‘This team is going to be very good;’ Checking the pulse of Georgia fans leading up to kickoff
Once you win a national championship, it’s natural not to be afraid of any opponent. That’s the view from Athens at the moment, according to radio host Bill Shanks, who covers Georgia on a daily basis for WZKO 93.1 FM out of Macon, GA.
He said that the Bulldog fans are excited for the game against Oregon and that while they respect the Ducks, the fans certainly are not afraid of the Pac-12 team.
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“Most Georgia fans believe this could be the biggest competition during the regular season,” Shanks said. “To be honest with you, I think there’s a confidence among Georgia fans that this team is going to be very, very good again. Since Georgia does not play Alabama, LSU or Texas A&M in the regular season, (Oregon) could be the best team they play in the regular season.”
If there is one concern among Georgia fans for this game, is that the Ducks bring an offensive line comparable to an SEC team. With Mario Cristobal recruiting at a high level over the past half-decade and bringing a physical mentality to Oregon’s offensive front, the Ducks stand apart from the rest of the Pac-12 when it comes to O-line talent. More than that, they also return a handful of starters from the 2021 season and have an abundance of experience up front.
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“I think most people are waking up to the fact that the Oregon offensive line is what’s going to be the biggest test for Georgia,” Shanks said. “We’ve got a situation with Georgia is having to replace their front three, and really, to be honest with you, six of their front seven. So, you know, there’s only really, really been one returning starter in Nolan Smith out of the front seven, in the 3-4 that they run. That’s gonna be a big test.”
One known factor for the Bulldogs is Bo Nix, who they faced three times while the quarterback was at Auburn. It didn’t go well for Nix in all three games. Even though Nix has changed jerseys, the Georgia fans expect more of the same.
“I just don’t think there’s a whole lot of fear in Bo Nix. To be honest with you, I wasn’t overly impressed in the three games against Georgia,” Shanks said. I don’t think it’s something that the fans are like, ‘Oh God, they’ve got to face Bo Nix again,’ because they handled it pretty well.”
Oregon is thinking Nix has better talent around him and that the fourth time is the charm for its new signal caller, especially considering the fact that he is once again with offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham, who was his OC and QB coach during his freshman season at Auburn where he won the SEC Freshman of the Year award.
From a Georgia perspective, and an Oregon perspective, this matchup looks different. While Duck fans are excited, there’s a lot of anxiety as they await to see if Dan Lanning’s new team can be all it’s cracked up to be in the very first outing. On the Bulldog side of things, they’ve done it before. The pieces are in place to be able to do it again.
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