Georgia
vs.
Mississippi
SEC
College Football Pick
9/24/16
It’s been a tale of two Schedules for these teams in the first three weeks of the season. Ole Miss may have two less wins than Georgia, but they opened as a -7.5 point home favorite for this meeting as seen at 5 Dimes Sportsbook.
The Rebels are 1-2, but their two losses have come against Florida State and Alabama, both of which they had large leads in. Sure, they ended up losing and giving up 93 total points in those Games combined, but they at least showed they could compete against two of the top teams in the country.
As for the Bulldogs, it’s been a little different. They’ve squeaked out wins against teams that don’t have much going for them. Just last week, they needed a final drive to take down a Missouri team that isn’t supposed to be much this season, already with a bad loss at West Virginia. And it was only two weeks ago that Georgia beat lowly Nicholls State by two points.
But the point can be made that Georgia plays up or down to its opponent. Ole Miss may have the tougher Schedule, but can they pull out to large leads and keep them against good teams? That remains to be seen. Taking the Rebels as a touchdown-plus favorite has plenty of risk involved.
The glaring issue for Georgia right now is on the defensive side where they allowed a poor Missouri offense to throw for 376 yards through the air. If Drew Lock can do that, then what can Chad Kelly do, who’s basically a lock for 300 yards and three touchdowns in every competitive Game? That will be the first order of business for the Bulldogs because they already know that Ole Miss isn’t that great at running the ball. It’s Chad Kelly or bust for them.
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But even if Kelly has success and puts points on the board, the Rebels have issues — and injuries — on the defensive side. Despite having success offensively in their losses, the defense just couldn’t hold the opposing offenses down.
Sure, Georgia probably doesn’t have the same kind of offense to put points on the board, but they have Nick Chubb going against a front that just allowed 334 rushing yards. Chubb hasn’t had the best last couple Games after going for 222 yards in the opener, but he’s still an obvious threat that Ole Miss needs to figure out how to defend.
And then there’s freshman quarterback Jacob Eason, who has had his moments early on. While he hasn’t been a Game breaker, he continues to do just enough for Georgia, making the right throws when needed.
If Georgia wants to win the SEC East, this is a Game they can’t let slip away from them. As for Ole Miss, they’re just looking for a win over a decent team.
We know the Rebels can score, but can their defense do enough to win this one comfortably? That’s a tough thing to bet on, especially with what we’ve seen and now they have to stop Chubb on the Bulldogs.
Georgia is undefeated at 3-0, but the better team here might be the one that’s 1-2 and came within 5 of Alabama. This is a must win Game for Ole Miss and the feeling here is that they get this “W” with an exclamation point! Ole Miss -7