AJC > Sports > Blog > Archives > 2007 > October > 31
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Richt adds new fuel to Georgia-Florida
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just one man’s opinion:
1. The Georgia-Florida rivalry is back: You can argue whether or not what Georgia’s Mark Richt did was right. But here’s what it did do. It threw a big old bucket of new fuel onto the Georgia-Florida rivalry. Florida is going to remember this for a whole year and when the two teams meet in Jacksonville in 2008 that is going to be one intense football game.
2. The SEC East winner will have three losses: This won’t make my Georgia friends happy, but the odds are against the Dawgs beating Auburn and Kentucky on consecutive Saturdays. The Auburn game will be very physical and Georgia can certainly win it. But those will be brutal back-to-back games. And given Tennessee’s defense-or the lack thereof-I can’t see the Vols beating a great running team (Arkansas), a great passing team (Kentucky), and an extremely well-coached team (Vanderbilt) in three consecutive weeks.
3. Florida State can beat Boston College: Yes, you read that right. The Seminoles have been a strange team this season but they have a lot of athletes on defense. They have more speed than BC has seen all season. Florida State is just due to play a complete game. Will it be Saturday in Chestnut Hill?
4. Georgia Tech needs to play its best defensive game of the season: The only way for the Yellow Jackets to win Thursday night is to play ugly and keep the score low. In other words, Georgia Tech needs to beat Virginia Tech at its own game-defense and special teams. If 22 (Tashard Choice) were healthy, Georgia Tech could be a little more aggressive on offense. Not now. It’s going to have to be a 13-10 game for the Jackets to win.
5. Nick Saban has already earned his $4 million: First and foremost, Saban was hired by Alabama to make Crimson Tide football relevant again as a national program. By Sept. 22 ESPN’s College Game Day was on campus. Saturday CBS will have a one-hour pre-game before a nationally televised 5 p.m. start. The whole country will be watching. Saban has done all that after just eight games as head coach. Given the amount of national exposure Saban has brought to the program in only 10 months, Alabama got off cheap.
