Florida Football: 3 reasons the Gators will win SEC East in 2020
3. Georgia’s experience situation
The Georgia Bulldogs will face a ton of adversity in 2020. Florida’s biggest rival and most formidable competition in the SEC East has many obstacles to overcome.
The Bulldogs’ schedule is brutal.
They play three top 11 opponents (most in the FBS) and four top 15 opponents, (No. 3 Alabama, No. 8 Florida, No. 11 Auburn and No. 25 Tennessee). However, the toughest part of Georgia’s schedule is when they play these ranked teams. All four ranked opponents will come in the first six games for the Bulldogs. They play Auburn, Tennessee and Alabama in the first four weeks of play where they will be implementing an entirely new offensive system under new offensive coordinator Todd Monken.
Georgia will also have a new quarterback. Expected starter and graduate transfer Jamie Newman from Wake Forest opted out of the 2020 season to prepare for the 2021 NFL Draft. So that leaves Georgia with four options.
The best option probably lies in transfer J.T. Daniels from USC. He started in all of 2018 for the Trojans, throwing for 2,672 yards, 14 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. In 2019, he tore his ACL in USC’s first game, sidelining him for the season. He still hasn’t been medically cleared to play in 2020.
The second option is junior Stetson Bennett who hasn’t played a meaningful snap, playing in only five games of 2019 as the backup to now-Bills quarterback Jake Fromm.
Options three and four are freshmen. Redshirt freshman and former blue-chip recruit Dwan Mathis is a dark-horse to start game one for Georgia. He is someone who Georgia didn’t expect to rely on until next year but may be forced to grow up quickly if Daniels is not medically cleared early on in the season.
Finally, Georgia has true freshman Carson Beck who was a four-star recruit expected to have a sensational 2019 high school season after winning a state championship and being named 2018’s Mr. Football in Florida. It didn’t come together for Beck. He dropped significantly in 247Sports’ composite rankings and didn’t perform as well at camps in 2019. However, he has undeniable talent even with a down 2019 campaign.
I just can’t see Beck being successful in 2020, especially if he’s thrown into the fire Week 2 against No. 11 Auburn.
The bottom line is that Georgia has an elite defense, but only four returning starters on offense. That inexperience on offense could prove to be disastrous in a top-heavy schedule for the Bulldogs.