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[su_spacer size=”40″] Later tonight, Georgia takes on “little brother” Georgia Southern on Senior Night between the hedges. Que will be officially named UGA X and wear the revered spiked collar as America’s best mascot for the first time. Finally, the team gets an opportunity to put one hand on the state championship with a win. Since Georgia and Georgia Southern started playing in 1992, tomorrow night may be Southern’s best shot to bloody big brother’s nose. Let’s get to the preview.
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When Georgia Has the Ball

Teams have scored a lot of points on the Eagle defense, and they gave up 44 and 31 in their 2 losses to West Virginia and Appalachian State, respectively. The Georgia offensive line should have a big advantage across the board and should be able to open holes for the tailbacks. The big question is whether Richt and Schottenheimer are going to attempt to take the governor off the passing game as it has gotten worse over the season and determine whether they can trust a quarterback with the keys to the offense. I expect there will be opportunities to exploit the GSU secondary, and the question is whether the quarterbacks can take advantage of opportunities. The Eagles are likely to try to force Georgia to throw the ball, and I expect that the Georgia athletes on the outside should make the Eagles pay.

When GSU Has the Ball

As everyone knows GSU runs the option, not the Paul Johnson option any more, but the triple option from the shotgun. The Dawgs’ defense struggled with the option look against South Carolina earlier in the season. The problem is that GSU still uses the legal but dirty/cheap cut blocking scheme of Johnson that should be outlawed under the rules for player safety. The defense will likely give up some yards especially early in the game, but I expect that the Georgia advantage in the line of scrimmage will eventually take over and make running difficult for the Eagle offense. The GSU quarterbacks don’t complete a high percentage of passes, but they could hit big plays if our secondary gets caught looking in the backfield. Saturday night will be a great tune-up for the North Avenue Trade School.

What Will Happen

Saturday night may be GSU’s best opportunity to knock off the flagship program in the state. Apparently, Eagle fans really believe they can come to Athens and win. Sure, they beat a Florida team that was a dumpster fire in 2013 and gave tech a big scare in 2014. I think the team understands what is at stake. A loss would be catastrophic to the program, and a close win would not keep the wolves at bay. The team needs to come out with the same mental edge they did against South Carolina and to make sure this game isn’t close. The big advantage the Dawgs have in the lines of scrimmage make a big difference and win a game that isn’t as close as the final score indicates.

Final Score: Georgia 38, GSU 13

That’s what I think. Let me know what you think in the comments below.
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