Joel Klatt expresses concern over Florida State's offense vs. Georgia
In most years an Orange Bowl matchup of Florida State and Georgia, the No. 5 and No. 6 teams in the country, would be about as good a game as you can get outside of the College Football Playoff.
That probably won’t be the case this year, not with Florida State down a few quarterbacks and with a slew of opt-outs.
“I just don’t see how Florida State, even if they’re engaged, moves the ball against Georgia,” FOX analyst Joel Klatt said. “Because even if Georgia is not engaged, they have recruited so well over the last four and five years that their depth and their youth are incredible.
“So I look at this and I’m like, I know that Georgia doesn’t have the elite defense that they’ve had over the previous couple of years, but, man, they’re facing an offense that is not really going to be able to move the ball, at least on paper.”
While Florida State will be without quarterback Jordan Travis and Tate Rodemaker, Georgia quarterback Carson Beck is expected to play. That alone should give the Bulldogs a significant edge over the Seminoles.
But Georgia also enters as the more talented team from top to bottom, even with more than a dozen players hitting the NCAA transfer portal.
Klatt highlighted Florida State’s opt-outs and offensive woes as the reason it’s tough to see the Seminoles winning.
“They have struggled mightily on offense without Jordan Travis,” Klatt said. “They managed, what, 224 yards a couple weeks ago. 219 total yards, those are the two games since Jordan Travis got hurt. But their defense is outstanding. Third in the country in sacks with 45. That’s really what’s kept the undefeated season alive. Their red zone defense, specifically against Louisville in the ACC Championship Game is the reason why they even had a chance at the playoff in the first place. So that defense, they were fantastic. Jared Verse was a monster down the stretch.
“Now Florida State’s got a bunch of opt-outs. Trey Benson the running back, Johnny Wilson the wide receiver, Jaheim Bell the tight end. They’ve all declared for the draft and they’ve opted out. And that’s on the offensive side, which was struggling anyways without their quarterback Jordan Travis.”
Klatt is picking Georgia to win the game outright. By how much will be determined by which Bulldogs suit up.
“Will (Brock) Bowers play, will (Ladd) McConkey play? Not sure,” Klatt said. “If they do, then this is going to be heavy Georgia. Heavy Georgia. If they don’t it’ll be lighter Georgia. I think Georgia wins this game. This feels like a game in which there could be more opt-outs coming, so we’ll have to keep an eye on that.
“Georgia’s favored by 14. Wouldn’t surprise me if they covered that 14, in particular if Bowers and McConkey decide to finish this thing out and go ahead and play in this game.”