Fetch Football Forum: Welcome to the SEC

Opinion

This Saturday is a huge day for SEC football, as the conference’s newest members—Missouri and Texas A&M—will play in their first conference games against Georgia and Florida, respectively. With the hours quickly ticking down to kickoff, now is as good of a time as any to take a look at both games and who will prevail when the final gun sounds.History: UGA vs MIZZ These two teams have only met once, back in the 1959 Orange Bowl. Georgia won the game 14-0

FLA vs TEXA&M The Gators and Aggies have played each other twice and split the meetings with Florida prevailing in 1962 and Texas A&M coming out on top in the 1977 Sun Bowl.

Location: UGA vs MIZZ Memorial Stadium (68,349) ; FLA vs TEXA&M Kyle Field (83,002)

Key Matchup: UGA vs MIZZ Georgia DBs vs Missouri WRs The Bulldogs’ secondary is suspect going into this one, as it will be missing the services of both safety Bacarri Rambo and cornerback Sanders Commings due to off-the-field transgressions. Meanwhile, the Tigers have a formidable passing attack led by junior quarterback James Franklin and headlined by true freshman Doriel Green-Beckham, which could be disastrous for this depleted Dawgs defense.

FLA vs TEXA&M Florida RBs 143 vs Texas A&M D-Line The Gators have got to find a way to make their running game relevant in the Southeastern Conference this season, and while the thirteen point victory over Bowling Green last week wasn’t something to really celebrate, the team can take solace in the fact that the team did great on the ground, led by senior Mike Gillislee, who racked up 148 yards and two of Florida’s three touchdowns in the game. If Gillislee and Company can make the most out of the running game against an Aggies defensive line that lost three starters from a year ago, you can expect to see plenty appearances by the Gator Chomp in College Station.

Key Player: UGA vs MIZZ Jarvis Jones, Georgia LB. Jones, whose 70 tackles and 13.5 sacks earned him the honor of being named an All-American last year, is truly the leader on this defense, shown by his 8 tackles and 1.5 sacks last week against the Bulls. If Missouri wants to have a chance to win this game, they have to successfully block Jones for four quarters of play; if they fail to do so, the Bulldogs make come up big in Columbia.

FLA vs TEXA&M Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M QB. Just imagine being in this spot: your first start in college comes in arguably its biggest conference game ever and will be remembered for generations as a monumental matchup in SEC play. No pressure, right? This is exactly what Aggies starting quarterback Johnny Manziel is facing as he leads A&M against the Gators on Saturday. Manziel, a former three-star quarterback according to Rivals, would have had at one game under his belt had Hurricane Isaac not caused the Aggies’ game against Louisiana Tech to be postponed until October, but instead his first taste of the college game comes against an SEC squad. Manziel really just needs to serve the role as game manager in this one and just play conservative; if he can avoid the turnover bug and show the defense early on that he isn’t afraid to stand in the pocket and deliver throws for his team, he just may make it out of Kyle Field tomorrow with a win.

Game Prediction: UGA vs MIZZ This game will live up to all of the hype that has surrounded it ever since this game was first announced. Following three quarters of back-and-forth football, we fast-forward to the fourth quarter with the Bulldogs leading the game 24-23 and maintaining possession of the ball. Looking to add to the team’s slim lead, Aaron Murray leads Georgia on a drive that makes it all the way to the Missouri 35 yard line. However, the drive ends prematurely, as a pass on third and seven is intercepted by Tigers’ cornerback Kip Edwards, who returns it to the Missouri 46. Aimed with the chance to re-take the lead, Missouri quarterback James Franklin leads the offense on a 12-play, 54 yard drive that eats up 5:30 off the clock and gives the Tigers a 30-24 lead on 6-yard scamper by Franklin. The Bulldogs have plenty of time to respond, but a failed fourth down attempts dooms the Dawgs chances.

FLA vs TEXA&M Although most fans expect the Aggies to prevail in this one, I predict the results to be quite different due to turnovers. Turnovers will take away Texas A&M’s chances to win this one, as three turnovers in the first quarter (one kickoff fumble, two INTs by Manziel) leads to seventeen points for the visiting Gators. The Aggies eventually get in a rhythm and close the gap, but it isn’t enough to win their first SEC game.

Final Stats Prediction

Passing
UGA vs MIZZ
Aaron Murray finishes the game with 16 completions on 26 attempts with 205 yards and 2 TDs with 1 INT.
James Franklin shines in his SEC debut, completing 23 passes on 32 attempts with 262 yards and 2 TDs.

FLA vs TEXA&M
Jeff Driskel has a mediocre outing, completing 12 passes on 25 attempts for 147 yards and 1 TD.
Johnny Manziel has a game to forget, completing 12 passes on 26 attempts for 164 yards with 1 TD and 2 INTs.

Rushing
UGA vs MIZZ
Todd Gurley doesn’t exactly repeat last week’s performance but still has a good game, taking 20 carries for 106 yards with one touchdown.
Kendial Lawrence makes the most out of his carries, taking 17 carries for 93 yards.

FLA vs TEXA&M
Mike Gillislee has another solid game on the ground, taking 16 carries for 85 yards and 1 touchdown.
Christie Michael plays the role of “also ran” in this game, recording 22 carries for 72 yards.

Receiving
UGA vs MIZZ
Tavarres King shows once again why he’s Georgia’s top receiver, making 8 catches for 91 yards and 1 touchdown.
Dorial Green-Beckham has his first big game in college, bringing down 9 receptions for 102 yards and one touchdown.
FLA vs TEXA&M
Jordan Reed makes several big plays in this one and ends the game with 8 catches with 67 yards and one touchdown.
Ryan Swope helps out his freshman quarterback, recording 7 catches for 78 yards and one touchdown.

Final Score Georgia 24, Missouri 30
Final Score Florida 31, Texas A&M 21

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