2021 Orange Bowl – Michigan vs Georgia

2021 Orange Bowl – Michigan vs Georgia

posted December 29

The Game

Buckle up, yo. We could have a SNOT BUBBLER.

This promises to be a great game as two storied programs with a combined record of 24-2 (!) slug it out in the Orange Bowl. The Bulldogs rattled off 12 straight wins to start the year but were upset by ROLL TIDE in the SEC Championship Game (L 41-24). Michigan fell to Michigan St around the midseason mark but finished strong with blowout wins over Ohio St (!) and Iowa. SEC vs Big Ten. Let’s do itttttttttttttttttttttt !

The Details

Georgia -7.5 Michigan (45.5)

MEGALOCKS LINE – Georgia -7

“Vegas” Implied Projected Score: Georgia 26.5 Michigan 19

Georgia offense vs Michigan defense

It’s gonna be a simple game plan. Use the power run game and hit some deep shots off of play action. Can they GIT ER DONE? The ground attack fizzled vs ROLL TIDE (30-109, long 14) and QB S Bennett made mistakes when forced to over-utilize the THROW GAME. Georgia has the #33 rush offense and Z White and J Cook have combined for over 1300 yards and 17 TDs. The bad news? There isn’t much explosiveness in the RB room and Michigan has a good shot of holding them somewhat in check (#21 rush defense, 122 YPG) and they pretty much stopped a really good Ohio St ground game cold. Michigan has the #11 pass efficiency D and it seems to us that the Bulldogs best chance for THROW GAME success will be to hit them with the aforementioned play-action strikes. Nebraska did some damage in that regard. Michigan is #3 in the Big Ten in sacks but Georgia has only allowed 11 sacks in 13G.

Michigan offense vs Georgia defense

Michigan is also gonna try and dominate with the run game and they’ve had a lot of success doing just that in 2021 (#21 rushing offense, 224 YPG). The 1-2 combo of H Haskins (20 TD) (!) and B Corum have combined for over 2200 yards and recall that Michigan bullied Ohio St to the tune of 297 yards (7.2). They’ll have a yuuuuge challenge in this one as Georgia ranks #2 in the country in total D, #3 in run defense (!), and #2 in pass efficiency D. They’ve booked 41 sacks (#2 SEC) but Michigan has also been excellent in keeping the QB clean (10 sacks in 13G). QB C McNamara doesn’t have an elite group of WRs (on paper) but they’re a bit of an underrated bunch in our estimation. McNamara has a fine 15-4 TD to INT ratio (308 attempts).

Trends, Intangibles and More!

There shouldn’t be too many points left on the table as Michigan is 22-24 on FGA and Georgia is 18-22…..Michigan has easily been one of the most successful teams in the country in terms of using TRICKERATION so keep an eye out for TOMFOOLERY from the Wolverines….and it just might come in the first half……Michigan is 11-2 (!) ATS and 2-0 SU as a dog…..Georgia is 8-5 ATS…..Georgia has allowed 9.5 PPG (#1 FBS).

Summary

Wow. This should be fun. These two teams look pretty similar on paper with Georgia having the better defense (duh) and Michigan the slightly more balanced (in our opinion) offense. Michigan is a confident bunch but not sure they’re seasoned enough to hang for 60 minutes. Tough call.

Conclusion

Lean – Michigan first half +4


Note:

‘Official play’ implies we have played the game for our standard wager amount.

‘Lean’ implies we are comfortable suggesting ‘small potatoes’ on the game if you want to get down on some sweet action.

‘No leanage’ implies we won’t be involved in the game from a betting standpoint. In-game wagering possibilities only.