Georgia football is set to take on Mississippi State in their sixth game of the season this weekend at home in Sanford Stadium. This is one of the easiest games remaining on the Bulldogs’ schedule, so that means we need to be extra bold in our bold predictions this week.
So let’s dive right in and see if any of our boldest predictions will come true this week.
1. Georgia leads by three scores after the first quarter
Now this is something I know we all want to see. Georgia has struggled all season long during the first quarter, only scoring 17 total points in their first five games. That includes 14 points against Tennessee Tech.
So the fact that Georgia is yet to beat any opponent by three scores after the first quarter and that they’ve only scored three points in four of their games makes this prediction borderline insane. But I think Kirby Smart will have his guys ready to go in this game.
It’s no secret to anyone, even the players on the team, how much they struggle to start games, so I think they more than anyone are ready to make a statement and blow a team out early. Thankfully they have 1-4 Mississippi State coming to town who likely will be the easiest conference matchup remaining this season.
But even though this game will be easier, leading Mississippi State by at least 17 points at the end of the first quarter will be a challenge. I however think it’s a challenge Georgia will accomplish to show the country that they are turning a corner this season.
2. A Georgia receiver eclipses 125 receiving yards
There are a few reasons why this prediction will be tough for Georgia to accomplish. For starters the Bulldogs have only had two receivers eclipse 100 yards this season when Arian Smith accumulated 132 yards and Dillon Bell hit 100 on the nose against Alabama. You could view it as a good sign that Georgia hit this mark against the toughest opponent they’ve faced this year, but I think they were able to accomplish that because they were playing catch up all game.
Georgia will not be playing catch up against Mississippi State. It’s more than likely that Georgia wins this game by an extremely wide margin. When that happens you typically will see two things occur. The first being that Georgia will run the ball more to burn the clock. Georgia also will be quicker to put backups in making it harder for any one player to reach a significant receiving total.
We do need to factor in that UGA is without receiver Colbie Young for the foreseeable future. Young is the fourth leading receiver on the team, but Smart has suspended the receiver indefinitely as his ongoing legal issues continue. So this means there are that many more targets available for others to rack up their receiving yards.
But the fact remains that this game will likely be a blowout and that Georiga has only had one receiver reach at least 125 yards in a game this season. But I think the Bulldogs will want to prove a point this week offensively as they look ahead to next week.
Georgia will have to score a lot of points next week if they want to beat Texas, and I don’t think they’ll be able to do that solely on the ground against the Longhorns. So they are going to have to be ready to throw the ball a lot to keep up with the Longhorns’ offense.
So what better time to let Carson Beck and his receivers loose than against one of the worst teams in the SEC?
3. The Georgia defense records five sacks
Similarly to my previous prediction with Georgia’s passing game, I think the Bulldogs’ defense will be ready to feast this weekend. Specifically the defensive line who I think will get after the Mississippi State QB early and often.
So far this season the Bulldogs’ defense has accumulated 11 sacks this season, but they haven’t eclipsed three in one game. They even had zero sacks against Alabama two weeks ago.
But I think Georgia will rack up sacks early in the game when Mississippi State is rattled and struggling to settle into the game. Then as the game progresses, MSU will have to pass the ball more to try and catch up which only presents more opportunities for UGA to pin their ears back and go after the quarterback.
So even though Georgia hasn’t surpassed three sacks in one game yet this year, I think they will set a season high and reach at least five on Saturday.
