Becoming a college athlete is quite a notable accomplishment. I don't think you can get much further away from earning a college sports scholarship than I was. I struggled to earn playing time on the JV football team as a high school junior. Maybe it was my 6.0 time in the 40-yard dash - FOR THE RECORD, I showed significant improvement to 5.2 seconds going into my senior year (that was hand-timed by Atlanta Falcon legend and former Northview high school assistant coach Jesse Tuggle himself, true story). Anyways, I'm getting off topic. Point being that I don't mean any disrespect to anyone that manages to become a college athlete. But, this week's opponent, Tennessee Tech, is ranked as the 242nd overall team in College Football according to Bill Connelly's SP+. Your Georgia Bulldogs are the top ranked team. So, as much as I would love to invest the time toward breaking down this week's David vs. Goliath matchup, I'm going in a different direction.
After the 34-3 beatdown of the Clemson Tigers in week 1, Bill Connelly's SP+ has the Dawgs on top, ranked #1 overall. Clemson moved down to 31st overall in the SP+ rankings after the game.
My MVP of the game? I'm going with Nasty Nate Frazier, the true freshman running back out of Santa Ana, California. If you're not familiar with this man, I think he's next in line of RBU greats (here are his high school highlights if you're into that sort of thing). As our friend Kritesh pointed out, Mr. Frazier paid homage to UGA greats Nick Chubb and Sony Michel with his celebration after scoring his first collegiate touchdown (scroll to the 1:43 mark of the video below).
A great running back with an appreciation for Dawgs History??? Sign me up!! With presumed starter Trevor Etienne out and Branson Robinson seeing his first action following a catastrophic knee and foot injury, the running game got off to a slow start in the first half against Clemson. Frazier actually picked up the majority of his 83 rushing yards on UGA's last scoring drive, after the outcome was already decided. But, he had a critical 24-yard reception in the 3rd quarter on UGA's first play after Clemson had cut the lead to 13-3. Felt like the knockout blow was delivered on this drive, and Frazier was the spark. The drive was capped off with Frazier's 1-yard touchdown run. My defensive MVP is Jalon Walker. Mr. Walker finished the game with 6 tackles and 1.5 sacks, and was a havoc creating machine throughout the game. Although his usage has been somewhat limited during his first two years in Athens, Walker had 2 sacks against Alabama in the 2023 SEC Championship game, and I expect the staff to go full throttle with him this year.
So, after a dominant performance, what are some potential concerns with the Dawgs? I think the obvious answer here is the injuries that are beginning to pile up in the front 7. Heading in to the Clemson game, the Dawgs were already missing Jordan Hall and South Carolina transfer Xzavier McLeod (sorry Fenn). Warren Brinson went down early in the game, and then potential 2025 first round pick Mykel Williams went down. The Dawgs HQ team at On3 discussed the injury situation in more detail in the video below (in addition to the Cover 3 podcast, I highly recommend the Dawgs HQ team). When the Dawgs get into the meat of the schedule and have to play the behemoth offensive lines of Alabama and Texas, I wonder how the DL and OLB depth will look. Would be massive to get Mykel back for the Alabama game, and ideally Hall and Brinson will be good to go for that one too. At full strength, I love our front 7 against any opponent. I guess this is a first world problems type of concern? But, just something I have thought about. I have another potential concern about what I consider reactive play calling on offense, but it's barely September. Too early in the the season to be THAT Georgia fan. However, I reserve my rights to get into this at a later date.
One other thing I thought was worth discussing. The fact that your Georgia Bulldogs play six of the top 22 teams in the SP+ rankings over the next 11 weeks (and don't forget that we are currently #1 by this metric). Who needs a 12-team playoff? SEC for president!! Now, of course, we are still early in the season, so the rankings will undoubtedly fluctuate. But, this is one hell of a schedule.
Dtru's Nickels
Although I'm not going to discuss Tennessee Tech, figured I would throw in a few thoughts about Kentucky, our week 3 opponent. I think the Wildcats should be better than last year, and they will go as far as their QB takes them.
Kentucky is ranked 22nd overall in the 247 Sports College Football Team Talent Composite,
Once again, Kentucky hit the transfer portal hard this offseason. You may recognize several former Dawgs playing prominent roles for the the Wildcats in 2024. The starting quarterback is Brock Vandagriff, who is ranked 24th nationally in QBR after Kentucky's 31-0 defeat of Southern Miss in week 1. I think it's fair to say that, after spending 3 seasons in Athens, the Georgia staff knows Vandagriff better than the Kentucky staff. The 2023 season for Kentucky was hampered by poor quarterback play, so we will see if the dual-threat Vandagriff can elevate the offense to a new level.
Jamon Dumas-Johnson will man one of the starting inside linebacker positions for the Wildcats. JDJ was a multi-year starter in Athens, and although Cover 3 and Dawgs HQ indicated that the staff wanted to keep him, Glen Schumann's recruiting prowess created arguably the best group of inside linebackers in the country. JDJ was in danger of losing playing time to CJ Allen, Raylen Wilson, et al. No shame in that, and I expect JDJ will continue to be a rock solid playmaker.
Barion Brown and Dane Key are the leading returning WR for the Wildcats, and the Wildcats picked up Ja'Mori Maclin in the portal from North Texas. Maclin had over 1,000 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns last season. I'm sure Kentucky fans want to see a bit more out of Brown and Key, so we will see if a new QB translates to more production out of the talented pair. Overall, I think this is a really strong trio.
Although he was sought after by many teams (including, allegedly, our Dawgs), Deone Walker decided to stay at Kentucky. Walker is a 350 pound behemoth in the middle of the Kentucky DL. Off the edge, Kentucky brings back super senior J.J. Weaver for a 6th year. Like yours truly, Weaver is probably going pro in something other than sports, but he has racked up 18 sacks in his college career so he must be accounted for.
Freak of the Week
After only one week, I have decided to change the parameters of this segment. I'm going to pick any player that catches my eye, not just a future opponent. This week's freak of the week is giant-killer Diego Pavia. If the name sounds familiar, it's probably because you remember he was the QB for New Mexico State last year when they went into Jordan-Hare Stadium and beat Auburn 31-10. Well, Mr. Pavia has since transferred to Vanderbilt, but did it again in week one, knocking off Virginia Tech (the alma mater of *Dtru's Dime *, Ms. Caitlin Correa) by a score of 34-27. Diego is fun to watch. Vanderbilt's 2024 preseason win total was set at 2.5. The Commodores appear to be going over, sooner than later!
I'm out of the country for the next 10 days, so dropping this early. Go Dawgs!
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