Georgia Bulldogs Football: 2019’s Complete Season Preview
Week 4: Georgia Bulldogs vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Date & Time: Saturday, September 21st, 2019 @ 8:00pm
The first big game of the year for the Dawgs will be when the Fighting Irish come to town.
It’ll likely be a top-10 showdown and has a good chance to be that weekend’s ESPN’s College Gameday.
Both of these teams head into this season with college football playoff dreams.
For the Fighting Irish, who won’t have the benefit of a conference championship to play in, this week could very well make or break those playoff dreams.
While Georgia returns most of their starters on both offense and defense, aside from many of their wide receivers and defensive studs Deandre Baker and D’Andre Walker.
The Fighting Irish lost their starting running back Dexter Williams, leading wide receiver Miles Boykin, top two linebackers Te’Von Coney and Drue Tranquill, top defensive lineman Jerry Tillery, and top tight end Alize Mack.
So the Bulldogs will have the advantage over the Irish inexperience on both sides of the ball.
Last year Georgia scored, on average per game, over a touchdown more than the Irish did while also facing tougher defenses.
Georgia and Notre Dame both return its starting quarterbacks but the Dawgs easily have the upper hand at that position.
Jake Fromm has looked the part of a future first-round NFL pick much throughout his time in Athens. While Book has not had quite as much success; and again, Fromm has done this against much stiffer competition.
Georgia also has an even bigger advantage at running back where surefire first-round pick D’Andre Swift terrorizes opponents every week.
However, Notre Dame does have the upper hand at wide receiver as they have two returning wideouts that caught over 500 yards last year.
Whereas the Bulldogs leading returning wideout only managed to go for 138 yards through the air last year, 71 of which came on one play.
The Bulldogs will need some of their young wideouts to come through and make a statement showing they can handle being number one options in this offense.
Georgia also obviously has the upper hand on defense as their secondary and linebackers should emerge as top-10 units in college football.
While the defensive line may be the “weak point” they should still be able to hold their own against the Irish offensive line.
Star cornerback Eric Stokes should be able to lock down one side of the field or one receiver, depending on Smart’s preference.
Middle linebacker Monty Rice should be able to stop any potential leaks the defensive line lets slip through.
At the end of the night, Georgia will leave no doubt that they are the better team and will walk out of Sanford Stadium with a double-digit win.