Appalachian State Mountaineers (0-0 SU, 0-0 ATS) vs. Georgia Bulldogs (0-0 SU, 0-0 ATS)
College Football Week 1
Date/Time: September 2, 2017 – 6:15pm
Where: Sanford Stadium – Athens, Georgia
TV: ESPN
by Bob, NCAA Football Handicapper, Predictem.com
Point Spread: ASU +14 / UGA -14
Over/Under Total: 45.5
The first Saturday of September is always a great day…the first REAL Saturday of college football. We have waited all summer, talked trash, and now it is time to put up or shut up. As we know, one loss in college football can change the entire landscape of the season and one of the teams in this article was part of one of the biggest upsets in college football history ten years ago.
When you think of college football upsets, App State and Michigan always comes to mind. It was ten years ago now that the Mountaineers went into The Big House and shocked then ranked #5 Michigan. This weekend, Appalachian State will take their shot against an SEC opponent when they travel to Athens to take on the 15th ranked Georgia Bulldogs.
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Georgia comes in as a fourteen point favorite over Appalachian State while the total points are set at 45.5 combined. As of Tuesday morning, 66% of the documented action was on Georgia to cover the spread while 54% like the game to go over the total points. This is going to be a much better game than many believe. App State is loaded with returning players, especially on defense. If they can slow down the Dawgs enough to stay in the game, anything can happen.
Georgia comes in with Kirby Smart as their head coach for the second year. His first season saw some highs and lows. Georgia jumped out to a 3-0 start then began to stumble. Bad O Line play and youth was much to blame for some of the struggles and many around the program feel this Georgia team should be much improved. The Dawgs were 8-4 last year but 2 losses came very late. Tennessee shocked Georgia on a last second hail mary and Georgia Tech came back from two scores down to beat Georgia on a final minute touchdown. Two late plays changed Georga from what could potentially have been a 10-2 season to an 8-4 run.
The offense for Georgia should be much better. Nick Chubb and Sony Michel both came back for their senior seasons and sophomore quarterback, Jacob Eason, has been said to have made improvements to his game over the summer. The truly strong point for Georgia this season should be the defense. The Dawgs are returning quite a bit of starters and have also added some depth with the recruiting of Kirby Smart.
Speaking of defense, Appalachian State has seven returning starters on the side of the ball and they are a very fast defense. This could be seen in the season opener last year against Tennessee when App State nearly pulled another huge upset. The key to this game for App State to have any shot to scare Georgia or get the win is the defense. If the Mountaineers can stop the run game of Chubb and Michel and for Eason to win with his arm, this cold end up being a lot closer than most think.
While I think Appalachian State will play well and not get laughed out of Sanford Stadium, I think late in the game the Georgia depth and talent will take over. I do not see Georgia winning in blowout fashion but I feel they are talented enough on both sides of the ball to get a tough fought 30-13 type win over App State.
Bob’s Pick to Cover the Point Spread: TAKE GEORGIA TO COVER THE 14 POINTS AT HOME AND GO UNDER THE POSTED TOTAL OF 45.5 POINTS
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