Georgia football: Observations of opponents after week three

Jarrett who?

It’s like 2015 all over again. You’d think sports media would learn to not hype Auburn as long as they have Gus Malzahn as head coach. In 2015, we were told that Jeremy Johnson was a Heisman contender who would lead Auburn to championship glory. In 2017, we heard the same thing about Jarrett Stidham.

To say that they’re falling short of expectations so far is an understatement. I gave them the benefit of the doubt last week in their loss to Clemson. They lost to the defending national champs who happen to have a stellar defense.

Statistically, they had a great game against Mercer. But Mercer is an FCS program that’s only been around since 2013. And Auburn only scored 24 points. At halftime Auburn only led 10-3 and at one point in the fourth quarter, the score was 17-10.

Auburn’s defense is better than previous years, so it looks like Malzahn has learned that he needs a good defense to succeed for more than one out of four years.

Kentucky might be on to something

Don’t look now, but Kentucky is undefeated and are favorites against Florida, a team with a 30-game winning streak against them. I was low on the Wildcats for a while. They weren’t that impressive in their first two games, but then they beat South Carolina in similar fashion.

So to Kentucky fans, I apologize. I was wrong. I mistook the low scores of your games for being a struggling football team. It turns out that just really know how to win games and are doing so in a way that works for y’all.

Next: How concerned should we be about Mississippi State

That being said, better offenses will torch Kentucky’s defense. And the Wildcats need more of a passing game to help running back Benny Snell Jr. But for this week, Kentucky should improve to 4-0 to finally get that win over Florida.