Quarterback

Saturday’s game features two of the premiere quarterbacks in all of college football.

ASU senior Rudy Carpenter had his worst game of the season last week against UNLV (242 yards, two touchdowns), mostly because he did not have as many opportunities to throw the ball.

Georgia junior Matthew Stafford has one of the strongest arms in college football and will likely be the first quarterback taken in the 2009 NFL Draft if he chooses to forgo his senior season.

Stafford has a career record of 20-4 at UGA and has passed for 634 yards and four touchdowns without an interception so far this season.
The Sun Devils will have to rely on Carpenter’s arm in order to beat the Bulldogs, and while Stafford is the better professional prospect, Carpenter gets the slight advantage because his numbers have been more impressive so far this season.

Edge ASU

Running backs

The ASU running game hinges on the health of senior Keegan Herring, who is still regarded as day-to-day with a hamstring injury.

Juniors Dimitri Nance (94 yards) and Shaun DeWitty (48 yards) did a respectable job on the ground against UNLV, but the unit still lacks the home run threat without Herring in the lineup.

UGA sophomore running back Knowshon Moreno is one of the most dynamic players in the country and an early candidate for the Heisman Trophy.

Moreno is rarely tackled by the first guy that touches him and has already racked up 306 yards and seven touchdowns so far this season.

UGA starting fullback Brannan Sutherland is still nursing a fractured foot he suffered at the end of last season, so sophomore Shaun Chapas will likely run with the first string.

Even if Herring is able to play for the Sun Devils on Saturday, it will still be a difficult task to run the ball successfully against a stout UGA defense. The entire group of ASU ‘backs is also unable to compete with a guy as gifted as Moreno.

Edge Georgia

Receivers

ASU junior Kyle Williams had his first career 100-yard receiving game against UNLV, but the rest of the Sun Devil receivers were relatively quiet for the first time this season.

Senior Michael Jones still leads the team in receptions (14) and yards (256), and sophomore Kerry Taylor leads the Sun Devils with two touchdown catches.

ASU’s tight ends combined for just two catches against UNLV while senior starter Andrew Pettes nursed a groin injury. Pettes could be back for Saturday’s game.

With Stafford and Moreno both lining up on offense, the talented UGA receivers tend to get overlooked.

Senior Mohamed Massaquoi is the veteran of the bunch and leads the team in receptions (10), yards (151) and touchdowns (2).

Freshman A.J. Green can fly down the field and has already made his way into the starting lineup.

Senior tight end Tripp Chandler is a returning starter.

UGA has plenty of weapons for Stafford to distribute the ball to, but the Sun Devils’ receiving corps is still one of the best in all of college football.

Edge ASU

Offensive line

ASU’s unit had its best game, opening holes for the Sun Devil running backs against UNLV, but it also gave up two sacks to the Runnin’ Rebels.

Much like ASU’s, the UGA offensive line is young and is the least experienced group on the team.

The so-called veterans of the unit are sophomores. Chris Davis started every game last season at left guard before moving to center this season, and right tackle Clint Boling was a Freshman All-American last season at right tackle.

The Bulldog line will be without Boling’s fellow 2007 Freshman All-American in left tackle Trinton Sturdivant, who suffered a season-ending knee injury during preseason camp.

The UGA offensive line has given up five sacks this season, but has helped Moreno and company run for an average of 194 yards per game.

Edge Georgia

Defensive line

The ASU defensive line has received great production from junior end Dexter Davis, but the rest of the unit has been somewhat of a disappointment so far this season.

Davis is the only Sun Devil to record a sack all season, and the line is also giving up an average of 129 rushing yards per game.

The UGA defensive line is nearly impossible to run against, as it gives up just 60 yards on the ground per game.

The Bulldog line is anchored by junior tackle Geno Atkins, who was an All-SEC First Team selection last season.

Despite a season-ending knee injury to starting tackle Jeff Owens, the Bulldog defensive line is too strong for the ASU offensive line to handle and should have no problem stopping the run and getting pressure on Carpenter.

Edge Georgia

Linebackers

The battered ASU offensive line will welcome back some help this weekend when junior Gerald Munns returns from pinky surgery and senior Morris Wooten sees his first action of 2008 after a suspension.

Juniors Mike Nixon (28) and Travis Goethel (23) are still the Sun Devils’ top two tacklers.

UGA sophomore Rennie Curran has picked up where he left off last year when he was a Freshman All-American, as he leads the Bulldogs in tackles (20) and sacks (two).

Senior Dannell Ellerbe was the Bulldogs’ leading tackler last season (93) and has nine stops and an interception so far this season.

Even with Munns and Wooten returning for the Sun Devils, the UGA linebackers are faster and more versatile.

Edge Georgia

Secondary

The ASU secondary is giving up an average of just 166 passing yards per game, but it has yet to face a quarterback as talented as Stafford.

Senior safety Rodney Cox leads the secondary with 15 tackles in his first season in the starting lineup, while senior Troy Nolan has 10 tackles and an interception from the other safety spot.

UGA junior cornerback Asher Allen and senior safety CJ Byrd are the returning starters on a secondary that has given up over 236 passing yards per game.

Sophomore safety Reshad Jones made the interception the sealed the Bulldogs’ victory against South Carolina last week.

The entire ASU defense faded down the stretch and could not stop UNLV at the end of the game last week, and that cannot happen if the Sun Devils want to beat a team with as much skill as the Bulldogs.

Edge Georgia

Special teams

Despite getting the potential game-tying field goal blocked in overtime against UNLV, ASU sophomore Thomas Weber is still arguably the best kicker in the country.

Weber has connected on 31 of his 33 field goals in his ASU career and was recently named to the Ray Guy Award watch list, which is given to the nation’s top punter.

Williams has had a couple solid returns on punts and kickoffs so far this season, but he has yet to break one for a huge gain.

UGA freshman Blair Walsh has made three of four field goals in his first season of kicking for the Bulldogs, while senior Brian Mimbs has downed seven of his 12 punts inside the 20-yard line.

Allen is averaging 18.2 yards per punt return for the Bulldogs, while senior Ramarcus Brown is averaging 22.5 yards per kickoff return.

If the game comes down to kicking, Walsh is much more likely to crack under the pressure in a hostile environment at Sun Devil Stadium than Weber.

Edge ASU

X-Factor

ASU has the perfect opportunity to make everyone quickly forget about last weekend’s debacle against UNLV.

Even though the Sun Devils are less talented than the Bulldogs, they still have the weapons to pull off the upset on their home turf.

UGA will also be traveling west of the central time zone for a regular season game for the first time since 1960, and even though the Bulldogs will bring a lot of fans with them, that should still play in the Sun Devils’ favor.

With the loss to UNLV almost instantly deflating the hype that has surrounded this game for months, will UGA pull an ASU and overlook the Sun Devils?

Edge ASU

Overall Edge Georgia

Reach the reporter at gina.mizell@asu.edu.