“On paper, Georgia should win the game by at least 20 points,” McElroy said during SEC Media Days on Tuesday.
It appears CTE is real with some of these football players. Georgia isn't Bama. In fact they needed last second plays to beat the likes of Nicholls, Mizzou and Kentucky so they could have easily been 4-8 like ND.
I just don't see anyway a team like Georgia comes in to ND and blows them out. Talent wise I would say UGA could be a little better but the depth is about the same and we have no idea if Kirby Smart is a good head coach or not.
I say ND 28 UGA 24.
With 10 returning starters on defense, a couple of stud RBs, and a tip-top QB, Georgia will be tough to beat.
It could get real ugly with all the question marks surrounding the Irish.
ND has an unproven QB who has only seen mop-up duty. There is no telling how he will react when Georgia is blitzing
from every angle or getting pressure on him. If he makes one read and then scrambles, it will be a long day when they pass.
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The biggest question for the Irish is how will their defense will look. If the front seven can not get pressure on QB, Eason will pick them apart. Add this with their ground assault, and I think Georgia will march up and down the field at will.
The only shot ND has winning this game is if they can establish a running game and keep Georgia off the field. Eat up the clock and play smash-mouth football. With the O-line ND has, in addition to their own stable of backs, I see no reason why they could not be successful if they take this approach.
Kelly is still coach, right?
The issue with the post is it ignores the type of offense Chip Long is running. They want to run as many plays as possible. There won't be any "ball control" or keeping the ball away from anyone. That's not what Long does.
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My opinion as well. Although, I also hope that we see a healthy mix of passes to ND's TEs. With the abilities that Mack and Smythe have, it could help keep their LBs and Safeties honest and possibly open some running lanes for the RBs. A game plan similar to the Music City bowl vs. LSU would seem logical.
One thing is for sure. We'll find out just how good our run defense is going to be this year. They have a couple of game changing RBs. If our front 7 aren't vastly improved, I wouldn't be surprised to see both of their backs go over 100 yds in that game.
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is games are not played "on paper." He gave himself an out.
I think he is generally very balanced in his commentary.
We shall see.
We're still an unproven commodity, and unless some basic, fundamental things about playing football were fixed in the off-season, Mr. McElroy could be right.
Last year's Bulldogs team were just a few bad breaks away from having an 10+ win season. Three of those losses were within three points (two of them were one point losses), and the game against the Gators was still a winnable one. I suspect that they'll be even better this year, with both coordinators returning, and having a year's experience under their belts with this team. That, plus Jacob Eason did a pretty good job as a freshman last year.
That being said, getting rid of Brian Van Gorder and replacing him with someone else was one of the critical things that needed to happen. I have every reason to believe that Mike Elko will produce at least a serviceable defense, and that he won't be constantly trying to squeeze square pegs in round holes. That, all by itself, should be enough to make Mr. McElroy's prediction less likely to happen.
My daughter "should" wake up, go to the bathroom, drink her milk, get dressed, and go to school without a fuss.
And yet.
Damn, time flies...
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He must be right.
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I hope the Ga. players see that everyday until the day of the game.
However, he's right about the game though.
could be. Those rankings are out of 202 RB's.
and they were still slightly better than average at best. If we lose by 20 pts it says more about the state of ND football than it does above the elevation of GA football. That being said they are better at almost every position except maybe offensive line but based on last year I have a feeling our line is overhyped (yet) again.
that the Dogs will be able to run all over our defensive front 7.
Certainly a question mark headed into the season. If the new DC doesn't improve ND's defense, it won't matter.
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teeth kicked in.....Back handed compliments.
Interesting.