College Football Predictions – Georgia Bulldogs 2020 College Football Preview
2019 Recap
Record – 12-2
ATS – 8-6
It was another double-digit win season for the Bulldogs who have now cobbled together an impressive 36 wins over the past three years. They took down the SEC East and only had one stumble along the way, an OT loss to South Carolina midway through the campaign. LSU was just too much to handle in the SEC Championship Game (L 37-10) but they finished up with a Sugar Bowl win over Baylor.
2020 MEGALOCKS Opening Power Rating
East Division – #1
SEC – #2
Georgia Bulldogs 2020 Outlook
OFFENSE
There was a downtick in overall production LY but the DAWGS managed to achieve decent balance on offense (185Y rushing, 223Y passing) and feature yet another 1,000-yard rusher (D Swift). QB Jake Fromm had his limitations but was a good leader and a decent fit for the offense. The excitement is PALPABLE in Athens as youngster D’Wan Mathis gets the call as the starting QB after the departure of Jamie Newman. Mathis has all kinds of upside but there’s no doubt that Georgia will rely upon a solid rushing attack to do most of the dirty work. D Swift departs but the Bulldogs reload at RB like almost nobody else. It remains to be seen who will emerge as the #1 (Z White?) but there are plenty of options in the RB room. WR George Pickens is an emerging star who will need to make some big plays in the THROW GAME, particular vs the tougher teams on the docket. Only one starter returns up front.
We expect a similar level of overall production, but more rushing yards, less via the air.
DEFENSE
BRICK WALL, yo.
Georgia allowed a mere 12.6 PPG LY (#3 FBS) and an impossible 75 YPG on the ground (#1 FBS) last season and improved their sack total from 24 to 31. They look flat out nasty once again as they return eight starters and are loaded at every level of the defense. The DL is immensely talented and will be a handful for every opposing offensive line, and the LB group is one of the strongest in college football. They return three starters to the group including leader tackler and 2nd team SEC honoree Monty Rice. Good luck getting much done through the air as they bring back three starters to a secondary that helped the Dawgs finish #3 in the SEC in pass efficiency D LY. It would be ideal if they could find a way to bag more INTs as they only had 8 in 2019 (#T10 SEC). They return the vast majority of players who booked two or more sacks LY.
This is clearly one of the best defenses in college football.
SPECIAL TEAMS
This may be a problem area but we’ll have to see how things play out. They need to reload in the return game and will miss ACE field goal man R Blankenship.
Schedule Analysis
Overall – They start out with a FREE SQUARE (at Hogs) but face Auburn and ROLL TIDE in their first four games. They avoid LSU. Finishing strong feels like a certainty as their final four games should be victories.
Potential ATS Trouble Spot – Nothing heinous noted.
Season Win Total
Over 8.5 +100
Under 8.5 -130
MEGALOCKS says:
That looks like the perfect number. We think they can beat either ROLL TIDE or Florida (or both). Gun to the head would take the ‘over’ but we won’t be dabbling in this market.
MEGAmazing Tidbits
Georgia is one of the best teams of all-time when it comes to bowl game success. They have an impressive mark of 32-21-3, and keep in mind that they’re almost always playing a REAL opponent in the postseason. They are #3 overall in all-time bowl victories.
MEGALOCKS Outlook:
Can these guys ride a great defense to a National Title? The stop unit should be good enough to guarantee eight regular season wins but they’ll need to have D’Wan Mathis contribute in a big way against their tougher opponents for them to have a special season. That’s a tough ask for the young man, and it makes us think that an SEC East title and/or playoff appearance may be the ceiling.
#GoDawgs !
Want more Georgia football ?
WEBSITE
https://georgiadogs.com/sports/football
FORUM
http://georgia.247sports.com/Board/Georgia-Bulldogs-Message-Board-Forum-19
http://www.secrant.com/rant/uga-sports/
https://uga.forums.rivals.com/forums/the-dawgvent.26/
NEWS
http://www.espn.com/college-football/team/_/id/61/georgia-bulldogs
TWITTER
Hashtag – #CommitToTheG
Accounts to follow
https://twitter.com/GeorgiaFootball