Georgia football faces open date voodoo in 2019
Lady Luck casts the open date voodoo spell on the 2019 Georgia football team.
After the Georgia football team opens the season on the road at Vanderbilt, five of Georgia’s seven remaining SEC opponents will enjoy an open date before playing the Bulldogs. The two not so fortunate will have an open date two weeks before playing the Dawgs.
Tennessee, South Carolina, Florida, Missouri and Auburn all enjoy the week-before-open-date advantage. Georgia balances the advantage against Florida and Tennessee as the Dawgs have open dates of their own before those contests.
Will Georgia football dreams turn to nightmares?
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The wear and tear on the Bulldogs from facing rested, healed and exceptionally prepared teams week after week can turn the Dawg’s championship dreams into nightmares.
The advantage tilting to Dawg opponents could turn two particular fall Saturdays afternoons into horror filled evenings.
South Carolina, October 12
Before traveling to Athens, South Carolina plays at home and then takes an open date. The Dawgs at least get the Gamecocks at home. The Dawgs also have their own open date two weeks before the South Carolina matchup.
The Georgia – South Carolina rivalry pre-dates the early days of the Southern Conference, and the Dawgs and Gamecocks have each endured the others wrath 71 times on the gridiron since initiating hostilities in 1894. Only Clemson exceeds Georgia in number of games played against the Gamecocks. (South Carolina and Clemson played for the first time in 1896, two years after the first Georgia – South Carolina contest.)
South Carolina needs a win
With Georgia’s cornucopia of talent one state away, the Gamecocks by necessity circle the Georgia game on the calendar. With South Carolina now led by a former Georgia player, head coach Will Muschamp, and a staff that includes former Dawg offensive coordinator Bryan McClendon, new running backs coach Thomas Brown, and Director of Football operations George Wynn, the Gamecocks are laser focused on beating Georgia. Count on the Gamecocks to make the most of the open date advantage.
Auburn, November 16
Auburn has the biggest schedule advantage over the Dawgs. The Tigers play Georgia in Jordan-Hare Stadium after a home game followed by an open date. In the meantime, Georgia plays Missouri and Florida before heading down I-85 to the loveliest village west of Phoenix City. (Auburn provides an unfortunate contrast to Georgia’s open date dilemma: only Ole Miss takes an open date before playing Auburn.)
All teams are worn and ragged by the middle of November. Several extra days analyzing Georgia weaknesses and resting is just what the doctor ordered for an Auburn program infected with a decade of Bulldog domination. If the Dawgs have a team that can beat Auburn this season, they will play for the National Championship.
Next. Zamir White will shock college football. dark
Running the state
Such worries are big worries, but they’re not the biggest worries.
Georgia Tech plays North Carolina State on Thursday, November 21. Thursday may be the traditional day for JV games, but it still gives the Jackets a two-day jump on the Dawgs. To borrow from the Commander-in-Chief, Beat Georgia Tech Again – that’s job one.