It’s true that the East is down right now, but it’s also been “down” for nearly a decade now. Tennessee has been virtually irrelevant since the mid 2000s, and while they are trending upwards, they are still no where near Florida, who really isn’t that close to Georgia. Nobody is spending money like UGA is right now. Florida is reducing its stadium capacity, Georgia is increasing theirs while leading the nation in recruiting spending. Georgia’s athletic facilities are easily in the top 10 in the country, and Florida’s are honestly more comparable to Tech than Georgia. While their QB situation is a little bit squirrelly, they may honestly be better off with anybody other than Fromm leading their offense. They’re dominating OL recruiting, and even though they did lose basically their entire starting 5, a huge drop off isn’t really expected. Jamie Newman isn’t a Heisman candidate, but he’s more than serviceable, and athletic enough to make plays on his own, something Georgia has struggled with at QB since D.J. Shockley. I don’t remember the USC transfer’s name, but regardless of whether or not he can play, they’re going to have the number 1 QB in the 2021 class waiting in the wings.
Honestly one of the biggest reasons I want the season to go on without a hitch is because I do think this is a year where Georgia could slip up and lose 2-3 games and maybe lose some of their momentum. They play their first 3 games over only 12 days. UVA in Atlanta to open, and while VA did lose Perkins, they are going to want to capitalize on their success from last year. The game being in Atlanta will still be a 90% Gagger crowd, but it does lose some of the genuine home field advantage Sanford would provide. Then they play ETSU before hitting the road and playing Alabama. Bama on the road will be a tough game no matter who is playing. Unfortunately they do get Auburn, Tennessee, and Tech at home, but hopefully Tech will recover some of that Sanford magic and end any Gagger playoff hopes with a win in COFH.
