WATCH: College GameDay announces guest picker via Ryder Cup roll call
College GameDay is in Athens as No. 2 Georgia hosts No. 8 Arkansas, and American pro golfer Harris English, a Georgia alum, will share his thoughts on Saturday’s slate.
ESPN College GameDay revealed Saturday’s guest picker via a compilation of videos submitted by members of the 2021 Ryder Cup-winning US team featuring the likes of Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas, among others showing their school spirit.
In the video, Florida State alums Daniel Berger and Brooks Koepka poked fun at the Seminoles 0-4 start to the season with Berger asking “Hey Brooks, we got a win yet?”
Koepka, wearing a bag on his head with ‘0-4’ on it answered: “No Berg, we have not, but we do play UMass in two weeks so hoping we get our first win.”
Xander Shauffele, a San Diego State alum, asked GameDay to “call me” if or when the show is in San Diego State, while Texas alums Scottie Sheffler and Jordan Spieth flashed the Hook’em Horns.
Harris English is a Georgia native and graduated from the University of Georgia in 2011. English is currently a member of the PGA Tour and went 1-2 playing for Team USA in the Ryder Cup. Team USA went on to win the Ryder Cup 19-9.
Georgia takes on Arkansas in a matchup that will likely be decided in the run game. Arkansas’ eight-ranked rushing offense will meet Georgia’s seventh-ranked run defense, which has allowed just 69.5 rushing yards per game. Arkansas is averaging 261 rushing yards per game so far in this season, as the Razorbacks sit undefeated with notable wins over both Texas and Texas A&M.
After opening the season with a top-10 matchup against Clemson, Georgia once again plays in a top-10 matchup for the second time in five weeks.
“Keep the main thing the main thing,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said on Monday, when asked how he keeps his team focused with a top-10 matchup quickly approaching. “It’s a simple saying, but it’s really that simple. I don’t think we lost some of those games because they were big games and they were distracted.”
Georgia is 11-6 in top-10 matchups under Smart, with three of Smart’s top-10 losses coming against the Alabama Crimson Tide. Georgia has only played Arkansas once in Smart’s tenure, and the Bulldogs cruised to an easy 37-10 victory in Week 1 last season.
“It won’t be about whether [ESPN’s College Gameday] is here, or how many people are in the stands,” Smart explained. “That may impact the crowd noise, but that’s not [it]. At the end of the day, the players on the field have to play well, and I’m a lot more interested in the prep of that than I am some secret factor.”
After opening the season putting up just ten points, in a 10-7 win over Clemson, Georgia’ offense has put together a string of impressive performances, despite a rotating cast at quarterback. Since week one, the Bulldogs offense has put up 56, 40 and 62 points, against UAB, South Carolina and Vanderbilt, respectively,