Over the course of the next seven weeks, the SoBros Network will be going team-by-team through the SEC, previewing the 2018 American tackle football season. Up next, the Georgia Bulldogs!
2018 Georgia Preview
So close. UGA was soooooo close to bringing a natty to Athens only for…. well… you know. Since that heartbreak, Georgia has lost some top notch players (I’m looking at you, Roquan Smith and Lorenzo Carter) and added more than a few capable recruits in what ended up being the best recruiting class of 2018. All of this adds up to some pretty high expectations for Kirby Smart and Co. Both sides of the ball saw losses to the draft, but there’s more than enough talent going around with guys like Jake Fromm and defensive back Deandre Baker leading the way. There’s talk that wunderkind Justin Fields may push Fromm for the starting job, which is pretty crazy to say about a guy who damn near beat Bama for the title. Somewhere right now Kirby is smiling knowing this is a problem.
With so much talk about the quarterback situation/offense, this defense is almost being lost in the shuffle. Key positions definitely need to be filled, but make no mistake this will be a fast, physical defense looking to put you on your ass. The aforementioned Baker along with D’Andre Walker and J.R. Reed are aiming to take a defense that finished 6th in total defense to even greater heights.
2018 Bulldogs Schedule
Saturday, 9/1: vs. Austin Peay – The Governors head between the hedges and are gonna be the first stage of putting the title loss in the rear view. Poor AP.
Saturday, 9/8: @ South Carolina – Early season road test against an SEC rival is a hell of a way to see just where this UGA team stands. This is a pretty good Gamecock team that’s going to have a certifiably insane atmosphere in Columbia. Give me Kirby and Co based off resume right meow.
Saturday, 9/15: vs. MTSU – Big ups to MTSU for going nearly all SEC with their out of conference games, but I’m not so sure this game ends well for them. Hopeful the Blue Raiders keep it interesting early before Georgia pulls away.
Saturday, 9/22: @ Missouri – This one could be very interesting, y’all. The last two meetings have been fun with Jacob Eason (blast from the past) breaking Tiger hearts back in 2016. Missouri brings back A LOT of talent from last year’s team and will be looking for revenge. I wouldn’t be shocked if we see the upset, but again based off resume I’ve gotta go with the Dawgs.
Saturday, 9/29: vs. Tennessee – Speaking of revenge, we’ve got Jauan Jennings and the Vols back in Athens for the first time since whatever nickname Vols fans gave that sweet ass hail mary. Jeremy Pruitt vs. Kirby Smart Round 1 will have a lot of talk, but I just don’t know if UT has the talent to keep up with Georgia yet. Still, I’m pretty interested to see where these two teams are at a month into the season.
Saturday, 10/6: vs. Vanderbilt – Derek Mason had a hell of a set during media days with some buzz that Vandy may be ready to turn some heads this season. Give ’em hell Coach Mason, but I’m gonna go ahead and pencil in a Georgia dub.
Saturday, 10/13: @ LSU – The closer we get to this game, I may change my tune but right meow I’m just not that worried about this matchup for UGA. Don’t get me wrong. I think LSU is a solid bowl team and Coach O may get some Death Valley magic, but the matchup of LSU’s offense vs. Georgia’s defense has me all over the Dawgs in this one.
Saturday, 10/20: Bye
Saturday, 10/27: vs. Florida – Dan Mullen is gonna have Florida rock n’ rolling sooner rather than later and I expect the game formerly known as The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party to have a really fun atmosphere with both of these coaches. Give me Georgia, but this is gonna be a game to watch year in and out again.
Saturday, 11/3:@ Kentucky – Benny Snell is the guy. If Kentucky had eleven Benny Snells, I would be all over this upset. They don’t. Another UGA dub.
Saturday, 11/10: vs. Auburn – Ah shit y’all. The one regular season loss for Georgia last year came on the road at the hands of the Tigers. Jake Fromm didn’t play his best game in Auburn so expect the young gun to be locked in for this one. This feels like it could go either way, but I’ll take the home team.
Saturday, 11/17: vs. UMass – Georgia by a lot.
Saturday, 11/24: vs. Georgia Tech – Clean, old fashioned hate, y’all. Kirby is 1-1 against GT since taking over at Georgia with the only loss coming at home when the Dawgs were leading by thirteen points with 6:30 to play. This GT team isn’t going to match up well with UGA but hey it’s a rivalry right? Stranger things have happened, but I expect the Bulldogs to finish the regular (maybe perfect?) season.
Prediction
With the talent and schedule, this team could sneeze and probably win 10 games. I can’t/won’t pick them to go undefeated, but if they get out of South Carolina and Missouri unscathed in the first month, we may see back to back 11+ win seasons for the Dawgs.
Other 2018 SEC Previews
Alabama Crimson Tide
Arkansas Razorbacks
Auburn Tigers
Florida Gators
Georgia Bulldogs
Kentucky Wildcats
LSU Tigers
Mississippi State Bulldogs
Missouri Tigers
Ole Miss Rebels
South Carolina Gamecocks
Tennessee Volunteers
Texas A&M Aggies
Vanderbilt Commodores
John Mosley is the independent wrestling and TV aficionado of the SoBros Network. He graduated from ETSU with a degree in Radio, TV and Film along with a minor in Film Studies. Since graduating he’s done pretty much nothing but watch, film, edit or commentate for local wrestling promotions and is the current color commentator for Resolute Wrestling. #Preds #Titans #DefendOrVacateConor – Follow on Twitter: @SoBroMose
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