Georgia football: Prediction and thoughts on Georgia vs. UAB

Georgia football is set to play UAB Blazers on Saturday at 7:30. Georgia is a 42-point favorite and should easily handle this one. But what does success look like for the Dawgs on Saturday?

Many fans have complained about the slow starts and the offense’s inability to score in the red zone. Kirby Smart is saying the offense is slow scoring, not slow starting. Whatever, I do not care if you use starts or scoring; the word slow comes before it. Slow is not a good thing to describe anything in football.

So, I am growing tired of the arguments about Bobo and Beck. The Carson Beck hate has died down, but it has moved to Mike Bobo.

Success looks like this: Georgia scores touchdowns in the red zone! I am tired of watching this Georgia offense go on 14-play drives and not get 6. It has been a lack of execution, play-calling, and penalties that have killed Georgia drives. So, on Saturday, we need positive possessions. Georgia must score at least 95% in the red zone this Saturday. They need to feel sucess before they go on the road to play Auburn. The Dawgs offense needs to feel successful so that they can emulate it over and over again.

Defensively, the Dawgs need just to tackle better. Last week, Kirby Smart talked about poor tackling in his post-game press conference. I am not trying to be an armchair QB(or LB?); Georgia’s defense looks fine. Unless something is really wrong, I will never worry about Georgia’s defense when Kirby Smart is the head coach. Smart has forgotten more about football than I’ll ever know about it. But tackling needs to get a little better.

Special teams-wise, how can we make chip-shot field goals? I do not want to bash college kids, but the kicker situation has got to be figured out. Whether it is Zirkel or Woodring, Georgia must improve in the kicking game. I would not be shocked if Smart and the coaching staff put Zirkel out to kick a few field goals. On the other hand, I also would not be surprised if Smart gives Woodring one more shot. Kickers are a different breed of football players. Their psyche can go sideways with one little thing. So, pulling Woodring might not help Georgia in the long run. From the stands, it looks to me like Woodring’s problems are mental.  His kicks have the distance; he is just off with the accuracy. We will see if the kicking game is improved on Saturday.

Here is one key that everyone can agree on… no more injuries. Georgia has a ton of injured guys who will miss significant time. It would be nice if the Dawgs could go a few weeks without getting hurt. That is all I ask. So pray to the football gods that the Dawgs do not suffer one more injury. Georgia is the Walking Dead, and I am not sure they can afford another injury. In some seasons, you are snake-bitten with certain things: lack of sacks, poor running game, turnovers. Georgia is snake-bitten with injuries this season.

Prediction: 

Georgia should win this game, and it should not be all that close after the 1st quarter. UAB lost to Georgia Southern for crying out loud. So the question of if the Dawgs win is not even a question. I just want to see Georgia execute on all three phases of the game. After last week’s ugly win, Georgia needs to feel good about themselves going to Auburn next week. If the Dawgs do not win by 30-plus points, a dark cloud will hang over them all week.

I have said this before, but this Georgia team needs time to gel. They will get better as the season progresses. Is this the game where they take that step? I believe they do. Watching Kirby Smart’s halftime speech made me realize he is confident in this team.

I genuinely believe that Smart thinks this team can win a national title. They just need to prove it. This game will not prove that they are the #1 team in the nation, but it is a step in the right direction. The Dawgs win 42-10.