Georgia Football: Dawgs look for tune-up against UMass in Week 12
No. 5 Georgia football looks to work out the kinks against the UMass Minutemen before its Week 13 game against rival Georgia Tech.
Okay, maybe using UMass to get in shape for Georgia Tech would make sense if Georgia Tech didn’t run the exact opposite of what the Minutemen run.
UMass enters into this game with the 18th-ranked passing offense nationally with an average of 299 yards per game through the air and seemed to have only gotten better with quarterback Ross Comis taking the snaps. Comis debuted with 500-plus yards and four touchdowns against Liberty two weeks ago but struggled in the second half against BYU last week. The most fun matchup this weekend will, however, come down between Deandre Baker and Andy Isabella.
Isabella has been the best offensive player on UMass’ football team for three seasons now and is looking to break the single-season receiving yards record this week between the hedges. Isabella is currently at 1,478 receiving yards and needs a mere 16 yards away from the record. He is also chasing Tajee Sharpe’s career receiving record of 3,486 yards and is 180 yards away.
This matchup against Georgia is the final game of Isabella’s college football career that he has to pull out these records and he goes up against one of the best corners in college football in Deandre Baker.
The Georgia defense has looked drastically better since giving up 36 points to LSU a month ago. They’ve given up over 400 yards of offense in every game since then, but they haven’t allowed any team more than 17 points making them one of the more stingy offenses in the nation when it comes to scoring defenses (eighth nationally).
The Bulldog offense has been business as usual with D’Andre Swift going for 100-plus yards on the ground in each of the last three contests. It almost appears that the LSU game has shown to be a wakeup call for Georgia as they went on to defeat Florida, Kentucky and Auburn in consecutive weeks.
Can UMass pull off the biggest upset of the season?
Date: Saturday, Nov. 17
Time: 4:00 p.m. ET
Location: Athens, Ga.
Venue: Sanford Stadium
TV: SEC Network
Live Stream: WatchESPN or FuboTV
Keys to Victory
So UMass has a really good passing game. Andy Isabella is really fast and is one of the better field stretchers in the group of five and possibly in all of college football. If can turn the Georgia defenders into a turnstile and feast all game long then that is half the battle. UMass has to make Jake Fromm throw the ball and just try to force some turnovers through the air. They can’t let D’Andre Swift get going.
Georgia just can’t sleepwalk through this matchup. UMass has a good passing offense and if Georgia thinks they are just going to go in and half try then they have another thing coming. Let Baker lock down Isabella and let D’Andre Swift be the incredible running back that he is and you’re back home next week against Georgia Tech.
Betting Odds
Courtesy of OddsShark
Points Spread: Georgia -41
Over/Under: 65.5
Next. NFL Mock Draft 2019: First round after Week 11. dark
Prediction
This one is going to go completely according to plan. Georgia will hand the ball off to their slew of running backs and rack up 21-plus in the fourth quarter. Justin Fields should be in making plays in the second quarter and the Dawgs go on to their matchup against Georgia Tech 10-1.
Final Score: Georgia 58, UMass 13