3 reasons Georgia Football will win; 3 reasons Georgia Football will lose vs. the Oklahoma Sooners

ATHENS - Georgia Football is heading into its first SEC home game of the year in a game most experts think Kirby Smart’s Dawgs have a major advantage. Oklahoma has struggled the last two weeks, and like the Dawgs, the Sooners have gotten some rough news on the injury front this week.

Still, No. 2 Georgia (3-0) has yet to face a defense quite like Oklahoma’s (2-1) this year. The game is being broadcast to a national audience on ESPN with a 3:30 kickoff.

Each week, we’ll give you three reasons why Georgia Football will win and three reasons why the Georgia Football will lose. We will give you those reasons even if the odds seem insurmountable either way.

Why Georgia Football Will Win

GUNNER STOCKTON IS HARD TO STOP

Stockton is playing at an exceptional level, Smart told reporters after Georgia’s lopsided 45-17 win over the Razorbacks last Saturday.

“He's a weapon, because a lot of those are drop back passes that become explosive plays. I think any time your quarterback can take off and run, it's a value, too,” Smart said. “And he's made really good decisions so far on when to run and when not to run, and also when to get down and when to take a hit.”

Stockton is 38 of 45 for 583 yards with nine touchdowns. Three games into the season, Stockton has more touchdowns (9) than incomplete passes (7). His ability to run has complicated things for defenses as well. He burned Arkansas for 97 yards on seven runs.

Gunner Stockton looks to pass against the Arkansas Razorbacks. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

GEORGIA FOOTBALL’S ELITE DEFENSE

Georgia allowed only 17 yards rushing a week ago against the Hogs. That means the Sooners could have a very, very long day trying to run the football Saturday. Oklahoma comes into the game with not much power on the offensive side of the ball. The Sooners managed only 110 yards per game on the ground. That’s 123rd in the nation.

On the other hand, the Bulldogs have the No. 3 run defense in the nation - giving up only 137 rushing yards all year so far. Oklahoma is going to have a particularly difficult time running the ball - even with explosive dual-threat QB John Mateer under center.

KJ Jackson runs against the Georgia Bulldogs. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

OKLAHOMA INJURIES

This has not been good week on the injury front for UGA or Oklahoma, but the Sooners have been popped hard. Arguably OU’s best player, defensive lineman David Stone, could miss this week with a knee injury that he suffered Monday at practice.

"He ran his knee into a scout-team player during a jog-through, and it kind of popped out," Venables told reporters Tuesday at his press conference. "We'll see where he's at. The X-rays were positive, I guess, in reporting the news, so that's all I'm doing — reporting the news. But he said his pain was about a two out of 10 right now, so we'll kind of go from there.”

Wednesday night the Sooners listed Stone as questionable, meaning his status for the game was in doubt due to the knee injury.

Meanwhile, Oklahoma OL Michael Fasusi was listed as out by Oklahoma, meaning he is not expected to play in the game. Fasusi has not line up for the Sooners since the season opener. He is considered that program’s best offensive lineman. His absence could be an explanation as to why OU has struggled so much on offense this season.

Why Oklahoma Will Win

SOONER OR LATER YOU PLAY SOMEONE GOOD

Oklahoma has players. They were ranked high to start the season for a reason. They got to the CFP last season. The talent is there - it might not be consistent, but it is there. Most teams don’t have the requisite talent to hang in there with Georgia but the Sooners do have that.

Here’s Kirby Smart’s take on the Oklahoma Defense:

“They've got an answer for everything you do, but that ain't what does it for them. They, they strike people. They get off blocks. They attack the ball. They play downhill. They don't play passive. they have, they have technique and fundamentals,” Smart said Monday. “You can see it when people go to block 'em. They strike 'em and get off the block. That's what football is. Football is, I mean, defensive football is like, are you hard to block? When you turn on the tape, they got a bunch of hard to block guys. And when you're hard to block, you're good.”

MATEER GOES WILD

Kirby Smart’s defenses had long had a hard time dealing with athletic quarterbacks. He’s not the only one on that front, but this week Smart and the Bulldogs will deal with one of the best running quarterbacks they will see this year - Oklahoma’s John Mateer.

“His athleticism pops out at you,” Smart said. “He's hard to tackle. He breaks a lot of tackles and he's tough. You talk about the run game, he runs inside, he runs outside, he runs the pass. He scrambles to throw. He's made explosives with his legs. I think back to last year - his growth, because we didn't play him, but you saw his highlights and you saw the things he’s done. He's become even more that way this year in terms of understanding our conference, when to run, when not to, and he's done a good job of it.”

Mateer has gotten off to a challenging start this season throwing the football. But the concern in Athens is if he can jump start things by using his legs.

Oklahoma Sooners QB John Mateer. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

UGA IS BANGED UP, TOO

Two of Georgia’s biggest offensive weapons coming into the season - Nate Frazier and Isiah Canion might not be available for this game. Considering the fact that Georgia could use all the firepower in can muster, missing those two guys isn’t ideal.

Could the Dawgs press offensively if they have a hard time moving the ball against what it viewed as one of the best defenses in the country? Injuries matter.

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