ATHENS — The lines aren’t out for the season, but it seems a good bet Georgia football will be favored in every regular-season game.
There has been some projections of a 10.5-game over/under for the Bulldogs regular-season win total. A way-to-early prediction on UGA would be to take the “over.”
On The Beat
The Bulldogs’ offense is loaded, even with the recent loss of go-to receiver George Pickens, who is out indefinitely after suffering a torn ACL last week.
Georgia’s biggest challenge comes in its Sept. 4 opening game with Clemson in Charlotte, N.C., in what figures to be a battle of Top 5 teams.
The Tigers haven’t lost a regular-season game to an SEC opponent since 2014, when they fell to a Mark Richt-coached Bulldogs team that featured Todd Gurley.
It’s quite possible Clemson beats Georgia. The good news about this sort of out-of-conference game is there are mitigated risks. A loss would not completely derail college football playoff hopes for the Bulldogs or the Tigers.
Unlike last year’s schedule, Georgia’s schedule this season is much more forgiving on the front end.
That works to the advantage of Kirby Smart.
The Bulldogs’ secondary will be a work in progress, even after UGA adds a transfer or two to the defensive backs group after spring.
Clemson might exploit that group in the opener — look for a shootout, barring bad weather or unforeseen injuries.
But Georgia’s secondary won’t be challenged again until five games later on Oct. 9 at Auburn.
The Bulldogs are in the midst of spring football drills leading up to the annual G-Day Game at 2 p.m. on April 17 at Sanford Stadium.
