Georgia Bulldogs 2018 NCAA Football Preview

College Football Predictions – Georgia Bulldogs 2018 NCAA Football Preview

2017 Recap

Record – 13-2

ATS – 11-4

As a college football fan, you just had to love the Bulldogs final two games of the season. Their 2-OT win over Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl was one of the most entertaining games you will ever see and the College Football Playoff Championship was riveting starting in the 2nd half. And that bad boy also went to OT. ROLL TIDE pulled it out by a score of 26-23. Can that close call fuel Georgia to another playoff appearance?

2018 MEGALOCKS Opening Power Rating

East Division – #1

SEC – #2

Georgia Bulldogs 2018 Outlook

OFFENSE

The Bulldogs are set at QB with sophomore Jake Fromm back for duty. All he did was take over the job as a true freshman and lead the team within a hair of a National Championship. Highly recruited backup Justin Fields will be a star someday and is the backup plan for now. Throwing the ball all over the yard is sexy, but Georgia did a lot with their passing attack (#11 FBS passing efficiency, #105 passing yards) when they chose to do so. They bring back a really talented WR group and should be just as deadly when choosing to MATRICULATE in the passing game.

You don’t get better by losing two likely NFL starters at RB but Georgia has a stockpile of young talent ready to dominate. RB D’Andre Swift should be next in a series of super-productive Bulldog backs and there are plenty of talented youngsters behind him on the depth chart. The offensive line paved the way for 258 (!) yards rushing per game last season (#1 SEC) and should be solid again with 4/5 returning starters and some excellent size.

Georgia improved from 24.5 to 35.4 PPG last year and we forecast another jump in production in 2018.

DEFENSE

The Bulldogs were impressive last year finishing #6 in total defense, #20 in rushing defense, and #15 in pass efficiency D. They only allowed 16.4 PPG and 295 yards per contest. They have just five returning starters (10 last season) and will be without star LB Roquan Smith (#1 NFL DC – Bears). Thankfully, HC Kirby Smart knows a thing or two about defense and they are still loaded with talent, albeit less experienced. The DL has good size and includes excellent senior Jonathan Ledbetter. LB D’Andre Walker recorded 13.5 TFL and 12 QB hurries last season, and the secondary has a pair of excellent players in senior CB Deandre Baker and 2nd Team SEC S JR Reed. We are encouraged by the talent on hand and believe they will be “coached up” appropriately. They may not match last season’s PPG mark (16.4) but will still comfortably come in below 20 PPG.

SPECIAL TEAMS

We love the look of this group. PK Rodrigo Blankenship is close to automatic (20/23 on FG LY) and Mecole Hardman is one of the most dangerous return men in college football.

Schedule Analysis

Overall – Difficult, but manageable. They draw LSU and Auburn out of the West, but as you know, the SEC East is certainly the easier side of the bracket. The non-conference schedule is close to layup material (MTSU, UMass, Georgia Tech, Austin Peay).

Potential ATS Trouble Spot – Massachusetts (November 17). This game falls after three straight SEC tilts (Florida, Kentucky, Auburn) and before their season-ending battle with Georgia Tech. The Minutemen are going to be sneaky this season and may be a good play when they catch a bazillion points.

Season Win Total

Over 10.5 -105

Under 10.5 -115

MEGALOCKS says:

Lean to the over. 10.5 is always a tough pill to swallow BUT this team is freaking loaded. If they get past South Carolina on the road in week two (should be about a TD favorite) there is nothing but clear sailing ahead. Sure, there are a couple of tough games, but 11-1 whilst winning the SEC East would be fine with us, yo.

MEGAmazing Tidbits

The Bulldogs claim two consensus national championships (1942, 1980). <Herschel Walker> <G.O.A.T.>

MEGALOCKS ATS Value Rating (10) 6.0

MEGALOCKS says:

Overall, we give the BULLDOGS a 6.0 ATS Value Rating (Above Average) this season.

MEGALOCKS SEC EAST INSIDERS were NAILS last season calling for a fine season from Georgia ATS……

Ok. We are drinking the Kool-Aid.

The talent at RB and the defense look really good. The offensive line has us a bit worried but they do play on the right side of the SEC. The schedule has a couple of tough ones but we see no “unwinnable” games on the docket. If the defense lives up to potential, and we think that is going to happen, they are gonna cover more than their fair share of games.

Our FUTURES PLAYERS bagged Georgia at over 30-1 and were sitting in a nice hedge position come National Championship day.

What about 2018?

They look loaded. No other way to say it. The offense could be improved even without their two well-known and graduated RB stars. The defense will miss Roquan Smith at LB but there is plenty of young talent that Kirby Smart and company can mold into another great defense. It’s a bit of a leap of faith, but Georgia might be entering the rarefied air of automatic-reload like ROLL TIDE.<grabs popcorn>

Kirby Smart has an impressive 17-10 mark vs the point spread so far, and while they will be on everyone’s radar this season, it seems to us they may be good enough to WHACK people enough to cover at a decent clip.

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