Kirby Smart may be focused on Vanderbilt right now, but the bigger picture on Georgia’s schedule is starting to get loud.
The Bulldogs are a 24.5-point favorite against Vanderbilt at 12:45 p.m. Saturday in Sanford Stadium, yet the rest of the SEC slate this week shows just how much ground some opponents have covered.
Georgia’s Oct. 10 trip to Tuscaloosa is shaping up as a major test, with Alabama opening as a 5.5-point favorite on the road against undefeated Mississippi State. That Bulldogs team just beat then-No.
19 Missouri, 31-24.
Alabama quarterback Keelon Russell is rolling through his first season as a starter, and the numbers from last week jumped off the page. In the Tide’s 49-18 win over South Carolina, he completed 21 of 27 passes for 365 yards and four touchdowns.
Florida is making noise, too. First-year coach J on Sumrall has the Gators sitting at No. 8 after they knocked off then-No.
4 Ole Miss, 52-28. Now they’re favored to win at Missouri on Saturday, which is no small thing in this league.
Jadan Baugh powered that Florida win with 143 rushing yards and there touchdowns, and he tied former Alabama back Derrick Henry with five straight multi-touchdown games. Henry did it during his 2015 Heisman Trophy season.
That makes Georgia’s Oct. 31 matchup with Florida at Mercedes-Benz Stadium look even bigger by the day.
Here are the SEC lines this week, per the source:
Georgia -24.5 vs. Vanderbilt
Florida -4.5 at Missouri
Tennessee -7.5 vs. Auburn
South Carolina -3.5 vs. Kentucky
In Other News...
Georgia Has One Dangerous Problem Heading Into Vanderbilt
Georgia has spent this season looking every bit like a team that expects to keep winning, and the matchup with Vanderbilt fits the same script on paper. The Bulldogs are undefeated, favored again, and coming off a run of steady, no-drama performances that have kept them in the thick of the national conversation while the rest of the league keeps trying to catch up.
Still, there is a little extra edge to this one because Vanderbilts quarterback is freshman Jared Curtis, who was once committed to Georgia before ending up with the Commodores. The bigger concern for the Bulldogs, though, is less about the opponent than about themselves and whether they can stay locked in for four quarters, since the season has shown they can control games when they stay sharp and leave openings only when their focus slips. [Read more 🡒]
Kirby Smart Hinted At A Bigger Georgia Role Fans Will Notice
With Vanderbilt next on the schedule, Kirby Smart used his weekly availability to touch on the usual game-week checkpoints and a few broader themes around Georgias roster. He praised Clark Leas work with the Commodores, pointed to players such as Jared Curtis and Thomas Blackshear as part of the discussion, and walked through the kind of injury and practice updates that tend to shape how the Bulldogs prepare from one Saturday to the next.
Smart also spent time on the kind of player development questions Georgia fans tend to notice over the course of a season, offering thoughts on London Humphreys, JJ Hane, Dwight Phillips and Jordan Hall. Taken together, the remarks suggested a coach looking beyond the immediate matchup, with more attention on how individual roles are taking shape and where the Bulldogs may be leaning as SEC play keeps moving forward. [Read more 🡒]
Brock Bowers Is Already Giving Georgia Fans A Reason To Watch
Brock Bowers wasted no time reminding everyone why Georgia fans still track his every move on Sundays. Back from a knee injury, the former Bulldogs star was the focal point of the Las Vegas Raiders offense in a 35-27 win over the New Orleans Saints, piling up 10 catches for 116 yards and a touchdown in a performance that looked awfully familiar to anyone who watched him in Athens.
There was more Georgia flavor in the result, too, with Nakobe Dean leading the Raiders defense with a team-high 12 tackles and helping close the door with a game-sealing fumble recovery. At 3-0, Las Vegas is leaning on multiple former Bulldogs in all three phases, and for Georgia fans, that makes the Raiders an especially relevant watch even before the full story of this season takes shape. [Read more 🡒]