Each week, Dawn of the Dawg will release a score prediction for the Georgia Football team’s upcoming game. Here’s how we did last week:
Related Story: Why UGA's defense could be great this year.
Prediction: Georgia 34, Appalachian State 17
Actual Result: Georgia 31, Appalachian State 10
For week 2, the Dawgs travel to South Bend to take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. (ET) on NBC. The Georgia Football team is currently a 4.5 point underdog according to most published score lines.
Before Georgia fans go insane over being the underdog despite being the higher ranked team, some context is important. First, the Dawgs will be on the road in a hostile environment on prime time Saturday night TV. Second, Notre Dame is now ranked in the AP Top 25, meaning this is a match-up between two ranked teams. Finally, Georgia will have a true freshman quarterback in Jake Fromm making his first career start in this game.
Notre Dame seems to be getting a great deal of praise for its offensive performance against Temple last week. However, let’s remember that it was against Temple. The Irish will certainly not be running for hundreds of yards against Georgia’s defense.
This match-up in South Bend is fairly even in my mind. Both teams are physical on both sides of the football and each has a potent rushing attack. Both teams also have inexperienced starting quarterbacks with some size at outside receiver.
I believe this game will be a low-scoring, defensive battle that may indeed be a one possession affair. I doubt either offense is going to take many risks given the inexperience at quarterback on both sides (and Jim Chaney’s track record over the past 14 games).
Next: Player to watch Vs Notre Dame.
The area where this game could be won is special teams. Field position and the ability to convert field goals when necessary will be crucial to a Georgia win. Overall, I think Jake Fromm will do just enough to put his team in a position to win. Ultimately, it may come down to the leg of Rodrigo Blankenship to send the Dawgs back to Athens with a win.