s game, but given the seven-year contract Collins was given I have to believe the administration is willing to give him an opportunity to turn things around, even though it won’t be immediately.
I doubt Tech will be favored in any of their games for the remainder of the season, and even though they could pull off an upset or two, they are looking at arguably their worst season in 25 years. At this point it’s about getting to the end of the season without completely embarrassing yourself.
More than likely it will be a few years before Georgia Tech is back to being relevant on the college football landscape, although being in the Coastal Division could certainly help speed up the rebuilding process.
In the meantime, Collins may need to find things to add to his daily mirror pep talk.
Storm In Miami
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
After five games, what have we learned about the Miami Hurricanes?
They aren’t well coached. The Hurricanes are off to a poor start with a 2-3 record. The Hurricanes have yet to beat a Power Five opponent, losing to Florida, North Carolina and Virginia Tech.
First year head coach Manny Diaz is saying all the right things but morale victories don’t keep you off the hot seat. Is Manny in over his head?
On December 30, 2018, Coach Diaz was hired as the head coach at the University of Miami. Diaz was Miami Defensive Coordinator from 2016-2018. Coach Diaz is considered the engineer behind the “Turnover Chain” and a top 10 defense.
Miami fans want to restore the glory days of the 80’s and 90’s. When ‘THE U” rained terror down of college football. The Hurricanes dominated college football landscape winning five National Championships (1983, 1987, 1989, 1991 & 2001) plus national finalist (1985, 1986, 1988, 1992, 2000 & 2002).
Obviously, the Hurricanes of today won’t live up to the “The U” standards.
While it is premature to call for Coach Diaz’s job; the rest of the coaching staff should feel the pressure.
Defensive Coordinator Blake Baker has taken a top 10 defense and turned it into a dumpster fire. Miami currently ranks 15 in total defense. Virginia Tech scoring 42 points is not the Miami standard. It’s very clear Coach Diaz has to become more involved with the defense.
Offensive Coordinator Dan Enos inherited an offensive line that is offensive. Miami’s offensive line has been under scrutiny all season and are ranked 125th in the country in sacks allowed.
Quarterback Jarren Williams had been getting destroyed. Miami has talent at receiver and tight end but it doesn’t matter if Williams has no time to throw the ball.
Running Backs DeeJay Dallas has made the most of their opportunities rushing for 410 yard and scoring 6 touchdowns in five games. Dallas could be one of the top running backs in the country if he wasn’t having to make two guys miss on every play.
Enos get paid to put points on the board. He’s doing just that with the worst offensive line in college football.
Enos now has a quarterback controversy with Jarren Williams getting benched and N”Kosi Perry throwing for 422 yards and 4 touchdowns on Saturday.
The remainder of the Hurricanes schedule is relatively easy to manage. The Hurricanes play Virginia, Georgia Tech, Pittsburgh, Florida State, Louisville. FIU and Duke.
Miami must win 4 of these games to become bowl eligible. After losing to Virginia Tech this past Saturday, becoming bowl eligible will prove to be an uphill battle.
How does Manny Diaz salvage the remainder of the season? First, Diaz must become more involved with the defense. Second, he must hold coaches, players and himself accountable. Finally, he has to do a better job recruiting.
Diaz must influence the defense in practice and on a day to day basis. Coaching defense is how Manny Diaz got the job at Miami. This is the biggest sense of urgency for Miami.
Players and coaches must be held accountable for their actions. Miami finished the game against Virginia Tech with 11 penalties for 90 yards.
Three key personal foul penalties extend Virginia Tech drives. Miami tied the game but Mike Harley’s personal foul for celebration gave Virginia Tech great field position on their winning touchdown drive.
Miami coaches created the “Turnover Chain and Touchdown Rings.” Players care more about wearing them than winning.
The blood of college football is recruiting, and The Hurricanes must do a better job. Miami is currently ranked 27 nationally and 4th in the ACC (247Sports). This is unacceptable!
The Hurricanes glory days appear long gone and the future does not look bright.
Deafening Silence
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Two years ago, Georgia was ahead of schedule when it won the SEC and suffered an overtime loss in the national title game; a storyline that was easy to follow and received a lot of national publicity for obvious reasons.
Last year, the storyline revolved around whether or not they could repeat their previous years success; specifically, could they get over the Alabama hurdle?
This year, even though they’ve been firmly planted in the #3 ranking for the first third of the season and are one of the most complete teams in the country, it almost seems as if Georgia is under the radar.
It’s a no brainer that Alabama and Clemson are going to be the major headlines throughout the season, there are too many juicy storylines between the two programs for them not to be.
Plus, Georgia hasn’t achieved nearly the same amount of success as those two have in recent years, so it just makes sense that they wouldn’t receive the same type of coverage.
It’s the publicity for many of the other current AP Top 10 teams below Georgia that I’m talking about.
LSU and Oklahoma are popular stories because the Tigers finally have an offense that doesn’t resemble something from the 1930’s and Jalen Hurts is putting up better numbers than the Sooners previous two quarterbacks, who just happen to be Heisman Trophy winners.
Ohio State gets the love because, well, they’re Ohio State, and as much as people like to complain about it, names sell.
If you’re questioning why Georgia has been out of the spotlight a little more than you would expect, just look at the Notre Dame game; another Top 10 team so popular you’d think Jesus was actually scoring touchdowns for them.
After Georgia’s 23-17 win over their fellow Top 10 opponent, you may have expected a number of stories praising the Dawgs and talking about how this could positively affect the remainder of their season.
There were a few of them, but the main takeaway for most people was that Notre Dame has a legitimate playoff worthy team this year, based on their play in Athens. I know that line of thinking upset more than a few Georgia fans who thought it was a bit disrespectful to focus on the Fighting Irish, but I’d argue it was the exact opposite.
In a matter of two years Georgia has evolved from being the team looking for validation to being the team opponents use to validate themselves.
If I’m a Georgia fan, that’s exactly how I want it- enter the game as the favorite and have the press drool over the opponent afterwards solely because they’re merely able to hang with us. It really is kind of the ultimate sign of respect.
When you look at the remainder of Georgia’s schedule, I wouldn’t expect things to change either, until they play Auburn on November 16.
As fans, when our team is playing well, we feel as though they should be the topic of conversation everywhere. Why else do we listen to five minutes of a four hours radio show and complain about our team not being mentioned?
The truth is, it doesn’t matter if they don’t get recognition during the season, receiving it at the end of the season is what counts; it’s something all the elite teams learn over time. So, congratulations Georgia fans, that silence you’re hearing means you’re almost there.
Growing Wings
By: Mike Anthony
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Georgia Southern has a storied history of championship-caliber football teams. And while those types of teams usually need to be well-rounded in order to achieve status, it’s been a tradition at Georgia Southern to throw its belief and support of each season’s team in the direction that the offense has gone.
That trend isn’t without reason. Georgia Southern has built one of the strongest and most consistent offensive identities in all of college football as a team that will run an option attack right at opponents and keep running it – win or lose – until it gets results.
So, it’s a bit ironic that Georgia Southern will open up its Sun Belt Conference schedule on Saturday against a Louisiana squad that will be trying to spread the Eagles’ bread and butter onto the Paulson Stadium turf.
Sure, the Ragin’ Cajuns don’t run the triple option, but their seemingly never-ending stable of capable ball carriers have been putting up numbers over the first four weeks of play that rival some of Georgia Southern’s best showings.
Louisiana is rushing for over 300 yards per game and is currently a top-5 rushing team in the nation and leads the entire FBS with 18 rushing touchdowns over its first four games.
And the truth is, the Georgia Southern offense can’t expect to win on Saturday by beating Louisiana at its own game.
Injury questions and ongoing suspensions will continue to limit the maximum effectiveness of the Eagles’ ground game. And even with substitutes playing capably, penalties have continually killed big plays and taken points off the board for Georgia Southern further lessen the effectiveness of its offense.
While every Eagle fan – as well as the players and coaches – hope that Saturday will be a breakout game for the offense, it’s the Georgia Southern defense that could be key to notching a win and getting the Sun Belt season off to a good start.
There’s no question that stopping the ULL run game will be a challenge, but it’s also been proven that the GS defense isn’t one to give up rushing yards easily.
While each of the Eagles’ first three opponents preferred to move the ball through the air, play by the Eagles’ front seven made that their only way to consistently pick up yardage.
Georgia Southern went a long way towards getting itself back on the right track with last season’s 10-3 mark and bowl victory. But one of the common sound bytes coming out of the locker room throughout the offseason was that the team was more focused on how it finished third in its division and lost a pair of games that would have put it in position to win a Sun Belt title.
So, perhaps, it’s fitting that Saturday’s matchup will face a balance of power on opposing sides of the ball that is in stark contrast to what fans are used to seeing at Paulson Stadium.
For everything that has been gained back by the Eagles over the last 13 months, this is still an Eagle team that sits at 1-2, is expected to be a Sun Belt contender, and is an underdog that is expected to get out-rushed in its own house against a conference rival in a few days.
Maybe the GS defense will rise to the occasion and cage up the Cajuns. Maybe the offense will awake and prove that it is still a gold standard for rushing attacks. Hopefully both will happen at the same time.
But regardless of how things eventually play out, the current state of affairs holds true.
Georgia Southern is a team with a lot of promise on both sides of the ball that hasn’t shown its best in either aspect so far.
If the Eagles want to be the Sun Belt contenders they believe themselves to be, both of those units need to start living up to their potential sooner rather than later.
