Thursday Dawg Bites
NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...
We are off and running, quickly making our way into week 2 of the college football season.
Our beloved Georgia Bulldogs got off to a good start with a dominating Week 1 win over Tennessee State, but like a cheap hotel breakfast buffet, I didn’t take much from it. The offense was clean like you would hope, doing basically whatever they wanted. The defense looked fast and physical and didn’t miss many assignments.
I mean only a little bit of offense to Tennessee State when I say that was probably the worst team I have ever seen Georgia play, and that includes those Geoff Collins GT teams.
But as they say, the players can’t make the schedule but they can make the plays. And that they did. I’m sure Kirby Smart will find something in the tape to yell at his players about, but from a distance, that was as easy a start as one can imagine.
That start gets only marginally more difficult this week as the 0-1 Hilltoppers from Western Kentucky University come to town following an opening-week loss to Nevada. Seeing as the HT’ers gave up over 300 rushing yards to the Wolfpack last week, Nate Frazier and Co. must be licking their chops, metaphorically speaking. With an early kick and SEC play starting next week, I expect another quick and short outing for the starters in this one.
With the game in hand hopefully no later than 1:45 pm, fans can turn their attention to a spicy slate of Week 2 games.
Oklahoma travels to Ann Arbor where Michigan looks for their first legitimate win of the season after getting the most literal second chance ever last week. If Michigan is able to knock off the Sooners, it will be interesting to see if the fans rush the field. Oklahoma is good, but they aren’t the powerhouse of Western Michigan.
We get our first actual look at Alabama as they travel to Kentucky to face a mostly-unknown Wildcats team. Kentucky might not be a contender for the conference title this year (or almost any year), but Lexington can be a tough place to play. Good teams have struggled in early-season games at the bourbon bowl, so this could be a telling moment for the new Tide.
Georgia’s Week 3 opponent, Arkansas, heads west to take on the #20 Utah Utes. Ute better believe lots of Georgia fans will be watching that one to get a good look at those Hogs…
Tennessee and Georgia Tech have an interesting night game in the Joke by Coke, aka Bobby Dodd Stadium. I can never get myself to cheer for Tennessee, but it would be funny to watch Tech start 0-2. Turns out the game plan of “have Haynes King do everything for us while basically dying every game” might be tough to replicate without Haynes King.
The big game of the week takes place in Austin, with top-5 ranked Ohio State and Texas playing for the third consecutive year. The nepo Arch looked sketchy against the Buckeyes last season in his first real test, but I have been told he was much improved at the end of last season, though I failed to notice that in his loss to Georgia.
The Texas defense will be ready to bracket Jeremiah Smith, while the Texas fans will be ready to throw water bottles onto the field at the first call that doesn’t go their way. It’s worked before.
I can admit, a small part of me is jealous that other fanbases get to watch their teams compete in meaningful games this week while Georgia plays a second straight walk-through.
Maybe it’s good for Georgia to ease into what will be a difficult 9-game conference schedule. Maybe it would be better to have an early test to gauge strengths and weaknesses. But then again, maybe it’s Maybelline.
More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos