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Georgia football: players to watch this Saturday at LSU

By Kyle Funderburk

COLUMBIA, SC - SEPTEMBER 08: Elijah Holyfield #13 of the Georgia Bulldogs runs with the ball against the South Carolina Gamecocks during their game at Williams-Brice Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA, SC - SEPTEMBER 08: Elijah Holyfield #13 of the Georgia Bulldogs runs with the ball against the South Carolina Gamecocks during their game at Williams-Brice Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /
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Georgia football travels to Baton Rouge, Louisiana this Saturday to play LSU from the SEC West. The Tigers are the highest ranked team Georgia will have played so far.

Elijah Holyfield – RB

Against LSU’s tough front-seven, Georgia football will need to lean on their toughest running back. That’s Elijah Holyfield, and he brings more advantages than just his strength. He packs that power into a small frame. Which means he can make a big run out of a small crease at the line of scrimmage.

The junior has become the leader of this running backs corps, and has filled the void left by Nick Chubb and Sony Michel nicely. But he’ll need to take that leadership to a new level against the Tigers.

Riley Ridley and Mecole Hardman – WRs

LSU did a decent job against Florida’s passing game last week. Except against Josh Hammond and Van Jefferson. The two led the Gators with a combined seven receptions for 129 yards. That’s almost all of Florida’s passing yards from that game.

Georgia’s passing game is much better than Florida’s. Jake Fromm is better than Felipe Franks. And the Dawgs have way more weapons in the passing game. But against LSU, Riley Ridley and Mecole Hardman will do the most damage. If the Tigers couldn’t stop Florida’s top two receivers, how will they cover Georgia’s top two, while also dealing with Terry Godwin, J.J. Holloman, D’Andre Swift, Isaac Nauta and the others?

D’Andre Walker – OLB

Against LSU, the Gators had five sacks, eight hurries and 11 tackles for a loss. Hopefully the Georgia coaches saw something in film study that they can exploit. D’Andre Walker will be the guy tasked with exploiting whatever weakness they find.

Walker leads the team with four sacks, all against SEC opponents. Other players, such as Tyler Clark, Jonathan Ledbetter and Walter Grant will also need to step up for Georgia to have the impact in the backfield that Florida’s front seven had. If Walker is blocked, that means someone else should be unblocked and they should bring the pressure.

J.R. Reed and Richard LeCounte III – S

Florida’s pass rush on Joe Burrow also led to a pair of interceptions. This week, Burrow faces probably the best defensive backfield in the SEC. D’Andre Baker and Tyson Campbell should have the outsides shutdown, that leaves the middle to Richard LeCounte III and J.R. Reed.

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If Walker can lead a good pass rush this week, Reed and LeCounte should have chances for a few interceptions. Reed has one interception this year, while LeCounte is yet to pick off a pass. That might change this Saturday against a desperate LSU team.

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