Georgia Bulldogs Football: 2019’s Complete Season Preview
Week 1: Georgia Bulldogs @ Vanderbilt Commodores
Date & Time: Saturday, August 31st, 2019 @ 7:30pm
The Bulldogs will open the season with an SEC opponent for the first time in over a decade and will be looking to start the season off on a strong note.
Georgia has proven it can overpower almost any opponent it faces on the ground, and this game will be no different.
New offensive coordinator James Coley will let starting quarterback Jake Fromm throw it a fair amount to his new receiving weapons. Make no mistake; this game will be won on the backs of top runners D’Andre Swift and Brian Herrien.
I could see this being the type of game in which Georgia finishes with two backs with over 100 yards each on the ground.
While I expect those two to be Swift and Herrien, keep an eye on the hulk-like Zamir White to possibly break out as well.
For those of you wanting an extended look at the new pass catchers, you will get a decent show this week, but the Dawgs are more likely to air it out in weeks two and three as they look to break in the new offensive contributors against lesser competition.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Dawgs’ defense features what should be a strong secondary and linebacker group, so the Commodore passing game will likely not make much of an impact.
With that being said Vanderbilt does have an impressive pass-catching duo by the names of Jared Pinkney and Kalija Lipscomb.
So while I don’t expect the passing game to have a huge impact, star cornerback Eric Stokes will have his work cut out for him when facing off against Lipscomb.
The linebackers will also have to make sure they stay focused when following Pinkney on routes.
Vanderbilt star running back Keshawn Vaughn will find success early against the defensive line. He’s too talented not to have some success, and score Vandy’s only touchdown of the day in the first quarter.
However, after that touchdown the defense will hunker down and hold the Vandy offense to just two more field goals. This game should be very similar to last year in which the Commodores keep it close in the first quarter (14-7), but the Dawgs pull away big time after that.