Intro

Been planning this weekend for an entire year. I booked hotel, flight and bus as soon as availability appeared. As a 5’8” linebacker, I watched Rudy a concerning amount of times and to be in that stadium Saturday will be surreal. The only thing that will make that movie scene even better will be the 15-20,000 Dawg fans filling the stands. Ain’t nothing finer than a passionate fan base that travels. Chicago and South Bend are about to get a taste of it this weekend. Picture in front of Touchdown Jesus or bust.

Everyone Loves a Good QB Controversy

I am conflicted dawg fans. In the first quarter of a game against App State, I was questioning the rest of the season. Your gunslinger goes down with an unknown knee injury and incomes another freshman to carry your entire team. I grew really frustrated as half the fans in Sanford celebrate after deeming Jacob Eason a complete failure after two three and outs. Nevermind a full season of growth, experience and playbook knowledge, the kid sucks. Why must we stoop to such depths? Fromm enters and the genius in front of me turns around to me and says “he looks just like Stafford when he throws”. Oh does he? I could have sworn the 6’6” guy with a rocket launcher attached to his shoulder looks a little more like Matthew Stafford but what do I know?

But then, like the end of the Grinch, my heart for Jake Fromm grew 4x the size. He ran the offense with incredible efficiency and leadership. He made some questionable decisions, stared down a few receivers but overall looked very effective. He opened up the playbook with quick RPO releases. Everyone talked about his “it factor” coming out of HS and that seems like BS. Until you see it live. I quickly bought into the hype and although the fear of starting a freshman is very much still there, the confidence that Fromm exhibited rubbed off on me.

So Eason should make a full recovery in a few weeks and should Fromm play decently well, Georgia will be thrust into a QB controversy. But is that the worst thing? I wasn’t very excited about the prospect of a QB controversy but then I watched Fromm play. I want to see a ton of pressure on him under the lights against the most historically prestigious team in college football. And I want to see his moxy shine through. Eason’s arm talent is ridiculous but he may have a fight on his hands when he returns. It’s the small things from Fromm that you can see in the video below.

He’s Got Some Dawg in Him

Nobody has crossed the well-defined humble PR line since Shawn Williams prior to the Florida game in 2012. That was until Dominick Sanders said this when asked about Notre Dame’s history, “Not really, I didn’t really know anything about that,” Sanders said. “But you know, my main thing is coming out and punishing them from the start. I really don’t care about what they’ve got going on. I just care about my guys doing what we’ve gotta do: Punishing them from the start.”

Go ahead with it Dom. Throw in something about their mamas and let’s really get this popping off! I am all for this. I see so many people that get so bashful with saying anything about their opponent during game week. I know all you old school “show me” guys are cringing right now but don’t you appreciate a defensive player with some dawg in him? This dude has some confidence in his defense and as well he should after their performance last week. If there is one guy I am confident in to back up some fighting words, it is the experienced and hungry Dom Sanders. Go get it 24.

Red Shirt, Schmed Shirt

Shared my thoughts last week on the slow death of the redshirt and it seemed to ring true with 16/23 Georgia freshman seeing action last week. Some highlights:

Richard Lecounte: Played 81% of defensive snaps, the most of any defender. Huge that the staff has this much faith in a guy with so little experience. Showed physicality in the run game that I was looking for.

D’Andre Swift: love Swift’s game. Very similar to Sony with both versatility and elusiveness. RBU lives on

Walter Grant: got some important snaps even with three upperclassmen ahead of him. Has all the physical tools so great to see raw talent see the field so early

Andrew Thomas: solid in debut. Finally a young, physical OL piece that should provide consistent performance

Fromm: enough has been said

Notre Dame Preview

I could talk about a bunch of things in this preview. We could talk about Fromm, the big ND OL vs our defensive front or even special teams. But I think this game is won/lost in one specific matchup. Can Georgia’s OL run block on what should be a softer DL? I'm confident in the defense, I'm surprisingly confident in Fromm’s ability to lead the offense efficiently, hell I am even confident in our special teams (I don't believe I have ever said that). What I am not confident in is the OL ability to physically dominate an inferior physical opponent. Sam Pittman’s transition to massive moving creatures is underway but still in its beginning stages. Getting Solomon Kindley back this week helps tremendously. But can our OL take control of a game. The last time it truly did was against Missouri in 2015. While I don't think we will see an ass whipping to that extent, I do think Georgia needs an excellent OL performance to grab a win in a hostile environment. I think they get just enough to establish an effective run game. Georgia 31 Notre Dame 27

Bucky’s Easy Money of the Week

Last Week: 2-2-1

Overall: 29-23-1

Main mission every week is to beat Bear on college gameday. Hate that neckbeard. If anyone is keeping track of style points for score predictions last week I had the final score at Georgia 31 App St 17. Gave Taylor Lamb and company an extra TD but score predicitons don’t pay the bills. Only Bucky’s Easy Money of the Week pays the bills my friends. Last week I paid no bills, but also owed no bills sooooo.