Campus Clash
(2) Georgia Bulldogs at (13) LSU Tigers
Georgia: Again, I ask: What championship hangover? After losing in the big game last January, the question was how would they rebound from that? They’ve pretty much picked up where they left off last season and the crazy thing is they look to be a scarier team this time around than last year which is insane to think about. A large portion of their success was their ability to control the line of scrimmage and run the football and they had a very prolific tandem in Nick Chubb and Sony Michel. Now, those two each play on Sundays and the junior Elijah Holyfield has come in and continued their trend of a successful ground game. Elijah’s name may look familiar to you and you probably put two and two together. Yes, he’s the son of the legendary boxer, Evander Holyfield. He and D’Andre Swift have given them a nice tandem in the backfield. We can’t forget about Jake Fromm either and so far, he’s put together a really nice season. I really enjoying talking about this team when I get the chance because they can do it all. They can score no matter where the ball is spotted, they have the most physical offensive line the country that can dominate at the line of scrimmage, they can pass block consistently, they open up lanes for Holyfield and Swift and they play defense which leads me to my next point. They stop opposing offenses and their bark is as loud as their bite. The Bulldogs rank second nationally in allowing 13 points per game and seventh in yardage with a 283.2 average and after losing a few guys from last year’s defense, I was wondering how they’d regroup and they’ve done just that. They’ll look to keep rolling when they travel to Death Valley on Saturday afternoon.
LSU: They disappointed me on Saturday against the Florida Gators because they did enough I felt to win that game, but they could never capitalize on opportunities that were presented to them on a silver platter. The one thing I’ve observed when watching them play is how they think they could come back no matter who it was against or where the game was and they’ve been lucky to fight their way back into the game but there are times when a team will keep you down and that’s exactly what happened to them in week six. Still, after their first loss of the season, they are in a really good position and sit in second place in the SEC West behind, of course, Alabama and they own the head to head tiebreaker over Auburn after beating them a few weeks ago on the road. The Tigers played good enough defense to win their third straight in Gainesville, but they mustered little on the other side of the ball after an opening-drive touchdown. LSU marched 75 yards on 10 plays, presumably scripted, to open the game but never looked the same. Burrow was sacked five times. They will look to bounce back in a big way against a red-hot Bulldogs team from Athens, Georgia.
Georgia Player To Watch– Jonathan Ledbetter: Florida was able to sack Burrow five times, you already know Georgia is watching the film and implementing their scheme on how to attack this offense. He’s a good run stopper and when it comes to rushing the passer, he’s always trying his hardest to get home and bring him down no matter how many guys he’s got clinging onto him.
LSU Player To Watch- Nick Brossette: The best way to attack a stingy defense is to run the football and wear them down. Give Nick the football early on and that way, Burrow is able to force Georgia to load up the box and he can sell his play-action to make a pass down the field.
Final Analysis: What a game this will be and Death Valley will be rocking as it always is. This is a really important stretch for the LSU Tigers if they want to make the playoffs or even come close to a playoff spot. The offensive line can’t play as poorly as they did in Gainesville in week six and they have to keep Burrow on his feet in this one. There’s nobody in the SEC East that can beat Georgia and as I’ve said in my power rankings, they will cruise once again to another division title. I expect this to be a typical SEC game, physical and hard-hitting.
Prediction: Georgia 31 LSU 24
