As time ticks down to the massive clash with the No. 7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the homestanding No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs ‘Between the Hedges’ at Sanford Stadium, the outcome Saturday night will likely shake up the College Football Playoff picture. Meanwhile, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart understands Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book has all the tools to give his defense some issues.
“They have multiple formations, they have tempo, they have the ability to do a lot of things,” said Smart Tuesday afternoon. “They have a lot of offense. You start looking at all the things they do, it’s hard to prepare for all of it in a week, in a week’s time. Then you throw in the fact they have the quarterback that he can make you right every play. The coach [Brian Kelly], he could call a bad call, the kid will bail him out and go scramble for it. He could call the perfect call and he’ll bail him out of that too. It’s nice when you’ve got a guy that can make somebody miss, whether it’s a pressure, whether it’s a three-man rush, whether it’s a four-man rush. I mean he can make you right. That’s the thing, you’ve got to be patient, because they accumulate yards, they’ve got a vertical passing game that’s explosive. They’ve got good runners. And they use their personnel very well.”
Through the first three games, Book has completed 61% of his passes for 456 yards and four touchdowns. Last season, the senior quarterback from El Dorado Hills, Calif. threw 19 touchdown passes after taking over for Brandon Wimbush.
Georgia has dominated their first three opponents by a combined score of 148-23. In these three games, the Bulldogs have averaged 7.6 yards per carry. The depth chart at running back has been tremendous with D’Andre Swift, Zamir “Zeus” White, Kenny McIntosh, and Brian Herrien each averaging north of 5 yards per carry. Georgia’s offensive line will undoubtedly be one of the major keys for victory.
No Georgia preview would be complete without mentioning Jake Fromm. Two years ago, Fromm made his first start at Notre Dame Stadium for an injured Jacob Eason and managed the game effectively. One national championship appearance and two SEC Championship games later, Fromm is still cool under pressure while completing 75% of his passes this season for five touchdowns.
“Irish” soap is banned?
Two Dill grocery stores banned Irish Spring products this week as store management were overcome with hype for the game. Dill’s Food City, which has locations close to Athens in nearby cities Lavonia and Royston, have decided to toss all Irish Spring in the stock room until after the game is over, according to several posts on social media this week.
Tough luck, Dill’s customers! Pick a different soap, this is #Dawgs country pic.twitter.com/cDJbxjD9ld
— Wes Blankenship (@Wes_nship) September 17, 2019
Tickets for the game currently average $349 on the secondary markets, making Notre Dame-Georgia the most expensive ticket thus far in the 2019 season.
Kickoff between the Fighting Irish and the Georgia Bulldogs is 8:00 P.M. at Sanford Stadium in Athens.
