Continuity for a team coming off a NC win (and showing that the Kirby Smart era is nothing like the Mark Richt era). The lack of which creates a high volatility with expectations for Oregon which is why Lanning has mentioned about not needing to reveal anything about the team per se whereas Georgia players know what to expect because they've all largely been through it. Playing (and practicing) at a high level are something we've seen correlate to success on the field.pezsez1 wrote:What is Georgia's biggest advantage over Oregon in this game? Not talking star levels of recruits, but position vs. position?
Conversely, do we have any apparent advantage over Georgia?
I think expecting Kenny Dillingham to call a better game than Kirby Smart is a tough task even if Lanning knows the Smart Defense inside and out. Doesn't mean we can't play better, and I'm expecting a few trick plays here and there for fun and good measure.
QB could be an advantage for us but a steady Bennett may not have to do as much as Nix at a high end may need to do.
Brock Bowers at TE is going to be a nightmare but it could also serve as a great showing for our LB's with NFL days ahead of them. Bowers will draw attention from them when we wanting them attacking though.
RB as a group is likely a Push as are the WRs IF the Oregon Offense is in rhythm. Statistically you've got a lot of equal trade-off with a few guys for each team you're hoping make that jump.
OL on paper should be a Oregon advantage with all of the combined experience these guys have but Georgia has a solid RT in Warren McClendon and a Center in Sedrick Van Pran. Jalen Carter DL vs TJ Bass will be a fun battle as Carter is thought of as a 1st Rounder while Bass is trying to play his way up the draft board. I think our Interior OL is what can win us this game and our Tackles can lose it. Nolan Smith at Edge was 5th in Tackles last year and had 3.5 sacks. This can't be his break-out game on Defense.
DL is another unit that could be considered a Push. If you want to hype Dorlus you've got to do the same with Carter. Question I want to see answered is who else wants to stand out on the DL. Popo and KWH need to flash but we saw it early last year that Dorlus was a different kind of guy on the field.
LB is the unit I think we have the clear advantage with a healthy Flowe. Its got a ton of experience to go with the talent and we've got guys with experience backing them up.
DB group may not be as big of an advantage as we fear going into it, but Keelee Ringo will look to shut one half of the field down while Christopher Smith lurks on the outside on the other half of the field. Ringo and Christian Gonzalez perhaps cancel each other out from a "paper" stand-point but Kirby is likely to trust Ringo far more in this game than Lanning can/will with Gonzalez. From a reputation standpoint you'd say Nix won't be afraid of Ringo but our chances our going to come down to running the ball and getting into 3rd and make-ables consistently.
I think our hopes for a great season rest on how talented our Front 7 plays. I think the potential for a great unit is there but it has to be backed up by great schemes/game-plans and on not only rely on a talent advantage.
