UGA wary of Mountaineers’ potential for creating upsets
ATHENS — The 10-year anniversary of Appalachian State’s famous upset of Michigan comes just in time for the Mountaineers’ visit to No. 15 Georgia. Georgia players are wary of the upset potential in tonight’s season opener, but not just because of the decadeold game regarded as one of the biggest surprises in college football history. After all, for today’s player, 10 years is ancient history.
“I was 12 years old then,” said senior tight end Jeb Blazevich. “I wasn’t really watching football then. I was probably in the backyard playing it.”
Blazevich and his teammates are more captivated by Appalachian State’s near upset of Tennessee, another SEC team, in last year’s opener. The Mountaineers led the Vols 13-6 in the fourth quarter before falling 20-13 in overtime. The Bulldogs were watching. “Definitely,” Blazevich said. “... That’s just an easy one to compare us to because we play against those guys.”
Even so, there have been frequent reminders this week of the Michigan upset.
“I’ve seen highlights of that game at least four times this week,” said senior offensive lineman Isaiah Wynn. “I’ve seen it during workouts. It’s on in the weight room. We have to be prepared to play.”
Much has changed in 10 years. Appalachian State is now a member of the Sun Belt Conference and has bowl victories in two straight seasons.
It’s an important game for Georgia coach Kirby Smart, coming off a disappointing 8-5 record in his first season.
Georgia is looking for more consistency from second-year quarterback Jacob Eason and needs to generate momentum for next week’s visit to Notre Dame. Some other things to know about Appalachian State’s visit to Georgia:
Lamb’s Georgia heritage
The Mountaineers are led by senior quarterback Taylor Lamb, the son of Mercer coach Bobby Lamb and grandson of former longtime Georgia coordinator of high school relations Ray Lamb, also a former longtime high school coach in the state. Bobby Lamb’s brother, Hal, is the longtime coach at Calhoun High School, where he has won two state titles.
“It’s a great family, great people and I am betting that Taylor is going to go into some kind of coaching himself whenever his career comes to a close,” Smart said.
Respect the run
Appalachian State coach Scott Satterfield is expecting to see a lot of Georgia senior tailbacks Nick Chubb and Sony Michel.
“They’re going to rely heavily on that running game, I think, for a couple reasons,” Satterfield said. “Obviously they’re very good and they may be a little inexperienced at wide receiver this year. I think one of their strengths obviously is going to be handing the ball to those backs and there’s not any drop-off from one to the other.”