Tyler Stearns |
Texas and Georgia, two of the three most talented teams in the nation, will be playing this Saturday on ABC's primetime slot. Texas is the first-ranked team in the country, with dominant wins over Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry, and another big win at Michigan when the Wolverines were ranked within the top ten. Their defense is stifling, and their offense is electric. Georgia has only faced one real test in Clemson, who has turned out to be one of the better teams in the country. The win should be looked at with a bit more context, as Clemson was still figuring out how to attack their offensive scheme, which is hard to do when you are playing Georgia in week one. The moral of the story is, that neither has been tested enough to fully know who has the edge in this game.
So what lens can we look through to decide who will win? Personnel, coaching, schemes, and the way they have handled their opponents.
Texas has the edge on personnel. They have a better offensive line, better skill players, better quarterback, better defensive line, better linebackers, and a better secondary. Georgia edges them out at running back and tight ends. Texas is talented. They have stars everywhere. And now, with Ewers back, they will be able to play the way they were before his injury. Texas wins this category.
Coaching is interesting. Kirby Smart is one of the better-tenured coaches in the country, if not the best. He has led his Bulldogs to two National Championships, and multiple conference titles, and sent many players to the NFL. Sarkisian has done great as a Head Coach, but only with Texas, and only this and last season. But he has been great these past two years and has led Texas to the CFP and the number one overall spot in the AP Poll. But Georgia has the better coach. Kirby and the Dawgs win this one.
The schemes in this game will be interesting as well. The Dawgs generally run a pro-style offense with a balanced run-and-pass game. They like to pound it with Trevor Etienne in short-to-go situations and pass it with Beck over the middle. And their defense likes to stifle opponents with their front seven. Their defensive line is good, but not great, but they simulate pressure effectively. As for Texas, they have a very different offensive look. They like to do play-action, they like to send guys through the seam, and they like to run screens. They can run trick plays like reverses or even receiver passes, which we saw twice against Oklahoma. Sark knows how to find his way through tough defenses, as we saw against Michigan. And their offensive line will give Ewers more than enough time in the pocket to make the throws he wants to. Their defense is arguably the best in the country too. Trey Moore has been dominant for the Longhorns and has created a lot of pressure. The rest of their defensive line is also stellar, with the size and speed to disrupt the run and pass. Their linebackers are fast and agile and make tackles all over the field. And the defensive backs have been massively improved from last year, shutting down the opponent's WR1s. Pete Kwiatkowski likes to blitz, but he also knows that his DL can create pressure without bringing an extra man into the backfield. It also allows him to play a nickel look, taking off a linebacker or edge rusher and putting out another defensive back. So far this year, Texas has been able to get past opposing defenses and shut down opposing offenses better than Georgia, so Texas wins this category.
In terms of how these teams have handled their opponents, Texas wins soundly in this category. They dominated Michigan, Oklahoma, and Mississippi State. Georgia has destroyed the teams they have beaten, but they lost oddly to Alabama, where they were unable to manage the line of scrimmage. Texas's resume is much better.
Texas has won three of our four categories, so we will pick the Longhorns for this matchup. Texas 35 - Georgia 21.
Comments