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Arizona State at Georgia Looks Like A Shootout
Bulldogs Favored by -11.5
9/26/09
Arizona State will be looking for revenge after Georgia went into Tempe and left with a dominating 27-10 victory a year ago. This is a different Georgia team this year that Arizona State will face. There is no Matthew Stafford and no Knowshon Moreno, but that doesnt mean that ASU should expect an easier Game than last years. Georgia has rebounded nicely after their opening Game loss to Oklahoma State. They won two shootouts against South Carolina and Arkansas to improve their record to 2-1. Georgia would love to get a nice out of Conference win to help their resume, and prove that they are a better team than they showed against Oklahoma State. Arizona State has started their season completely different then Georgia. Arizona State is coming into this Game off wins against overmatched Idaho State and Louisiana-Monroe. ASU is about to get the acid test and will find out where they stand nationally after their Game Saturday.
The Current Betting line favors Georgia by -11.5 with a total of 54.
GEORGIA’S KEY TO VICTORY
It is no secret what Georgias Achilles heel has been so far this season. Georgia is ranked last in the SEC in pass defense giving up 285 yards passing per Game. In their last Game Arkansas QB Ryan Mallet threw for 408 yards and 5 TDs. Georgia cannot continually rely on their offense to outScoretheir opponents. Eventually this defense especially the secondary is going to have to step up and make some plays. Arizona State is in the Top 5 in every offensive category in the PAC 10, so I expect them to be able to put up some points. In Arizona States last Game QB Danny Sullivan went 19-31 for 220 yards and 1 TD against Louisiana-Monroe. Sullivan has yet to see a defense with SEC athletes, so I expect Georgias defense to get pressure on Sullivan early and often and put him into bad situations. The more uNComfortable Sullivan is the more plays Georgias secondary should be able to make.
ARIZONA STATES KEY TO VICTORY
Usually in a case like this I would say the key to victory is for the defense to be able to slow this offense down to take some pressure off of the offense, but after watching Georgias offense against Arkansas especially the Wide Receivers I am not sure if Arizona States defense can do that. So I am going to have to say that if Arizona State is going to have any chance in this Game they are going to have to catch fire on offense and go Scorefor Scorewith Georgia. One big thing Arizona State has going for them is teams like Georgia have a tendeNCy of looking ahead to their next big in Conference Game instead of coNCentrating on their out of Conference Game. Georgia has a showdown with LSU the week after this Game so its very possible that Georgia will be looking ahead which could play in Arizona States favor. Especially if QB Danny Sullivan can get in a rhythm early and put up some points early.
THE FINAL VERDICT
Georgia has the bigger, stronger, faster team all around. Georgias offense has been on fire lately and there is no reason for me to think that will change for this Game. Georgia is battle tested and honestly there is no reason why Georgia shouldnt be able to win this one impressively at home, but like I said before big teams have a tendeNCy of looking ahead when they find themselves playing an out of Conference opponent in the middle of Conference season. Throw in the fact that Arizona State is averaging 44 points a Game and, well, the backdoor is always open for an Arizona State cover. Until Georgia proves they can play some defense we have no interest in laying a big number. Might want to take a peek at the over as well. We’ll take Arizona State +11.5