Georgia (8-5 SU/6-7 ATS in 2016)
May 1 Power Rating: 85.57 (#17)
Returning Starters: 17 (7 offense, 10 defense)
Key Losses: WR/Ret Isaiah McKenzie, OL Greg Pyke, C Brandon Kublanow, DB Muarice Smith
2017 Recruiting Class Rank: #3
2016 Season Recap: The Bulldogs brought in former Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart in hopes of taking the program to the next level. The season started off well with a big win over North Carolina in Atlanta. However, in week two the Bulldogs nearly lost outright to FCS Nicholls St, which would’ve been the biggest upset in college football history (UGA was -53). The very next week the Bulldogs got a TD pass on 4th-and long late in the fourth quarter to pull out a 1-point win at Missouri. After getting crushed on the road at Ole Miss, the Bulldogs suffered a devastating loss to Tennessee as the Vols got a Hail Mary TD pass on the final play. After a solid win at South Carolina, the Bulldogs lost 17-16 at home to Vanderbilt as 2-TD favorites. After another loss to rival Florida, the late game scenarios continued with Georgia edging both Kentucky and Auburn (were 10-point home dogs to Auburn). After a win over UL-Lafayette, the Bulldogs would lose to rival Georgia Tech by 1 at home. The season would finish on a high note with a 31-23 win over TCU. Overall, Georgia went UNDER their season win total of 8.5 (South Point)
Offense Per Game Rank
Scoring 24.5 102
Rushing 191.2 50
Passing 193.5 97
Total 384.7 87
Defense Per Game Rank
Scoring 24.0 35
Rushing 143.7 36
Passing 183.8 16
Total 327.5 16
Georgia (SU: 8-5, ATS: 6-7, O/U: 6-7)
|
Date
|
Opponent
|
W/L
|
Line
|
Score
|
Total
|
9/3
|
† N Carolina
|
W
|
-3.5
|
33-24
|
u58
|
9/10
|
Nicholls St
|
L
|
-53
|
26-24
|
u62.5
|
9/17
|
at Missouri
|
L
|
-6.5
|
28-27
|
o54.5
|
9/24
|
at Mississippi
|
L
|
+7
|
14-45
|
u61.5
|
10/1
|
Tennessee
|
W
|
+3.5
|
31-34
|
o52
|
10/9
|
at S Carolina
|
W
|
-7.5
|
28-14
|
o41
|
10/15
|
Vanderbilt
|
L
|
-14
|
16-17
|
u42
|
10/29
|
† Florida
|
L
|
+7
|
10-24
|
u43
|
11/5
|
at Kentucky
|
W
|
-2.5
|
27-24
|
u51.5
|
11/12
|
Auburn
|
W
|
+10
|
13-7
|
u50
|
11/19
|
UL-Lafayette
|
L
|
-22
|
35-21
|
o44.5
|
11/26
|
Georgia Tech
|
L
|
-4.5
|
27-28
|
o49
|
12/30
|
† TCU
|
W
|
+2.5
|
31-23
|
o49
|
2017 Outlook: There’s a lot of optimism in Athens this year as the Bulldogs welcome back 17 starters. Seven of those starters are back at QB including QB Jacob Eason who expectedly struggled at times as a true freshman (2,430 yards, 57.6%, 16-8 ratio). He was pushed in the spring by true freshman Jake Fromm. The Bulldogs do have one of the best 1-2 punches at RB in the entire country in Nick Chubb and Sony Michel. Chubb (1,130 rush yards last year) is another year removed from a significant knee injury.
They do lose their top playmaker at WR in Isaiah McKenzie (also punt returner) and look for Terry Godwin to step up. The OL is arguably the biggest question mark on the team as the Bulldogs lose three starters. However, they addressed it in their recruiting class signing six massive OL (average 6-5 336) led by 5-star Isaiah Wilson.
The defense will be among the best in the nation thanks to the return of 10 starters (all projected starters will be juniors or seniors). Arguably their two best players LB Roquan Smith (95 tackles last year) and big DT Trenton Thompson (9.5 tfl’s) missed the spring but there’s plenty of depth all around. Keep an eye out for pass rush specialists Davin Bellamy and Lorenzo Carter who have a combined 29.5 tfl’s and 17 sacks in their careers. If there’s an area of improvement it’s in the red zone as the Bulldogs ranked No. 121 in TD percentage (90.7%).
Both specialists are back on special teams as kicker Rodrigo Blankenship was 14 of 18 on FG’s but Marshall Long averaged only 38.7 yards per punt. Also dynamic punt returner Isaiah McKenzie departs (6 return TD’s in career).
Projected Starting Line-up
Offense:
QB #10 Jacob Eason 6-5 235 So
RB #27 Nick Chubb 5-10 228 Sr
WR #6 Javon Wims 6-4 215 Sr
WR #5 Terry Godwin 5-11 185 Jr
WR #9 Jeremiah Holloman 6-2 195 Fr
TE #18 Isaac Nauta 6-4 246 So
LT #77 Isaiah Wynn 6-2 302 Sr
LG #58 Pat Allen 6-4 290 RS So
C #53 Lamont Gaillard 6-2 288 RS Jr
RG #66 Solomon Kindley 6-4 341 RS Fr
RT #55 Dyshon Sims 6-4 290 Sr
Defense:
DE #13 Jonathan Ledbetter 6-4 277 Jr
NG #97 John Atkins 6-4 308 Sr
DT #78 Trenton Thompson 6-4 295 Jr
JLB #17 Davin Bellamy 6-5 240 Sr
WLB #3 Roquan Smith 6-1 225 Jr
MLB #6 Natrez Patrick 6-3 238 Jr
SLB #7 Lorenzo Carter 6-6 242 Sr
CB #14 Malkom Parrish 5-10 185 Sr
SS #35 Aaron Davis 61 189 Sr
FS #24 Dominick Sanders 6-0 193 Sr
CB #18 Deandre Baker 5-11 180 Jr
Top 5 Incoming Recruits:
5-star OT Isaiah Wilson 6-7 350
5-star S Richard LeCounte III 5-11 180
4-star RB D’Andre Swift 5-9 222
4-star OT Andrew Thomas 6-5 335
4-star QB Jake Fromm 6-2 225
2017 Schedule With Early Projected Lines
Date
|
Opponent
|
Line
|
9/2
|
Appalachian St
|
-18
|
9/9
|
at Notre Dame
|
PK
|
9/16
|
Samford
|
-31
|
9/23
|
Mississippi St
|
-13
|
9/30
|
at Tennessee
|
+1
|
10/7
|
at Vanderbilt
|
-9
|
10/14
|
Missouri
|
-16
|
10/21
|
Bye
|
|
10/28
|
† Florida
|
+1
|
11/4
|
South Carolina
|
-15
|
11/11
|
at Auburn
|
+8
|
11/18
|
Kentucky
|
-14
|
11/25
|
at Georgia Tech
|
-2
|
Schedule Analysis: While there will be a lot of deserved hype for the Bulldogs entering 2017, they do play a difficult schedule. Their non-conference slate is no picnic with road games at Notre Dame and at Georgia Tech a long with pesky Appalachian State in the opener. The conference schedule also sees them pull over Mississippi State and Auburn from the West division and they do have to play at Auburn late in the year. In addition to that, their main rivals in the East division (Tennessee and Florida) both come away from home. Overall, I have the Bulldogs favored in 8 games and of those, seven are by a TD or more. They’ll be a clear underdog at Auburn and their season will likely come down to how they fare at Notre Dame (pick-em), at Tennessee (+1), vs Florida (+1) and at Georgia Tech (-2). Right now, I’ll call for a split in those games and project that their season win total be around 9.