Georgia at Mississippi Line
Written by Steve Janus - Google +
This Saturday the Mississippi Rebels will host the Georgia Bulldogs in a SEC matchup between two 1-2 teams. After splitting two non-conference games, Mississippi was dominated at Vanderbilt 7-30. Georgia opened the year with back-to-back losses against Boise State and South Carolina, but had no trouble downing Coastal Carolina 59-0 for their first win of the season last week. Georgia has won eight straight in the series, but they haven’t played since 2007. Georgia won that game 45-17 at home.
Looking at the week 4 odds, oddsmakers currently have Georgia favored by 9.5-points over Mississippi with the total set at 54.5 points.
Georgia:
It hasn’t exactly been the start to the season that Georgia fans were hoping for, but it’s way to early to get down on this team. Georgia was outplayed in their opening game against Boise State, but could have easily beat South Carolina if it wasn’t for two turnovers that were returned for touchdowns. The Bulldogs actually outgained the Gamecocks 436 to 395 in total yards.
The offense has really looked good in their last two games, and a big reason for that has been the impressive play of running back Isaiah Crowell. The true freshman had just 60 yards in the first game against Boise State, but went for 118 and a touchdown against South Carolina and 86 and a touchdown against Coastal Carolina. I look for Crowell to only get better as the season goes on, and he could be in for a big day against Ole Miss, who come in giving up 198.3 yards per game on the ground this season.
Georgia also has one of the top young quarterbacks in the SEC in sophomore Aaron Murray, who has already thrown for 672 yards and nine touchdowns this season. Murray’s favorite target so far has been true freshman Malcolm Mitchell, who has 14 catches for 159 yards and two touchdowns. He has also hooked up with Orson Charles 8 times for 151 yards and two scores and Tavarres King 9 times for 108 yards and three touchdowns.
Defensively the Bulldogs haven’t exactly played up to their potential to start the season, but I expect this unit to start to put together some better performances as the season rolls on. They are holding opposing offenses to just 299 yards of total offense a game. The strength of this team has been their ability to shut down the passing game, as they are allowing just 150.7 passing yards a game.
Mississippi:
The Rebels suffered a heartbreaking loss in their opener against BYU, as they let a 13-point fourth quarter lead slip away. They bounced back with a nice 42-24 win over Southern Illinois, but were completely dominated last week by Vanderbilt.
The Rebels offense has not looked good to start the season, and a lot of that has to do with the poor play of starting quarterback Zack Stoudt. The junior college transfer is coming off a miserable performance against the Commodores, where he went 13 of 26 for 139 yards with five interceptions.
The running game hasn’t been much better. Mississippi is averaging just 109.3 yards a game on the ground. If you discount their easy non-conference game against Southern Illinois, they have rushed for just 149 yards against Division I schools.
The defense allowed Vanderbilt to rack up 387 yards of total offense in the loss last week, and could be in for a very tough day against the Bulldogs potent offense attack.
Betting Trends:
Georgia is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 road games vs. a team with a losing home record.
Mississippi is 14-2 ATS in their last 16 games after scoring less than 20 points in their previous game.
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