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With all eyes of the college football world watching, a doozy will be on tap on Saturday when the 11th-ranked Oregon Ducks take on the third-ranked Georgia Bulldogs at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. Join us for our college football odds series, where our Oregon-Georgia prediction and pick will be made.
The Oregon Ducks football program has officially entered a brand new era with a first-year head coach that Georgia is quite familiar with. Introducing Dan Lanning, who happened to serve as Georgia's outside linebackers coach and defensive coordinator from 2019-2021, was named Oregon's 35th head coach in history. With Lanning at the helm, it will be intriguing to see if the Ducks can bring a sense of physicality to the 2022 season and beyond.
Without further ado, it is time for the champions of college football from a year ago to begin the defense of their title. With Nick Saban's former assistant Kirby Smart returning for his seventh season as head coach, Georgia is ready to add to its trophy case this fall.
Here are the Oregon-Georgia College Football odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
College Football Odds: Oregon-Georgia Odds
Oregon Ducks: +16.5 (-105)
Georgia Bulldogs: -16.5 (-115)
Over: 52.5 (-115)
Under: 52.5 (-105)
Why Oregon Could Cover The Spread
Since the Chip Kelly days in Eugene that almost always guaranteed that the Ducks would a top-ten team by season's end, Oregon will be entering the 2022 season with their fourth different head coach in the last 10 years. Surprisingly enough, Oregon has still managed to maintain its national relevance over the years despite all of their change. With their flashy uniforms, shiny athletic facilities, and an exuberant amount of Nike money from Phil Knight himself, the Ducks aren't ready to take a step back from the elite schools of college football anytime soon.
Unlike most teams around the country, Oregon will be squaring off with an insanely tough matchup to begin their 2022 season. While this may be a neutral game for both sides, Oregon comes into this one as heavy underdogs. Not to mention, but the Ducks have yet to officially announce who their starting quarterback will be prior to this Saturday's heavyweight bout. Even though there is some controversy with true freshman quarterback Ty Thompson lurking in the shadows, the general consensus is predicting that it will be former Auburn Tigers quarterback Bo Nix that will begin the season as QB1. Remember, Nix was often times inconsistent at Auburn, but he was also a magician in program-changing wins against schools like Alabama. If Nix can find that magic again, there's reason to believe that Oregon can cover the spread and even pull off the upset in Atlanta.
Additionally, Oregon was aggressive when it came to the transfer portal as they snagged wide receivers, Chase Cota, from UCLA and Caleb Chapman from Texas A&M to try to open up the passing game. Yes, losing halfback Travis Dye to USC will hurt the running game, but an increased passing game should be on full display against Georgia.
Why Georgia Could Cover The Spread
Winning their first national championship since 1980, the whole state of Georgia rejoiced when the clock hit triple zeroes against their SEC foes in Alabama. Also, Kirby Smart has finally defeated his coaching mentor Nick Saban, something that all former assistants of his struggled in doing. With the monkey finally off of his back, Smart has the opportunity to take his team to new heights.
It will all start with a matchup with Oregon that should provide plenty of fireworks. Fortunately for the Bulldogs, QB Stetson Bennett will be returning for another crack at a National Championship, as the soon-to-be Senior field general threw for 2,862 yards while tossing 29 touchdowns to only seven interceptions. Even more importantly, the leadership that Bennett provides could single handily motivate the troops to a spread-covering victory on Saturday.
The Bulldogs certainly lost an abundant amount of NFL talent, but like most SEC schools, reloading happens at an annual rate. While their defense may take a step back with new starters being supplemented into the game plan, they most likely will still have NFL-caliber speed at their disposal. Look for names like sophomore nose tackle Jalen Carter to establish himself as a top-rate draftee by season's end.
Final Oregon-Georgia Prediction & Pick
The Ducks may have a puncher's chance to pull off the upset and cover the spread, but they are mostly outgunned at many positions on paper. Also, it is yet to be seen what new Ducks coach Dan Lanning is capable of from a scheming point of view ahead of his first game. With that being said, Georgia should exploit some weak spots in the Ducks' offense and defense en route to covering the spread in a big way. Simply put, the ‘Dawgs are just too fast and talented.
Final Oregon-Georgia Prediction & Pick: Georgia -16.5 (-115)
