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Published Oct 22, 2018
Five Burning Questions
Anthony Dasher  •  UGASports
Editor

After losing to LSU in the manner it did, there’s certainly no shortage of questions for Georgia entering Saturday’s game in Jacksonville against Florida.

Both sides of the ball struggled against the Tigers, and answers will need to be found if the Bulldogs hope to stay on track for the SEC East crown.

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What will we see at quarterback?

Kirby Smart made it clear last week that he’s not going to let outside influences dictate who he will play at quarterback.

Calls for Justin Fields were loud and clear following Jake Fromm’s well-documented struggles against the Tigers leaving many fans upset that the freshmen only received five snaps, only coming in for running plays.

So, what’s in store for this week? Obviously, Smart isn’t telling, although we understand the bye week has given coaches more opportunity to work Fields with the first team, which leads one to believe that PERHAPS there could at least be some kind of plan in place to give the former five-star a longer look should Fromm struggle again.

Either way, Georgia has to get better play from its quarterbacks to beat the Gators than it did against LSU.

Will Georgia go back to feeding its backs?

One of the greatest mysteries of the game against LSU was why Elijah Holyfield only carried the football seven times after getting off to such a good start.

I understand there was the need to try and get back in the game, but when the running game was the only area that seemed to be working, why the Bulldogs decided to all of a sudden keep the ball out of Holyfield’s hands remains a real head-scratcher.

You’d suspect Florida is going to come at Georgia with the same defensive game plan against LSU – to put as much pressure on Fromm as possible, so the Bulldogs will need a strong running effort from Holyfield and D'Andre Swift to keep the Gators honest.

Can Dawgs win the line of scrimmage?

We ask this question every week, but it always applies. If you don’t win the line of scrimmage battles in the SEC, you’re generally not going to win. That was certainly the case against the Tigers.

LSU punched Georgia right in the face and the Bulldogs never got off the floor.

Even if the Bulldogs don’t actually win the battles along the offensive and defensive line, they at least need to hold serve to have a chance.

Physicality is always one of Smart's major focuses and the Bulldogs will have to show more than they did two weeks ago, especially on the defensive side where Georgia had all sorts of tackling issues that haunted the team throughout the game.

How much will Gators target Tyson Campbell?

Campbell has held his own for the most part, but was exposed by LSU, giving up 153 passing yards to quarterback Joe Burrow.

It will be interesting to see what Mel Tucker does to perhaps give Campbell some help, but most importantly, it’s going to be up to the freshman to play smarter and make sure he’s in position to make plays when the opportunities arise.

Campbell is going through some of the typical growing pains experienced by freshmen corners in the SEC, but don’t look for Smart to make a move, ie, give more playing time to Mark Webb or Eric Stokes.

Instead, the Bulldogs will continue to coach up Campbell and barring any unforeseen circumstance, will continue to ride with the freshman.

Hopefully, the extra week to prepare will have him ready for the Gators.

Will the Bulldogs get off to a fast start?

After coming out flatter than that soda you left on your nightstand against LSU, one certainly expects for the Bulldogs to be full of vim and vigor against the hated Gators.

Take nothing away from LSU, but the Bulldogs were embarrassed by their performance against the Tigers, and should be – I repeat should be – ready to exorcise those demons against Florida.

All of Georgia’s preseason goals remain firmly in place, but the Bulldogs have to win. No more slip-ups.

Teams don’t always receive a mulligan in college football. Georgia has one, but will need to get right its ship in a hurry, and that means starting quickly against a Florida team that’s playing with a ton of confidence under first-year coach Dan Mullen.

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