There’ll be another Top 10 matchup between the hedges on Saturday night with No. 10 Texas vs. No.5 Georgia kicking off in Athens. Now, with playoff implications being played for with the Longhorns and Bulldogs, the ‘College GameDay Podcast’ has made its picks for that massive game in the SEC.
ESPN’s Rece Davis and Pete Thamel predicted Texas vs. Georgia on the latest episode of the show on Wednesday. Davis began by setting up their preview, looking back at the two games that these two teams played last season and how they’re each trending going into tomorrow’s game.
“The one thing Texas hasn’t proven in the SEC is that they can handle the ‘Dawgs,” Davis said. “Georgia was the more physical team, particularly in the regular season meeting last year, and then, in the SEC Championship last year, they made the tough-minded plays when they had to. Texas has won four in a row, the last three of them by seven points or fewer. … I feel like the ‘Dawgs are ascending a little bit here.”
As for their selections, Thamel went first, expecting a win for Georgia in a low-scoring affair against Texas. He noted the Longhorns’ run defense against the Bulldogs’ run game, thinking neither offense would get to open it up too much, but that, in that style of matchup, it would be set up for a victory for UGA.
“See, I think this will be a low-scoring tarpit game. … This is going to be conservative. This is going to be ball control. I don’t see, you know, Sark going in and letting Arch, like, let it rip, right,” Thamel said. “So, I think this just comes down to one of those games that Georgia has shown consistently they know how to win, and I think they do win. But, I think this is like a 17-13, teeth-grinder kind of game.”
Davis then went next, first saying that he expects at least just few more points on the board than did Thamel. But in a big-time matchup for both teams as far as playoff hopes, Georgia is the team that he thinks has shown more and is only showing more each week, although that didn’t necessarily mean to him that the season would be over in a loss, in a night game on the road, here for Texas.
“I think you’ll get a little bit more. I think the game will be very similar to what we saw in the SEC Championship, which I think was decided in the 20s. That’s the type of game I expect,” Davis said. “Texas is in survival mode. They’re kind of desperate. … I don’t think it’s an absolute, playoff-or-bust game for Texas, though they will definitely be in harm’s way on the wrong side of the bubble at the moment, in all likelihood, if they don’t win. Haven’t seen enough from them to think they can go into Athens and win.”
“…I’m going Georgia at home. You know, I can’t see Georgia losing two primetime games between the hedges in the same season, with how much they have riding on this too…I’ll go with Georgia to win that game.”
By the time it’s over, this one will have an effect on what the SEC is looking like as far as the College Football Playoff. That said, with both podcast hosts going with the ‘Dawgs to win, Davis and Thamel would have Georgia still positioned as in at 9-1, while Texas at 7-3 would leave on the brink when it comes to the CFP.