streakingthelawn.com should sponsor a bowl game

TIME: 12:30 PM (EST)

DATE: November 9th, 2019

LOCATION: Scott Stadium | Charlottesville, VA

HOW TO WATCH: ACCN

The Lowdown

After last week’s win, Virginia is now bowl eligible for a third straight season. Now fans can finally relax knowing that the Cavaliers can play in one of the many ridiculously named bowl games such as: the Walk-On’s Bistreaux and Bar Independence Bowl, the Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl, and the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl. Personally, I’m bummed that Virginia can’t play in the Cheez-It Bowl, which undoubtedly is a solid addition to in the corporate-sponsored bowl game canon.

All jokes aside, consistent bowl game eligibility is not to be taken for granted. Despite away game struggles throughout the year, Virginia went toe-to-toe offensively North Carolina last year and walked away with a crucial win to keep the Cavaliers in the Coastal Division driver’s seat. The Hoos now enter a three game home stand, where they’ve been undefeated so far, to finish out the season.

This week, the 2-6 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets come to town. After long time head coach Paul Johnson retired last year, the Yellow Jackets find themselves in somewhat of a rebuilding season. They lost against The Citadel, an FCS team, in week 2 and have only one ACC win which came against Miami. On paper, Virginia has the upper hand in nearly every category and should be expected to win the game. Although, the unexpected is always possible and Virginia still needs to show offensive consistency and plug defensive gaps as it heads into the last three games of the season.

The Statistics

from Danny Neckel

Hoo’s Hoo?

Virginia Cavaliers

De’Vante Cross, S

While Virginia’s secondary has been a staple for the team’s defense, it has also been the unit most ravaged by injuries. Six defensive backs have been put on the IR this year: Antonio Clary, Bryce Hall, Darrius Bratton, Shawn Smith, Brenton Nelson and Germane Crowell. De’Vante Cross remains one of the starters on the team and despite his position switching over the years, he has solidified himself in the Hoos’ secondary.

Virginia Cavaliers

Zane Zandier, LB

ZZ Stop has been stellar for the Cavaliers all season. As anticipated, the third-year has stepped into a larger role this season. Zandier leads the team in tackles, with 66, and also has 4.5 sacks. He already has eclipsed his numbers in those categories from last year. While much of the attention goes to Jordan Mack, Zandier has established himself as just as much of an important defensive piece for the Hoos.

Virginia Cavaliers

Jowon Briggs, LB

Virginia’s four-star recruit is just getting going in his career. Last week, Briggs recorded his first sack of the season. The good news for Briggs is that Georgia Tech ranks 110th in sacks allowed, giving up 2.88 sacks a game. Hopefully the freshman can continue his positive trend and cause some havoc in the trenches. Regardless, Briggs’ development will be an interesting one to watch the rest of the year and on.

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

James Graham, QB

Gone are the days of triple option offense for Georgia Tech, although, mobile quarterbacks still remain an integral part of the Yellow Jackets’ core. After competing with the other quarterbacks, redshirt freshman James Graham has emerged as the team’s main starter. So far, he’s thrown for 722 yards and six touchdowns (with four interceptions). He’s also rushed for 122 yards on 52 attempts.

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Jordan Mason, RB

The Yellow Jackets’ main running back is sophomore Jordan Mason. He has rushed for 622 yards and six touchdowns so far this season. Mason has also picked up the load in the last three games, notably rushing for 141 yards against Miami and 106 yards against Duke. The Yellow Jackets are still a run-reliant team so look for Mason to get plenty of touches against Virginia on Saturday.

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Tariq Carpenter, CB

The Yellow Jackets’ secondary is bright spot for the team this season. They rank 20th in the country, allowing only 187.9 passing yards per game. Junior defensive back Tariq Carpenter is one the leaders for Georgia Tech, who ranks third in the team in tackles. Alongside Juanyeh Thomas and Kaleb Oliver, the Yellow Jackets secondary could cause some trouble for Bryce Perkins.

#tbt

Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images

With no room for error in the SEC East race, no room for error clearly demonstrated in the CFP release no room for error from a team that only beat Florida thanks to clutch 3rd downs, no room for error with a banged up defense. And a Dooley on the field. What, me worry?

Here is what I’m NOT worried about for Saturday night’s matchup:

1) Truman – the official Missouri Tiger mascot. Have you seen this? I admit I’ve never paid it attention. Tony the Tiger wants to throw down his bowl of cereal and jackslap this thing, just on principle. I’m sure the cartoon-ish face is a big hit at the children’s hospital and for the youngsters attending MU athletic events. But is that what you want to get your fans hyped? Granted, we can’t all have live Bengal Tigers living on campus, but c’mon… put a little aggression in this costume. We have plenty of Tigers in the SEC, I just don’t count this as one of them.

2) Yeah, buddy! It’s Saturday night in Athens, and our ladies and gentlemen of the AV arts will once again set the stage for the most intimidating red-lit atmosphere in sports. I haven’t witnessed this in person, but between the official UGA videos, TV broadcasts, and some pretty cool social media, I know and you know that Georgia utilized the newfangled LED technology to the fullest, firstest, and bestest.

3) Turf Monsters. You know the kind – the ones that come up and trip a ball carrier for no discernible reason. And the Missouri Tigers have played on unnatural fields every single game this season. This will be their first test on the surface God intended… honest to goodness grass.

Other than the opener in Nashville, the Bulldogs are completely grass-fed. This won’t be a huge advantage, as the Dooley Field/Sanford Stadium grounds crew prove again and again they are some of the best in the business – the day-long deluge for Kentucky is evidence enough these guys/gals put out an excellent product. Still, Missouri won’t be quite as fast as they practice and play, and our boys should be able to plant that foot and get that route cut off sharper than the Tigers.

Now forgive me, as I was weaned at the nipple of Larry Munson’s scratch on AM radio, so here’s what I am worried about facing our fellow SEC Easters (even though they’re way west):

1) A repeat of last year. There were so many good things about that game. We block a punt and score a special teams touchdown; Tyson Campbell gets a defensive touchdown; Fromm goes 7-9 and almost 200 yards in the 2^nd half; we had passing touchdowns of 33 yards, 54 yards, and 61 yards; we held future 1^st round draft pick Drew Lock to a 23.5 QBR and no TDs. Individually those are great things, collectively they’re tremendous. So why do I have such a bad taste in my mouth?

Because Hot Rod missed a field goal and another was blocked, Fromm threw a pick, no touchdowns in the 1^st half, we didn’t have a 100 yard rusher (Holyfield led with 90 yards), we gave up 4 rushing touchdowns… yet we won by 2 scores on the road against a divisional opponent. This was a signature “disappointing in the way we won” game that has happened too frequently since we became spoiled in the 2017 magical run.

I like nice things. Blowout wins with total game control and inflated stats are nice things. Why can’t we have nice things?

2) Derek Dooley. At some point he’s got to have some success in Athens, surely. Regression to the mean? Law of averages? There’s a phrase that encapsulates this, I’m just too lazy to figure it out. Anywhoo, we’ve owned Missouri since the series started (not counting the 1960 Orange Bowl), winning 6 of 7 and the last 5. However, we are Georgia, and we don’t let mediocre opponents get in the way of our losing… we just time it where it wrecks a season. You’d think the South Carolina game qualified as our annual Derpitudinal Equinox, but I’m not fully convinced.

We’re far more talented than Missouri, and much deeper. But it wasn’t so long ago that many pundits had Missouri coming into Athens undefeated, based on an easy first half of their schedule. The opening loss to Wyoming threw water on that plan, then the Tigers reeled off 5 wins in a row, including 2 SEC wins and a Power 5 OOC victory over West Virginia. Losses to lowly Vanderbilt and one-dimensional Kentucky the last two weeks kicked the dousing level up to 11, neither time gaining 300 yards of offense and being held to two scores or less in each game.

Is this the Missouri team that scored 34+ points in 5 straight wins? Does Son of Dooley figure out how to utilize the mobile Kelly Bryant and stud Tight End Albert Okwuegbunam (who caught 9 balls against us last year, and has 6 scores this year)? Can their 1-2 rushing punch of Larry Rountree and Tyler Badie get back on track and into the end zone against the Bulldogs?

3) The University of Georgia is 3^rd in the nation in Red Zone conversion percentage, with 33 of 34 chances resulting in scores. Yet if you look at Red Zone touchdowns, we fall into a 10-way tie for 37^th, punching it in only 24 times once we hit the opponents’ 20 yard line. As a percentage, we score a TD 70% of the time, which is only ranked 28^th. How do we not get into the end zone more? We haven’t faced great defenses (ND, Florida, yeah kinda). We have multiple height mismatches with our receivers, we have speedy slot guys for the hot slant, we have stud running backs, and the largest offensive line ever known to mankind ever in the history of time ever.

Weirdly, Missouri has only defended the red zone 17 times, allow 9 TDs and 3 FGs. This is much more of a story about giving up a few big plays and facing middlin’ offenses. Likewise, we’re not hitting the big play that much, so in order for Georgia to beat the more stout competition coming up, we’re going to have to get healthy in the red zone or bust open some explosive plays. (Edit: I did like our 2 pt conversion last week – need more of that stuff). If we can’t punch it in against Missouri, Auburn sure isn’t going to let us waltz across that line.

Call me crazy, just don’t call me late for dinner. Sound off in the comments below what worries you about the 9^th meeting between the Bulldogs of Georgia and the Tigers of Columbia.

And as always…

GO ‘DAWGS!!!

Go Ducks!

The Ducks moved up two spots in the SB Nation FanPulse Poll to #9 after their beatdown of USC.

Only two PAC-12 teams were voted into the top 25: #8 Utah and #9 Oregon. The only team to beat Oregon thus far, the Auburn Tigers, are ranked #12. We’ll see if the Ducks get the opportunity to play the #1 Bayou Bengals this season should they meet in the playoff.

Now, the FanPulse poll covers basketball, too! Unfortunately they didn’t specify whether the question below is referring to the Men’s or Women’s basketball team, so we’ll have to assume that we are confident with both of our badass coaches.

And in non-Duck related news, the SB Nation sites were asked which game they were most excited for and they answered with a resounding “LSU @ Alabama”. Obviously if the Ducks were playing this poll would be different, especially since those SEC fans don’t care as much as us PAC-12 fans, but here ya go.

Nobody knows more than Duck fans! That’s why we need members to join the ranks.

Once you sign up (and make no mistake, you will sign up) you’ll set your preseason Top 25. Each week, you’ll get an email asking to update your picks and answer a question or two about the one and only Ducks

This data provides an easy way for ATQers and other communities to talk about rankings and sh*t-talk in general.

Again, the SIGN UP IS HERE to join the poll.

Do your part, head to the virtual voting booth!

Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call

Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Let’s hope this one doesn’t get ugly

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets hit the road down to South Beach this weekend to take on the Miami Hurricanes and first-year head coach Manny Diaz. After some more improvement on offense for the Jackets last week against Duke, Geoff Collins and Co. are hoping to see some more improvement this weekend. Will it happen? The stats don’t look hopeful.

Georgia Tech Offense vs. Miami Defense

Well, this doesn’t look very promising. Miami’s defense has been a large highlight of the team this year. The one thing that Georgia Tech has been moderately successful at this season has been rushing the ball (43.19 percent success rate), and a lot of that is because of Jordan Mason. Miami just happens to have one of the top run-stuffing defenses in the country. The thing that really concerns me here are the stuff and havoc rates. Miami has been really good and stuffing the ball and causing havoc. Tech, on the other hand, has been really bad at preventing teams from doing that.

Georgia Tech Offensive Explosiveness vs. Miami Defense

Tech’s best chance at getting on the board is explosive plays, which unfortunately is not a sustainable offense, but I’ll attribute that to growing pains. One thing that has been nice to see has been seeing progression on offense, since they’re actually scoring now. James Graham has also been doing a little better each game, and he’ll face a tough test this week and will probably be running for his life the whole game. Despite that, if Tech wants to win, they’ll need to find success on first and second down, which will not be easy against this defense.

Georgia Tech Defense vs. Miami Offense

Georgia Tech will have a bit of an easier time here. Miami’s offense is still trying to find itself, though not as much as Georgia Tech is. Something interesting to keep an eye on here is that Miami recently switched to N’Kosi Perry at quarterback, replacing Jarren Williams. The switch first happened during the Hurricanes’ game against Virginia Tech, which saw Williams throw three interceptions in just seven passes. To win this game, Tech is going to need to do something they haven’t been good at: causing havoc.

Georgia Tech Defense vs. Miami Offensive Explosiveness

One thing that bodes really well here for Tech is the down-by-down success rate. Georgia Tech is really good with success rate on first down, but what stands out to me is how bad Miami is on third downs. If Tech can force third downs, it’ll definitely help them somehow pull out a victory.

Conclusion

This game has a very good chance of not ending well for Georgia Tech. I’m trying to stay optimistic, and if I’m being honest, I don’t know that Miami is quite as good as the stats indicate. I think the defense is legit, but the offense still has a lot of question marks. The Yellow Jackets will need to find a way to score, which will be the hardest thing to do in this game. I think Miami’s offense is a good match-up for Tech’s defense, but I’m not sure about the opposite.

How do you see this weekend’s game going?

Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports

A lack of effective in-game coaching has contributed to turnovers and loss of field position in recent weeks.

On Monday, Texas Longhorns head coach Tom Herman admitted that one key area his staff has to address is decision making on special teams after numerous mental mistakes in recent weeks.

Against the Oklahoma Sooners in the Cotton Bowl last Saturday, senior wide receiver Devin Duvernay contributed to the 12 Texas drives starting at the 19-yard line on average due to Duvernay continually pressing to make a play.

The game started off with a relatively rare positive play on kickoff return — Duvernay returned the ball 31 yards from the Texas one-yard line, one of his best of the season. He entered the game averaging only 22 yards per return.

After that, however, Duvernay kept trying to make plays against odds stacked against him, as Texas entered the game knowing that the directional kicking by Oklahoma would make returns difficult. Nonetheless, on the next three kickoffs, Duvernay eschewed fair catches and only gained 46 yards total, a loss of 27 yards of total field position. On one of those kickoffs, Duvernay nearly stepped out of bounds fielding the ball, a decision that might have cost Texas even more yardage and almost resulted in a disaster near the goal line.

When Duvernay finally did call for a fair catch, he dropped it. Because of the new fair catch rules, the ball was ruled dead at the spot of his recovery at the 5-yard line. Add in another 20 yards for 47 total yards of lost field position after the opening kickoff to Texas.

By the time that Duvernay did successfully call for a fair catch in the fourth quarter, he drew a derisive cheer from the Longhorn fans on that end of the stadium.

“Yeah, we should have instructed our returners probably to fair catch. They do a good job spreading the ball to different sides of the field, and it makes it difficult for the return schemes,” Herman said after the game.

“We adjusted, we certainly did, but it was too little, too late at that point.”

So Herman and the Texas staff knew that it was going to be difficult to produce plus yardage on kickoff returns, but didn’t effectively convey that reality to Duvernay during the most critical points of the game.

Sometimes trusting experienced players to make the right decisions isn’t the right move.

“There’s not a guy back there that we would rather have than Devin Duvernay, in terms of his trust level,” Herman said on Monday. “I think he would admittedly say he got caught up in the moment and was trying to make a play. I think the fact that he was so close on the first or second one that we got out to the 35-yard line or something, kind of gave him some confidence. But, obviously, when you field the balls where he fielded them, you’re not giving your return team a chance.”

And yet, it still took losing nearly 30 yards of field position before the coaches explicitly instructed Duvernay to call for a fair catch.

Trying to make a play is an admirable goal, but Herman admitted that it’s important to rein in those emotions, especially in a rivalry game.

The overarching concern is that special teams nearly cost the Longhorns a victory against the Cowboys several weeks ago when freshman Jake Smith fumbled a punt, punt-safe returner Brandon Jones gave the ball away when aggressively trying to field another, and had to recover a loose ball earlier when it hit a player on the punt-return unit.

After the game, Herman had to express similar culpability for not communicating to Jones that letting the ball bounce in front of him and losing field position was preferable to turning the ball over.

Herman taking immediate responsibility is the necessary first step in addressing those issues during the game instead of after, but if he’s too busy during games worrying about upcoming offensive drives — or whatever else is keeping him from having those critical conversations — then it should be up to special teams coordinator Derek Warehime to communicate with the return men.

The bottom line is that Texas is hurting itself because the coaches aren’t providing the necessary instruction during games and that has to stop.

Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports

The No. 16 Michigan Wolverines are looking for their first win as underdogs in the Jim Harbaugh era.

Ahead of Saturday’s long-awaited White Out against Michigan, we caught up with our friends over at Maize N Brew to talk about the match-up between two teams looking for statement wins on Saturday night. Before we dive into the interview, we’d like to thank Maize N Brew’s Trevor Woods for his time!

Now without further adieu;

1. Michigan’s offense seems to be performing below expectations. What seems to be the overall issue, and where is the offense now compared to your expectations at the start of the season?

Execution. A major issue on offense has been fumbles, they’ve put the ball on the ground 17 times and have lost 9 of those fumbles. Obviously that’s really bad and Michigan needs to play turnover free football in hostile environments on the road. Michigan’s offensive line wasn’t protecting the quarterback earlier on in the year, but they’re playing better now. Michigan was banged up at running back, now Zach Charbonnet is back to full health and looks like they found a bruiser for a No. 2 back last week in Hassan Haskins. Quarterback Shea Patterson hasn’t played as well this season compared to 2018, which has fans worried and wanting to see backup Dylan McCaffrey in the game.

As far as where the offense is compared to where I thought it would be, it’s my own fault for having high expectations out of the gate. With new offensive coordinator Josh Gattis coming in and installing a new up-tempo pro-spread scheme, it actually shouldn’t have come as a surprise that there have been growing pains this season. Gattis’ scheme promises to be aggressive and dictate what it does, it is supposed to get their playmakers the ball with ‘speed in space’. I don’t think we’ve seen this offense at their best, and it remains to be seen if we’ve seen them at their worst.

2) Penn State’s defense has been fantastic against the run this season. Do you think Michigan will be able to find success in the run game, or will they need to rely on Shea Patterson?

They’ll have to rely on Patterson in certain stages of the game no matter how good Michigan’s run game performs. Patterson will need to hit his shots when they’re available.

Michigan will have at least moderate success running the ball. Michigan’s line is looking good enough to spring at least a couple sizable gains. Penn State will get their stuffs, but Michigan has talent at the position that won’t get completely shut out.

3) Patterson’s completion percentage has dipped this season. What has been the cause of this?

In short, he hasn’t been as accurate. Patterson hasn’t been consistently on the money to any area of the field and has had his share of misses on short, intermediate, and long throws. Part of the inaccuracy can be blamed on the pressure he received from the Army, Iowa, and Wisconsin defenses, but Patterson wouldn’t use that as an excuse.

4) Which match-up will you be paying close attention to on Saturday (either individual vs. individual or position group vs. position group)?

The trenches on both sides of the ball for Michigan. The Wolverines offensive line really needs to protect Patterson and give him time to operate. It’s also smart to pack a run game on the road and the o-line has a major say in the effectiveness of a running attack. For the Michigan d-line, it’ll be real important to maintain their gaps and contain Sean Clifford in hopes of making him pass from the pocket all game long. Clifford has been a fine QB this season, but he’s struggled when pressured.

5) Penn State’s offense has run hot and cold at times throughout the season. What will be the key for Michigan’s defense to slow down the Nittany Lions?

Pretty much continuing what was said in the question above, Michigan needs to pressure Clifford and make him play from the pocket. If the Michigan pass rush is able to get to Clifford quickly and the d-line clogs the running lanes for him to scramble, this game could go Michigan’s way.

6) Which lesser-known (at least to Penn State fans) Michigan player could be the X-factor on Saturday?

Wide receiver Ronnie Bell has really developed into one heck of a receiver for Michigan. Bell is up to 20 receptions and 361 yards (0 TDs). Bell is a go-to target in crucial 3rd down situations.

7) How do you see this game playing out and what is your prediction for the final score?

Really not sure how this game is going to play out so no prediction or final score from me. Penn State has the home field advantage on their side, it’s a freaking whiteout game at night in Happy Valley, it’s going to be nuts. Penn State could hit a few big plays in both the run and pass game and create enough separation and momentum to breeze in this one. Michigan could play their most fundamentally sound game yet with their offense finally hitting their stride and their defense could shutdown Penn State’s offense like Iowa did for much of the game last week. Penn State’s defense could pressure Patterson and create a couple turnovers that aid in a close game. It could be a throwback low-scoring affair. It could be a game where both team goes over 25 points. A lot of things could happen, just not sure what. This is a rivalry, and it’s going to be fun (at least until something bad happens to your respective team). Best of luck to Penn State and I wish you and your readers well.

(No final score provided)

Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

Evans is ESPN’s #2 overall recruit. That seems like a good thing.

North Carolina has landed its crown jewel of the 2020 football recruiting class. On Friday afternoon, five-star defensive end Desmond Evans verbally committed to the Tar Heels. Evans, who has long been rumored to favor UNC, finally made it official after unofficially visiting Chapel Hill approximately 10 times in the past year. After attending the season opener in Charlotte where North Carolina dispatched the South Carolina Gamecocks on national television, Evans also visited Chapel Hill for the Clemson and Appalachian State games.

Just how big of a commitment is this for the Heels? ESPN ranks Evans as just one of 17 five-star prospects in their ESPN300 rankings. Here’s a breakdown of the three major recruiting services.

ESPN: 5-stars, #2 (national), #1 (position), #1 (state)
247 Sports composite: 5-stars, #22 (national) #2 (position), #1 (state)
Rivals: 4-stars, #48 (national), #3 (position), #2 (state)

Whichever service you prefer, there is no way to overstate the significance of this commitment. In the pantheon of coveted UNC recruits, the list is arguably Ronald Curry, Desmond Evans, Marvin Austin, and then everyone else. Since recruiting rankings have become mainstream and easily accessible, Evans joins Austin as one of the top-two rated defensive recruits to ever land at North Carolina. Different recruiting services differ on Austin and Evans’ overall rankings, but at this point, we’re all just splitting hairs. (ESPN lists Evans as the better prospect, while 247 Sports currently prefers Austin).

The 6-6, 240-pound defensive lineman out of Sanford, NC will undoubtedly be the cornerstone of the current defensive resurgence in Kenan Memorial Stadium. As a junior he accounted for 25 tackles for loss and 12 sacks. According to MaxPreps, in five games of action this season, Evans has tallied 27 Tackles, 10 TFLs, 4 Sacks, 6 QB hurries and forced a fumble. On offense, he’s grabbed seven receptions for 93 yards and a touchdown.

Evans projects to be the perfect hybrid OLB/DE for Jay Bateman’s fluid scheme, adding size and length that’s sorely missing from the defensive side of the ball. The official UNC football roster lists just two defensive players, DEs Nolan DeFranco (SR) and Wisdom Asaboro (FR), as being 6’6 or taller. Neither have played a single snap this season. Not to mention at least five seniors on the defensive line and linebacking corps will graduate. There will be ample opportunity for immediate playing time.

Evans also adds another brick to Mack Brown’s proverbial recruiting wall around the state. Of UNC’s 23 verbal commits, 13 are from the state of North Carolina. According to Rivals’ and 247 Sports’ organic rankings, Evans’ commitment gives UNC four of the top 10 players in the state of North Carolina for the 2020 cycle. ESPN puts that number at three of the top 10. Despite those differences, no other school has more than two of the state’s top 10 recruits according to any of the three primary recruiting services.

Evans picked UNC over Virginia Tech, Florida, South Carolina, and Tennessee. He never took an official visit to any of his top five schools, but recently took an unofficial trip down to Florida. He also scheduled an OV to Virginia Tech for this weekend’s game against North Carolina. It’s a safe assumption that Des will not be making it up to Blacksburg as a VIP guest of the Hokies.

North Carolina now owns a consensus top 20 recruiting class in the country and boasts six ESPN300 recruits. That is their highest total since ESPN expanded their rankings in 2012. The 2020 recruiting class is also on pace to be their highest ranked recruiting class since 2009 when Butch Davis’ third recruiting class finished at 9th (Rivals), 12th (247 Sports), and/or 13th (ESPN). That class included seven recruits on what was then the ESPN150.

This class isn’t quite to that level, but with six games left in the season UNC still has a few scholarships remaining. A few surprise commitments may still pop. As we mentioned on Monday, Mack flipped nine recruits in last year’s class and picked up three transfers in the offseason. Anything can happen in the next 60 days.

In the meantime, the coaching staff will put the finishing touches on 2020 and use that momentum for the 2021 class.

Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images

A look at how the oddsmakers and experts view Kentucky vs. Georgia.

Kentucky seemed to find themselves last week against a sub-par Arkansas Razorbacks team, but it took every ounce of wide receiver-turned-quarterback Lynn Bowden to pull out the victory.

The Wildcats, sitting at 3-3, will now face by far their most difficult test of the season as they travel to Athens, for a matchup with a Georgia Bulldogs team that embarrassingly lost at South Carolina last weekend.

With a full game of tape on Bowden, a much more physical offensive/defensive line and a clear advantage of talent at skill positions, Georgia is a very sizable favorite one year after demolishing the best Kentucky team the Wildcats have had in four decades.

Saturday will be a major challenge just to stay competitive, but this Georgia team has proven to be far more vulnerable that most expected coming into the season.

Analysis

ESPN’s Football Power Index is giving Kentucky a whopping 6.3% chance to upset Georgia, who was every matchup of this decade and hasn’t lost to the Cats since 2009. Bill Connelly’s S&P formula gives the Wildcats an 8% chance of winning and projects a 39-15 win for the Dawgs.

After opening as 27-point underdogs, the line has indeed moved in Kentucky’s favor, but only by two points, as it now stands at -25 and still favors Georgia by four scores. With the over/under set at 46.5, the final score is predicted to be somewhere around 36-11 with the Bulldogs obviously winning.

Behind seasoned quarterback Jake Fromm, a veteran head coach and (most importantly) an embarrassing loss last week to the Gamecocks, Georgia will be more than ready to play this weekend. Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops has pulled off multiple upsets in his career at Kentucky, including one as a 28-point underdog at Louisville in 2016, so it’s not like they’re strangers to massive upsets.

Betting Trends

Kentucky

• Kentucky is 6-2 ATS in their last 8 games.
• The total has gone OVER in 6 of Kentucky’s last 9 games.
• Kentucky is 13-6 SU in their last 19 games.
• Kentucky is 0-6 ATS in their last 6 games against Georgia.
• Kentucky is 0-9 SU in their last 9 games against Georgia.
• The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Kentucky’s last 7 games on the road.
• Kentucky is 1-11 SU in their last 12 games when playing on the road against Georgia.
• Kentucky is 4-2 ATS in their last 6 games this season.
• The total has gone UNDER in 10 of Kentucky’s last 12 games against an opponent in the Southeast conference.

Georgia

• The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Georgia’s last 7 games.
• Georgia is 5-1 SU in their last 6 games.
• The total has gone OVER in 4 of Georgia’s last 6 games against Kentucky.
• Georgia is 16-1 SU in their last 17 games at home.
• Georgia is 11-1 SU in their last 12 games when playing at home against Kentucky.
• The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Georgia’s last 6 games this season.
• Georgia is 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games against an opponent in the Southeast conference.
• The total has gone OVER in 6 of Georgia’s last 8 games played in October.
• Georgia is 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games played in week 8.

Expert Picks

Per CBS Sports, there was a sweep by Barton Simmons, Chip Patterson, Dennis Dodd, Jerry Palm and Tom Fornelli to not only pick the Bulldogs straight up but also to cover the 25-point spread.

Rob McVey of Athlon Sports is predicting a narrow cover by Kentucky, though, with the Wildcats losing by a 37-13 decision.

Pete Fiutak of College Football News is almost right in line with McVey, predicting a 37-10 loss for Kentucky.

Brad Crawford at 247 Sports is expecting an even wider margin of blowout by a score of 38-7 in favor of Georgia.

Joe Williams of SportsBook Wire is going with a 45-13 Georgia win.

TeamRankings projects a 37-10 Georgia win, while numberFire went with a 38-15 win for the home team.

Prediction

Other than punter, Kentucky won’t have an advantage at any position on the field this weekend. While flipping the field can spell your team some time, the punter can’t assist the offense scoring points or the defense being ran over by the Goliaths’ of Georgia’s offensive line.

This game will represent that one weekend nearly every college fanbase has each year where you’re simply looking forward to the next weekend. For the players, though, this a chance to show what they’re made of on a national stage.

The Wildcats will look to prove they’re still narrowing the gap between themselves and the Bulldogs, who in turn will look to show they’re still a legitimate College Football Playoff team.

Needless to say, Georgia will win this going away.

Final Score: Georgia 41, Kentucky 6

Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

A Q&A with State of the U

Today the Q&A chats with Cameron Underwood of State of the U. The ‘Canes have had an up and down season, but appear to be on the upswing after beating UVA last week. Who will start at QB for Miami this weekend? Who does Miami’s often baffling play calling fall on? Which member of their defense will be causing GT QBs to run for their lives?

Surprise, it’s everyone.

1. Much like the rest of the Coastal, Miami hasn’t made much sense to me this season. Was the win over a good UVA team a sign of things to come and the team is on the upswing, or was it just some Coastal Chaos?

Miami’s made plenty of sense, in a bad way though. This program has played down to and below the level of their opponents for YEARS, and that continued early this season. The Canes were finally able to put together a solid-enough-but-not-perfect game to beat Virginia, so that was good from our perspective.

This team is still searching for an overall identity, and a cohesive offensive philosophy. I think we started to see what those things could be in the win over Virginia, and I sincerely hope that was the beginning of a run of wins. But, with the penchant to play well one week and terribly the next, I can’t be sure of that until I see it. But let me be clear: that win over Virginia was not just random “Coastal Chaos”. Miami is the most talented team in the division BY FAR and finally played like it to beat a tough and well-coached team. It’s incumbent upon the Canes to maintain and improve that level of performance moving forward, but last week’s win was nobody’s “fluke”.

2. The little bit I’ve watched of the Canes play this season has almost always included Manny Diaz making some baffling in-game decisions with timeout usage and playcalling… how much of this do you think is just a learning curve for the first-time HC, or do we have the making of young Les Miles on our hands?

Let’s start with the fact that Manny Diaz isn’t calling the plays, although I wish he would on defense. But, yes, some of the playcalling, especially on offense, has been QUITE perplexing. There are obviously going to be some growing pains with a pair of new coordinators calling the plays, and even moreso on offense as Miami is in the first year of a new offensive system, but yeah……there have been some calls that even by alignment before the snap were known to be poor choices.

Manny Diaz’s timeout management is also curious, as you noted. He treats them like the most precious resource in the world. Sure, it’s nice to have all 3 timeouts on the last drive of a half or game, but maybe using one earlier in a key situation would be helpful. And, like I said, we have new coordinators on both sides of the ball. Calling a TO before a key 3rd down play in a high leverage situation might be beneficial, but Diaz hasn’t gone that route yet.

I think there are game-management issues that are the growing pains of a 1st year, and FIRST TIME, head coach. But there are other things where Diaz is ahead of the curve, such as going for a 2pt conversion when Miami scored a TD after being down 14 points. The analytics say that’s the move to make, and Diaz made it. So that was good. But yeah, there are still other things that can be tightened up to make the ship sail more smoothly. And hey, he’s not out here munching on grass like Les Miles so let’s give the man some time, eh?

3. Which quarterback do you think deserves the starting gig? I know both Perry and Williams have seen a decent amount of time this season – is Diaz just playing the hot hand at this point?

Diaz is not “playing the hot hand”. He’s repeatedly stated that, if healthy, Jarren Williams is the guy. That leads me to question whether Williams has been healthy all season, but that’s a debate for a different time.

As far as my view of the situation, I think N’Kosi Perry should be the starter. He is more mobile both in and out of the pocket, a fact that creates room for other players to run and opens up elements of the playbook that go dormant with Williams in the game, has a MUCH stronger arm to push the ball vertically down the field (And thereby make the defense back out their safeties out of the box….where they live with Williams in the game), and he’s shown an ability to get our best playmakers, namely Brevin Jordan and Jeff Thomas, the ball. FULL DISCLOSURE, I’ve always thought Perry should be the starter, so this is just me continuing with that line of thought.

And look, Williams does some things very well and much better than Perry. He’s incredibly accurate, which Perry will never be, completing 72% of his passes. He’s tough and will take a hit (so will Perry), and he’s a gamer. But Williams is checkdown Charlie in terms of passing distance, favoring RPO slants, Digs, and swing passes to deeper throws. VT Defensive Coordinator talked about this: he had his DBs play right press man because he saw Williams’s tendency to throw the ball short, and also questioned whether Williams had the arm strength to beat them deep if a receiver got off of press coverage.

So, really, it comes down to personal preference. Would you rather a more stationary QB with great short and intermediate level accuracy with an average arm? Or would you rather a more dynamically mobile QB with a stronger arm whose accuracy is improving but not the greatest but can make a play when the designed play breaks down? To me, I’d prefer the latter, but Manny Diaz, a defensive coach who values ball control versus offensive explosion, prefers the former.

4. The Canes are not going through nearly the same rebuild as the Yellow Jackets, but it still seems that they’re still struggling under the new regime. What do the Canes most need to improve on in order to compete for the Coastal title?

Consistency on offense, particularly the offensive line. Miami has given up the most sacks in the country (28) and has allowed pressure on like 40% of their pass plays. That’s QUITE bad. And the intermittent whiffing of blocks on run plays isn’t really helpful, either.

The other big issue is finding an identity for the team overall and playing to the level of talent on the roster. Miami has done less with more talent than anyone in the country over the last 15-20 years. To have the kind of talent this roster does, there’s no reason to lose to the teams we’ve lost to (Florida being the exception as they’re as talented as Miami is). THAT is the thing that has to change. Manny Diaz has to find a way to get this team to play like the elite athletes they are. If and when that happens, the ACC Coastal should be easy pickings.

Then again, we’ve been saying this same thing since 2004, so………

5. Tech’s O-line is porous at best, so who on the defensive side will we see the most of in our backfield?

DE Jonathan Garvin is a beast, and has caused more pressures than any other player on Miami’s team. His stats are lower this year than in previous years since he’s constantly being double teamed (as well as teams running plays away from his side of the field), but trust and believe that he can change the game in an instant.

The name to know this year is DE Gregory Rousseau. A 6’6” (maybe taller?) pterodactyl, Rousseau is growing into his impressive frame, and using his incredible athletic skills to be a terror in opposing backfields. Already 7.5 TFLs and 5 sacks — both team-leading numbers — Rousseau is only scratching the surface for his potential. Oh, and he’s put up those numbers in VERY limited snaps this year; Rousseau was a 15-20 snap rotation DE for 5 games before FINALLY being inserted into the starting lineup last week. When you look at him now, you wouldn’t know that he was a 200lb WR and S in high school, but remember the name: Gregory Rousseau will play on Sundays for a long, long time.

Lastly, Linebacker Michael Pickney. The 4 year starter at LB is an instinctive and disruptive player on Miami’s defense. If you’re concerned with a player getting up the field and creating disruption in GT’s offensive backfield, then I would identify #56 on every play. With 36 TFLs and 11.5 sacks to his credit in his career, Pinckney has a knack for making plays behind the line of scrimmage, and he’s probably looking for that chance this week after the beginning of his senior season was below the standard of his performance as seen over the last 3 years.

6. I think all of us involved are going to be worse people for having watched this game, but how do you see it going, and who wins?

I think Miami is a far more talented team that Georgia Tech at present. And with the Yellow Jackets in a full scale gut renovation rebuild on offense, they just don’t have the demonstrated scheme, or players to win this game. Miami started to right the ship last week, and that continues at Noon on Saturday on the ACC Network (so, at least there won’t be TOO MANY people watching at home).

Final score: Miami 31 Georgia Tech 14

Thanks again to Cameron for taking the time to talk to us. Y’all make sure to head over to State of the U to say hello. Kick is at noon on Saturday.

Go Jackets!

Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images

The Buckeyes look to stay perfect tonight against Northwestern.

The No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes have had their bye week, and remain one of just 12 undefeated teams in the NCAA. Now, they look to prove why they deserve to be counted among the best teams in the country as they face Northwestern in Evanston in a rare Friday night matchup.

Yes, Friday night. If that seems weird for Ohio State, it is, as the last time the Buckeyes played a non-Saturday, mid-season game happened six decades ago. In other fun historical facts, tonight’s game also happens to be a rematch of last year’s Big Ten Title game, which the Buckeyes won 45-24.

Heading into the bye week, Ohio State brought home a 34-10 win over Michigan State. In that game, quarterback Justin Fields was 17-of-25 passing for 206 yards, two touchdowns and his first and only pick of the year (knock on wood). Running back J.K. Dobbins added 172 yards and a touchdown of his own.

Northwestern, meanwhile, enters the game with a 1-4 record on the season, but that record doesn’t tell the whole story. It’s true — Pat Fitzgerald’s offense has had just eight touchdowns this season (including a mere two through the air), but the defense has been stellar. Against Wisconsin, the Wildcats held Heisman candidate running back Jonathan Taylor to just 4.6 yards per carry and one touchdown (still good — but not as good as Taylor’s been the rest of the season).

The Buckeyes are 27.5-point favorites over the Wildcats. Historically, Ohio State holds a 62-14-1 advantage over its Big Ten opponent. Weird scheduling and all, the Buckeyes look to stay unbeaten when they take the field in Evanston tonight.

When is the game and how can I watch?

Game Date/Time: Friday, Oct. 18, 8:30 p.m.
Location: Evanston, Illinois
TV: BTN
Online: BTN+
Radio: 97.1 FM/1460 AM

Where is GameDay this weekend?

For the 19th time in the show’s history, College Gameday is heading to the site of a Penn State game. The crew is heading to Happy Valley ahead of the Nittany Lions’ matchup with Michigan. GameDay has been to Happy Valley eight times overall, including once in each of the last three seasons.

What’s the rest of the Big Ten up to tomorrow?

The Big Ten has five matchups scheduled for Saturday. No. 6 Wisconsin is kicking things off on the road against Illinois at noon on BTN, while Purdue travels to No. 23 Iowa during the same time slot on ESPN2. At 3:30 p.m., No. 20 Minnesota (which happens to be 6-0) heads to Rutgers on BTN. Also at 3:30 p.m., Maryland gets Indiana in College Park. Finally, capping things off with the premiere game of the day, No. 16 Michigan heads to the aforementioned Happy Valley to face No. 7 Penn State at 7:30 p.m. on ABC.

Join the conversation

Below is your Ohio State – Northwestern GameThread. Be respectful, be kind and as always, keep it classy. If you like GIFs, lay ‘em on us. In all, be good fans, cheer for your teams, be cool to each other (even if somebody else isn’t) and everyone wins. Let’s keep it rolling strong!