Capital One Orange Bowl: 5 bold predictions for Michigan vs. Georgia

4. Michigan QB Cade McNamara will struggle to throw the ball downfield

This will be a telling sign throughout the ball game. While Bryce Young had no issues carving up the Georgia secondary, Cade McNamara is no Heisman Trophy winner. It will be a combination of a relentless pass rush and sound tackling from the defensive front-seven, as well as the corners and safeties playing with great discipline. McNamara will complete balls, but nothing big over the top.

Instead, he will lean on the ground game to potentially open easier throwing lanes. Georgia may be most vulnerable defensively in the secondary, but this is the position group head coach Kirby Smart specializes in. Michigan must take advantage of the linebacking corps, the position group a distracted Dan Lanning oversees as the soon-to-be next head coach of the Oregon Ducks.

3. Michigan will have an impossible time containing Georgia TE Brock Bowers

What college football fans saw in the SEC Championship game was no joke. Georgia’s freshman tight end Brock Bowers should have not only been a finalist for the Mackey but should have won the award. His combination of speed and physicality will be unlike anything the Michigan defense has seen out of a tight end this season. There is a chance Bowers goes for over 100 yards again.

Given that he has a great rapport with Bennett, expect for him to be the Georgia quarterback’s safety valve to pick up momentum offensively vs. a strong Michigan defense. Unfortunately for the Wolverines, they are going to have an awfully hard time containing the SEC speed of a position traditionally defined by brawn and brute. With George Pickens playing too, it only exacerbates this.

Georgia may need time to get going on the ground, but the game can be seized early if Bennett can find Bowers and company with great regularity in the passing game.