Sneak peek: Georgia
AUBURN | The Bryan Harsin era begins with a couple of warmup games before things get really serious with a trip to a Big Ten power. October includes a couple of key rivalry games and November concludes with the Iron Bowl at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Today, we continue an early look at Auburn’s 2021 schedule with the conference home opener against a long-time rival.
WHO: Georgia (8-2 last season, 7-2 SEC)
WHEN: Oct. 9
WHERE: Jordan-Hare Stadium (87,451)
SERIES: UGA leads 61-56-8
WHAT’S NEW: Georgia landed one of the top players in the transfer portal in LSU tight end Arik Gilbert. The Bulldogs also strengthened their secondary with Clemson cornerback Deion Kendrick and West Virginia safety Tykee Smith. On the coaching front, Kirby Smart hired Jahmile Addae from West Virginia as secondary coach in January.
WHO TO WATCH, OFFENSE: Running back Zamir White returns for his junior season after rushing for 779 yards and 11 touchdowns on 144 carries. He averaged 5.4 yards per carry. He also caught six passes for 37 yards and returned three kickoffs for 78 yards.
WHO TO WATCH, DEFENSE: Jordan Davis doesn’t put up big numbers but is a force a noseguard. The 6-foot-6, 340-pounder routinely takes on double teams, is hard to displace from the line of scrimmage and creates a lot of opportunities for his teammates including linebacker Nakobe Dean, who led the team with 71 tackles last season.
OUTLOOK: Georgia started three different quarterbacks last season but is set to go into 2021 with JT Daniels leading the offense. In four games last season, the junior completed 67.2 percent of his passes for 1,231 yards and 10 touchdowns. He threw for more than 300 yards in two of his four starts. UGA returns all of its running back depth behind White and signed the nation’s No. 7 running back in the ’21 class. The receiving corps took a big blow with George Pickens suffering an ACL tear in the spring but still returns talented playmakers Kearis Jackson and Jermaine Burton. The offensive line returns three starters and a ton of highly-recruited talent led by guards Jamaree Salyer and Justin Shaffer.
As has been the case in most seasons under Smart, the Bulldogs should have a stout front seven (or six) on defense. The 2021 unit will be led by Davis and Dean, but has a couple of talented pass rushers in Adam Anderson and Nolan Smith and plenty of depth around Davis in seniors Devonte Wyatt and Julian Rochester. Sophomore Jalen Carter is a rising star on the defensive line. The secondary returns just one starter but will benefit from the two transfers and the return of 2020 5-star cornerback Kelee Ringo, who missed last season with a shoulder injury. Placekicker Jack Podlensky and punter Jake Carmada give UGA one of the best pair of kickers in the SEC.
MORE SNEAK PEEKS:
Sept. 4 AKRON
Sept. 11 ALABAMA STATE
Sept. 18 at Penn State
Sept. 25 GEORGIA STATE
Oct. 2 at LSU
Oct. 9 GEORGIA
Oct. 16 at Arkansas
Oct. 23 BYE
Oct. 30 OLE MISS
Nov. 6 at Texas A&M
Nov. 13 MISSISSIPPI STATE
Nov. 20 at South Carolina
Nov. 27 ALABAMA