Georgia Bulldogs: Did Dawgs Benefit From Bye?

The Georgia Bulldogs did not play in Week 8 of the 2015 NCAA Season, as the Dawgs were on their bye before Georgia/Florida. Did UGA benefit from their bye?

After winning a lousy field goal battle during Homecoming versus the Missouri Tigers, the Georgia Bulldogs moved to 5-2 (3-2) on the season before entering their annual bye before the always anticipated Georgia-Florida game down in Jacksonville.

Surviving a home game against the reigning SEC East Champions should feel so much more vindicated, but Mizzou has lost all offensive identity in 2015 and may find themselves on the outside looking in at bowl eligibility.

Losing to Vanderbilt, 10-3, on Saturday means that the Tigers will have to go 2-2 in their final four games (Mississippi State, BYU, Tennessee, @Arkansas) to meet the required 6-6 for a bowl bid. I’m not sure that Mizzou wins another game in 2015. Rock M Nation has not scored a touchdown since beating South Carolina on October 3rd. So at least UGA isn’t Mizzou this year.

While the Georgia Bulldogs are only one win away from bowl eligibility, I’m wondering where the program’s at before taking on their arch rival in Jacksonville. The Georgia Bulldogs still very much control their own destiny in the SEC East. A win over Florida gives the Dawgs the coveted tiebreaker over the Gators, but with the team looking like a shell of itself the last three weeks, I don’t know if the bye does the Dawgs a world of good in 2015.

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UGA’s three wins in the Conference Play have come against the three worst teams in the league this season: @Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Missouri. The Dawgs’ two losses are to 7-1 (4-1) Alabama and 3-4 (1-3) Tennessee. With Florida, Kentucky and Auburn remaining in SEC Play for the Georgia Bulldogs, we have to hope that HC Mark Richt has inspired his team to seize their Atlanta destiny in 2015.

Part of me wants to believe that Georgia can beat all three of these SEC foes in 2015. Another part of me wonders if the 2015 Georgia Bulldogs are simply a 7-5 (3-5) team this fall. After getting blown out at home to Alabama, losing RB Nick Chubb to the horrid field conditions in Knoxville, and not scoring a touchdown during homecoming versus a Missouri team in complete tailspin, the pessimism is real, folks.

However, if I’ve learned anything from Georgia Football over the years, is that literally anything can happen during Georgia-Florida. There was no way UGA was dropping last year’s game to the 2014 Florida Gators, who were beyond ready to fire their Head Coach Will Muschamp. Naturally, QB Treon Harris threw the football five times and game managed an offense built on cutbacks off the right guard’s shoulder to embarrass UGA in Jacksonville, costing the Dawgs a shot at the inaugural College Football Playoff.

This rivalry is as hostile as they come, so anything and everything goes. A win for the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday saves the season for the Dawgs and keeps the SEC Championship dreams alive for Dawg Nation. A loss and that would mean UGA would go 1-3 in October and Mark Richt would have another loss to a ranked opponent.

What I hope for the Dawgs is to have an offense that RB Sony Michel to make plays in space. If OC Brian Schottenheimer wants to run dives up the middle, use either Keith Marshall, Brendan Douglas, or even Quayvon Hicks. I’d love to see QB Greyson Lambert build back his confidence with a plethora of screens and short throws to the outside. If he can’t do that, then maybe we will see either Brice Ramsey or Faton Bauta enter the World’s Largest Cocktail Party at the Bank.

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