ATLANTA,Ga.— With the Kentucky loss to Auburn last night and a win for the Georgia Bulldogs this week, they could be alone at second place in the SEC East. They are also rooting for the LSU Tigers to be able to defend their home field tomorrow night with a win against the Florida Gators.
If the last two things happen, Georgia could be closer to winning the East with two games remaining in their SEC schedule for 2015. That would be if UGA could beat Florida in Jacksonville after their bye week.
This seemed like a pipe dream just a week ago, after Georgia suffered their second straight loss of the season.
Right now, Georgia is 2-2 in conference play. This comes following the 38-10 loss to Alabama and 38-31 defeat by the Tennessee Volunteers.
That said, the belief that an SEC East title is still in full effect for the Bulldogs. Their head coach Mark Richt even said as much earlier this week.
“I think the biggest thing that gives me hope that we can get where we want to get is how hard everybody is playing and how hard everybody is trying to do what we are asking them to do,” Richt said. “They have been coachable, teachable, playing hard as heck, and we appreciate that about them.”
The 2015 Georgia Bulldogs are a young group. They currently have 10 underclassmen listed as starters on their “two-deep” depth chart heading into their game this week against Missouri.
It is said that senior offensive linemen John Theus and Kolton Houston stood up to address the team during a meeting earlier this week about trying to finish this season strong towards a possible berth in the SEC Championship.
Just because they already have two losses, the season is far from over.
Senior wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell was a part of the 2011 team that lost their first two games of the season to Boise State then South Carolina. However, Georgia was able to win their next 10 games in order to reach the SEC Championship Game against LSU.
He recalled on that experience.
“I’ve been around a long time and I know what a good team looks like, Mitchell said. “We are a good team. We just have to execute, bring all the pieces together and get the job done.”
Things are seemingly lining up for the Bulldogs to have some good momentum going into the Georgia-Florida game in a couple of weeks down in Jacksonville.
This could be a chance to get players like wide receiver/return man Isaiah McKenzie and outside linebacker Jordan Jenkins back from injuries. Richt hasn’t officially ruled Jenkins out with the hip issue, however the word is that he will not play this week. This according to dawgs247.com’s Jake Rowe.
The last time Georgia played in the SEC Championship Game was in 2012, when they lost a heartbreaker to the Alabama Crimson Tide. Defensive lineman Sterling Bailey was on that team and like Mitchell has confidence this year’s team has what it takes to win the East.
“Just by the experienced leadership we have on the team,” Bailey said. “We have several players who have been here and been in this type of situation before. Learning from those experiences, we can handle it. We’ve just got to make sure that with these younger guys, we pull them along with us.”
This weekend is a must-win for Georgia and then the Florida game after the bye week is the same deal. If they can do that, they’ll be in the driver seat with the Kentucky Wildcats coming to Sanford Stadium and then a trip to Auburn to end their SEC schedule.
This weekend will be tough on the Georgia offense, with the SEC’s second ranked defense coming to town. Missouri is first in defending the pass, but sixth against the run.
Georgia will have to concern themselves mostly with redshirt freshman defensive end Walter Brady (number 56) and sophomore defensive end Charles Harris (number 91) coming off the edge. These two edge-rushers have 10 of the Tigers 18 sacks on the season.
It is a different tale though for the Mizzou offense. They are dead last in the conference for total offense, 11th in the pass and last in the run.
The Bulldogs could muddy the waters for Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel’s team with pressure on true freshman quarterback Drew Lock. The Tigers signal-caller is throwing for less than 100 yards per game.
The goal is simple for the 2015 Georgia Bulldogs, win tomorrow and every game the rest of the way.
Loading ...
