Georgia vs Arkansas

By way of pure coincidence, Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman’s first game in his new role is against his old employer, Georgia. Like most years, the Bulldogs are waiting to reveal their starting quarterback until Saturday’s season-opening kickoff.

Quarterback battles are a staple inside Georgia’s football facility through Kirby Smart’s first five years at the helm. Pittman has been in those preseason meetings for four of them.

I know they played JT and D’Wan in every scrimmage, Pittman said in his Monday press conference from Fayetteville, Ark. Georgia has some good quarterbacks, and they’re loaded enough to where it won’t matter too much. I don’t have any idea who they’ll play for sure. They’re probably going to play them both.

Nearly 800 miles back to the east, Smart is hopeful that Daniels — the transfer from Southern Cal — will be fully cleared by Saturday. Daniels suffered a torn ACL last season in Los Angeles, and had a cleanup procedure in December for extra work on his knee. The additional surgery, Smart said, pushed back Daniels’ timeline.

Georgia has kept its quarterback choice locked and sealed inside its football offices. The same can be said for previous competitions involving Jacob Eason, Jake Fromm and Justin Fields. Now, it’s a waiting game for the race between Daniels and redshirt freshman D’Wan Mathis.

Plenty has been said about Mathis. Some believe Mathis, a former four-star recruit out of Michigan, has emerged after running with the first-team in scrimmages. For quite some time, the battle has been trimmed to Mathis and Daniels after Jamie Newman’s opt out in early September.

I’m excited about the guys who have competed, Smart said, adding Carson Beck and Stetson Bennett into the mix. They have all done a good job. I’m excited to see those guys go out and play. I feel comfortable with all of those guys.

Pittman has two vantage points when planning for the Bulldogs’ quarterbacks. He only has tape, like many others, on Daniels. After watching tape of the Fresno State game in 2019, Pittman had strong praises for Daniels’ arm strength. For Mathis, however, Pittman got to watch Mathis practice and develop over the past year.

Game week has finally arrived for the Arkansas Razorbacks and the Georgia Bulldogs, and the two teams will cap the week with the highly anticipated season-opener Saturday night in Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium There are many questions to be answered, but what are people expecting in this one? UGA is favored by 25 points over the Hogs.

There are plenty of unknowns. Arkansas has a new head coach and nine knew assistant coaches that top to bottom couldn’t be much more different than the staff that led Arkansas to back-to-back 2-10 seasons. Meanwhile in Athens, the No. 4 ranked Bulldogs are chomping at the bit to get to Fayetteville. This is a squad that has gone 11-1 in each of the last three regular seasons. Arkansas has only won eight games combined in the last three seasons. There are several questions to be answered, so take a shot at answering these 10 poll questions.

How many yards will Feleipe Franks throw for against Georgia? How many Razorback quarterbacks will see meaningful snaps? How many yards will Rakeem Boyd rush for in the game? How many times will Treylon Burks touch the ball with a pass, catch, run and/or return? Aside from Franks, which newcomer will have the biggest impact on the game? How will Arkansas’ first offensive drive end? Who will score first for Arkansas? Will Arkansas’ offense have more success on the ground or through the air? Which Razorback will log the most tackles? How will the game end?

The last time Feleipe Franks faced Georgia, he completed 13 of 21 attempts for just 105 yards, one touchdown and one interception in a 36-17 loss in Jacksonville. He was 7 of 19 for 30 yards with an interception the season before that in 2017 during a 42-7 loss. The Bulldogs ranked third in the SEC in pass efficiency defense last season and were fifth in passing yardage allowed. In his last season as a starting quarterback for the entire year, Franks averaged 189.0 passing yards per game, which ranked 10th in the SEC.

As the Bulldogs prepare to take on an SEC opponent on the road at Arkansas, the Bulldogs video team has released a video trailer for the 2020 season opener. This 99-second feature is entitled “We’re ready. Are you?” and focuses on what has been a truly unique offseason with the coronavirus pandemic. That being said, Georgia’s goal remains the same – to win the SEC Championship and return to the College Football Playoff.

Our individual journey towards our destination. Our destination is in Atlanta. We are trying to find a way to be SEC champs. The game, which will take place at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark., is set to kick off at 4 p.m. ET, with SEC Network set to televise the conference matchup.

The Bulldogs are 10-4 all-time against Arkansas. Arkansas is coming off a 2-10 season in 2019, its second-straight year of going 0-8 in conference play, and has to replace several key players, including quarterbacks Ben Hicks and Nick Starkel, tight end Cheyenne O’Grady, defensive linemen McTelvin Agim and Jamario Bell, linebacker De’Jon Harris, and safety Kamren Curl. With its last SEC win coming in Oct. 2017 and its last bowl game coming in 2016, Pittman has inherited a program with a lot to work on in his first head-coaching position. He brought in Kendall Briles at offensive coordinator and former Missouri head coach Barry Odom at defensive coordinator. They will likely hitch their offense to Florida graduate transfer Feleipe Franks and senior running back Rakeem Boyd. The Razorbacks’ defense is likely to struggle, ranking 110th in total defense last year while allowing 450.7 yards per game and 36.8 points per game, the seventh-most in the country.

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Georgia is now within the two-week window of its season-opening game against Arkansas. Always a critical period in preseason football preparations, it is particularly important now in the age of COVID-19. Players who test positive for the coronavirus now – and others that have been exposed to infected teammates will have to enter a quarantine period of 14 days. Those players would, of course, miss the Sept. 26 game in Fayetteville.

Coach Kirby Smart said Tuesday night the Bulldogs have no players out at the moment. But as UGA continues to test its athletes two and three times a week, there remains a high probability that players might have to miss. I have no clue right now of any for sure outs, Smart said Tuesday. We don’t have anybody that is going to be out.

If that holds up, then Georgia is doing better than a lot of SEC teams. Two weeks ago, Tennessee had to scrap a scheduled scrimmage because 44 players were sidelined either because of positive tests or exposures. Auburn, which plays at Georgia in Week 2, had 10 players miss its scrimmage this past weekend because of COVID-related issues. That was after the Tigers had to cancel a practice the previous week because too many players were out.

On Tuesday, LSU coach Ed Orgeron told reporters that most of his players had tested positive for the virus at one point or another. Hopefully they’re not out for games, Orgeron said. Hopefully that once you catch it, you don’t get it again. But I’m not a doctor.

Later, Orgeron was admonished by LSU Athletic Director Scott Woodward for being too transparent and too forthright. As the SEC gets closer to starting its delayed football season next week, vagueness remains the preference. While all 14 football programs are required to report their weekly testing results to the league office, the SEC has not shared that information publicly.

Georgia outside linebacker Nolan Smith knows the Bulldogs need to do a better job of creating negative plays on defense. Chiefly, sacking the quarterback and having more tackles for loss in the run game. Smith admitted that it was identified as a problem in the offseason. The Georgia coaches have harped on it and Smith added he trusts the coaches will scheme up ways to create more sacks and tackles for loss.

One of the ways that might happen for the Georgia defense in 2020 is Smith himself making a leap. The sophomore from Savannah, Ga., had some promising moments as a freshman, as he finished with 2.5 sacks on the season. His 19 quarterback pressures were good for fourth on the team.

Smith said his 2019 season was mostly him trying to adjust to the transition that comes with going from the high school to college level. Now he’s grown accustomed to the various classes, meetings, and playbooks that come with being a college football player. The outside linebacker joked that his classes have gotten harder this year but he’s having an easier time on the football field thanks to some of the extra steps he’s now taking.

I learned the playbook very well and I try to come in and meet everyday extra, Smart said. This is my second year, so I’m trying to come in, meet extra, meet with the GA’s and see what installs we’ve got into our meetings. So just meeting before the meeting and just carrying it onto the field in practice. Last year, one of those assistants was former Georgia outside linebacker Jarvis. Jones was a First Team All-American in his time with the program. He was also the last Bulldog to reach double-digit sacks in a season.

Jones isn’t the only former Georgia outside linebacker that is helping Smith’s game. The Georgia outside linebackers over the years have dubbed themselves “The Wolfpack.” Think of it as a fraternity, with the older members helping out some of the current players. And with the likes of Leonard Floyd, D’Andre Walker, Jordan Jenkins and Lorenzo Carter on active NFL rosters, there’s quite a lot of help Smith can get.