Georgia football: Why fans shouldn’t expect upset by Appalachian State
One game many fans are concerned about on the 2017 Georgia football schedule is the season opener against Appalachian State.
If’s there’s one small school to be concerned about playing, it’s Appalachian State. Memories of the upset win over Michigan a decade ago are still fresh in everyone’s mind.
But Appalachian State nearly pulled off another big upset a year ago when they lost to Tennessee in overtime to start the 2016 season. The Mountaineers dominated that game on the legs of running back Marcus Cox. But the humidity of Knoxville affected Appalachian State, especially when they needed to give Cox a rest.
Now it’s Georgia’s turn to open a season against Appalachian State. They are still one of the best teams in the Sun Belt and should be the preseason favorite to win that conference. It’s understandable that fans would be concerned about playing them this year.
But should the Georgia football fans really be so worried about playing Appalachian State? Or is this game just overhyped because of what the Mountaineers did 10 years ago? I have a few reasons as to why the Bulldog Nation shouldn’t fret over playing the Mountaineers so much.
Marcus Cox is gone
Appalachian State will once again have a potent run based attack, but none of their running backs are as explosive as Cox was. We all saw that against Tennessee last year, whenever Cox was off the field, the running backs who filled in just weren’t as effective.
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Not to take anything away from them. As a unit, they’ll be one of the most productive running back stables in college football. But individually, none will be the game changer that Cox was.
Georgia’s run defense
Again, not to take anything away from Appalachian State’s stable of running backs, but Tennessee’s run defense was not anything special last season. In fact, they were actually quite awful.
The Volunteers finished the 2016 season no. 104 in the nation and no. 12 in the SEC in run defense. Georgia however, was no. 36 nationally and no. 4 in the SEC in run defense.
Georgia’s defense is just much more adept at stopping Appalachian State’s rushing attack than Tennessee was.
Appalachian State lacks the element of surprise
The thing the Mountaineers had going for them the most last year against Tennessee, and in 2007 against Michigan was the element of surprise. Both Volunteers and Wolverines entered their games against Appalachian State with championship aspirations.
Both saw Appalachian State as an afterthought, their first win in a season of 11 or more wins. But in both cases, the Mountaineers proved too good to be seen as an afterthought. They flew under the radar and shocked their powerhouse opponents.
Appalachian State can’t sneak up on anyone anymore. They will never fly under the radar in season opening games against group of five opponents again. They earned the reputation of being one of the best small school teams in America, and one day they’re going to be in a conference like the SEC, ACC or American.
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But because of that reputation, they have to deal with the fact that everyone they that play is going to take them as serious as if they were a conference opponent.
Georgia will be better prepared to play Appalachian State than Tennessee was last year. That’s the biggest reason as to why the Bulldog Nation shouldn’t worry too much about playing the Mountaineers.