Georgia football finished the September portion of its schedule perfect. How will the Dawgs work through October?
As the calendar closes out September, Georgia football will get a well-deserved bye week to rest and heal. However, Dawg Nation is already looking ahead to October and what the schedule holds.
The three games in October are all very winnable games on paper, but we all know the games are won on the field.
After starting the season 4-0, October will bring an all-SEC East schedule with two games in Athens and one on the road.
The Bulldogs opponents have a combined 4-8 record going into the last week of September and each of the teams has issues on both sides of the ball that Georgia can and should exploit.
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October 5, 2019 – @ Tennessee
The first game in October will see the Bulldogs travel to Neyland Stadium in Knoxville to take on the Tennessee Volunteers (1-3).
While there is usually a rowdy and raucous crowd in the orange and white checkerboard stadium, Vol Nation is reeling from a brutal start and will have to dig deep to find the motivation to show up and be loud.
The Vols started the 2019 season with a terrible 38-30 loss to Georgia State in Knoxville. That was followed up by an overtime loss to BYU, and Orange alert was initiated much earlier than expected in Tennessee.
After handling Chattanooga at home, they faced their first SEC test against Florida on September 21, and it was a demoralizing 34-3 loss.
Needless to say, 1-3 was not the start Tennessee was looking for, even in what was expected to be another rebuilding year.
Tennessee’s offense ranks 103rd in the nation, averaging 359.5 yards per game.
Jarrett Guarantano has started all four games at quarterback for Tennessee, completing 64.52% of his passes for 184 yards per game. He has seven touchdowns versus four interceptions.
As of today, we aren’t sure that Guarantano will be the starter on October 5, as he got benched against Florida in favor of freshman Brian Maurer.
The run game for Tennessee has been less than stellar as well, averaging 154.5 yards per game and only three touchdowns through 4 games.
The Georgia defense ranks 5th in the nation against the run, only allowing 57 yards per game. This area is one area that I expect Georgia will dominate.
Defensively, Tennessee is allowing 339.8 yards per game (45th in the country), with 149.8 of that coming on the ground, which slots them as the 72nd rush defense in the nation.
With Georgia averaging 253 yards per game on the ground, it could prove to be a long day in Knoxville for the Volunteers.
Through 4 games, Tennessee does not match up well with Georgia in any category.
The head coach is feeling pressure, the starting quarterback may have gotten benched, and Vol Nation is reeling.
Unless they get things figured out at warp speed, expect the Dogs to come away with a win at Neyland.
October 12, 2019 – vs. South Carolina
South Carolina (1-3) has a chance to come into Athens on October 12 with a 1-4 record if they can’t take care of business against Kentucky on September 28 at home.
Win or lose this weekend; they will come to Athens off of a bye, which will be somewhat of a trend in 2019 for Georgia.
The Gamecocks started the season with a tough and close 24-20 loss to UNC.
To compound matters, they also lost their starting quarterback Jake Bentley for the season due to a foot injury in that opener.
Freshman Ryan Hilinski took the helm the following week and the Gamecocks put up an impressive 72 points in a blowout win against Charleston Southern.
They followed that up with two consecutive SEC losses to Alabama (47-23) and Missouri (34-14).
South Carolina should provide a tougher test on the Georgia defense than Tennessee as they are ranked 49th in the nation, averaging 443.8 yards per game.
Hilinski has performed admirably, averaging 257.33 yards per game with five touchdowns and three interceptions.
The leading rusher for South Carolina is Rico Dowdle with 268 yards through 4 games. Tavien Feaster gets a lot of action as well and has 183 yards on the season.
Defensively, the Gamecocks have struggled, which is abnormal for a Will Muschamp coached team.
They currently rank 100th in the country in total defense, allowing 435.5 yards per game.
Paging George Pickens!
If Georgia can come into this game healthy, there is no reason they shouldn’t pick up another SEC East win at home.
There will be no “Sandstorm” to contend with, and we may not hear one single rooster crow in Athens!
October 19, 2019 – vs. Kentucky
Kentucky is the only team that has a chance to come into Sanford Stadium in October with a winning record.
They are sitting at 2-2 and face South Carolina and Arkansas before making their way to the Classic City.
While Kentucky is 2-2 overall after four games, they sit at 0-2 in the SEC with losses to Florida (29-21) and Mississippi State (28-13).
The two wins came against Toledo (38-24) and Eastern Michigan (38-17). Kentucky went into the Florida game with some momentum, but that has since dissipated with the SEC losses.
Much like Tennessee and South Carolina, Kentucky has experienced turmoil at the quarterback position, losing 2018’s starter Terry Wilson for the season due to a torn patellar tendon against Eastern Michigan.
Junior Sawyer Smith took over the quarterback position and is averaging 191.67 yards per game with four touchdowns and four interceptions.
While the Kentucky passing offense finds itself at 70th in the country with 241.8 yards per game, the rushing offense is a bit better at 59th, averaging 177.3 yards per game on the ground.
They haven’t been able to replace NFL draftee Benny Snell fully, but Asim Rose and Kavosiey Smoke are a nice tandem that the Georgia defensive line will need to be prepared to faceoff with.
Defensively, Kentucky is struggling as well, giving up 398 yards per game, ranking them 78th in total defense.
They lost another NFL draftee on the defensive side of the ball in Josh Allen and have turned everything over to Kash Daniel.
Neither the rush or pass defense have been particularly scary with Kentucky giving up 245.8 per game through the air and 152.3 on the ground.
While Kentucky contended last year for the East, they have fallen back a bit this year due to the loss of Snell and Allen to the NFL and Wilson to injury.
It also hurts Kentucky that they will have to travel to Athens. With Georgia holding the all-time series record at 52-12-2, the Dawgs should be up to the test.
October should be a fun month of football, and if all goes as planned, the Dawgs will be 7-0 heading into Jacksonville for the annual cocktail party.
The season ratchets up quite a bit in November so let’s enjoy some good Georgia Bulldog football in October and get ready for the drama the end of the season will no doubt bring!