The no. 3 Georgia Bulldogs will look to keep things rolling this week when they host the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders. Game time is set for 7:15 EST on Saturday, September 15, at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia. Fans will be able to watch the game on ESPN2.
After Georgia opened as 31-point favorites, the line to this game has increased slightly, putting the Bulldogs as 31.5-point favorites. Click here to see a full list of this week’s college football odds.
The Bulldogs are officially riding high after last week’s 41-17 dismantling of South Carolina. Many believed a road game against the Gamecocks would be the toughest game Georgia plays this season against a team from the SEC East. If that’s true, the race in the SEC East could be all but wrapped up. The Bulldogs passed their first true test of the season with flying colors. Quarterback Jake Fromm was nearly flawless while the Georgia defense put its foot down in what could have been a tricky road contest.
Middle Tennessee State, meanwhile, earned their first win of the season last week against FCS foe Tennessee-Martin. It wasn’t the most convincing game, as the Blue Raiders gave up 37 points and actually had fewer first downs than UT-Martin. However, MTSU quarterback Brent Stockstill threw five touchdown passes to ensure the Blue Raiders avoided the upset and won 61-37.
Unfortunately for Middle Tennessee, they’re about to go up against an SEC team for the second time this season. The Blue Raiders lost their season opener against Vanderbilt 35-7 and have just one win in 11 games over power conference opponents since 2013. Of course, the Bulldogs have to be sure not to let their guard down ahead of another conference road game next week against Missouri.
This is a tricky game to call because Middle Tennessee is just good enough to give Georgia some trouble if they start to relax. With an experienced quarterback like Stockstill, the Blue Raiders are capable of scoring enough points to beat such an enormous spread. That being said, I’m going to swallow the points and lean toward Georgia anyway. The Bulldogs were nothing short of exceptional last week, and for a night game at home, they’ll be up for this game, enabling them to deprive Middle Tennessee of any hope early on and comfortably cover the spread.
Heading into the season, the Georgia defense looked like it had some holes to fill. But they have not skipped a beat early in the season. Last week, they limited South Carolina to just 54 rushing yards on 20 carries while not allowing themselves to be exposed against South Carolina’s up-tempo offense. While the Bulldogs are still a little young on that side of the ball, they’ve played like they have something to prove. As long as that continues, I have no doubt they’ll be able to shut down the Middle Tennessee offense for most of the game.
Last week against an FCS team, the Blue Raiders showed what they’re capable of doing offensively with a quarterback like Stockstill. But that explosiveness was noticeably lacking in the opener against Vanderbilt, and that’s what gives me pause to predict the Blue Raiders to beat the spread in this game. The Vanderbilt defense sacked Stockstill six times while the UT-Martin defense sacked him six times.
That points to serious problems along the offensive line, problems that will be insurmountable against Georgia’s defense. Middle Tennessee couldn’t even run the ball effectively against UT-Martin, gaining just 2.5 yards per carry. Such a performance leads me to believe the Bulldogs will dominate MTSU at the line of scrimmage and have Stockstill under constant pressure. If that’s the case, a shutout by the Georgia defense is not out of the question, which would make it much easier for the Bulldogs to cover the spread.
Finally, there’s the Georgia offense, which like the defense, looks like it hasn’t missed a beat from last season despite having several key players to replace. D’Andre Swift looks every bit as talented as the departed Nick Chubb and Sony Michel. Backups James Cook and Elijah Holyfield don’t look half bad either.
Fromm also looks much improved from last season. It was one thing to look good against Austin Peay in the opener, but Fromm completed 15 of his 18 passes against a usually stout South Carolina defense. A productive running game makes things easy on the quarterback, but Fromm still looks incredibly comfortable in his second season as the starter. He should have no problem moving the ball against a Middle Tennessee defense that gave up 37 points to an FCS team last week.
Quite frankly, the only team that can prevent Georgia from covering the spread in this game is Georgia. As long as the Bulldogs don’t fall victim to complacency, I see no reason why they shouldn’t be able to dominate Middle Tennessee on both sides of the ball. I’ll swallow the points and take my chances with Georgia being able to win by at least five touchdowns.