The Georgia Bulldogs are coming off their first national championship in over four decades. Georgia rode one of the best defenses in the history of college football to the title last year, and the Bulldogs finally knocked off Alabama when it mattered most. Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs have the third-lowest odds to win the national championship this season behind Alabama and Ohio State, but Georgia will find it difficult to repeat given what this program lost to the NFL. A whopping 15 players from Georgia were selected in the 2022 NFL Draft, and five defensive players were selected in the first round alone. It will be tough to replace that type of talent.
Regular Season Wins for the Georgia Bulldogs
Over 11 -123
Under 11 +103
Kirby Smart appears to have succeeded in his quest to build the Alabama of the SEC East in Athens. While the Bulldogs haven’t had quite the same success as the Crimson Tide, they are recruiting on the same level and have won at least 11 games in four of the last five seasons. Georgia has yet to finish a regular season unbeaten though, as the Bulldogs have always lost at least one game in conference play under Smart.
Roster
Stetson Bennett etched his name in Georgia history by leading the Bulldogs to the national championship last year. Bennett is not a great quarterback or an NFL prospect at 5’11, but he is beloved in Athens. He was asked to be a game manager last year and protect the ball, and he was able to do that while thriving off play action. He completed 64.5% of his passes for 2,862 yards with 29 touchdowns and seven interceptions, and he averaged 10.0 YPA while only being sacked 14 times. Bennett can create just enough that Smart feels confident in him, but he is not going to lead the team to a win if the game becomes a shootout.
Georgia is going to do the same thing it always does on offense in the Smart era; run the ball as much as possible and rely on its defense to win games. Kendall Milton and Kenny McIntosh are set to replace Zamir White and James Cook as the top two running backs on the team, and Bennett can check down to tight end Brock Bowers whenever necessary. Bowers was the top target on Georgia last year with 56 receptions for 882 yards and 13 touchdowns. He was named a Second Team All-American and is the only real weapon in the passing game.
The left side of the offensive line will need to be rebuilt, but the right side of the line has talented players in Warren McClendon and Warren Ericson. This unit could take some time to get up and running as four sophomores are projected to start up front for Georgia.
The Bulldogs lost nearly all of their starters on defense and return just three players from last year’s national championship team. Former top recruit Nolan Smith looks to be the leader on this side of the ball now, while Kelee Ringo and Christopher Smith will try and solidify the secondary.
There are a lot of questions along the defensive line as three underclassmen are slated to start. All three players were highly rated recruits coming out of high school, but only Jalen Carter has somewhat established himself. This will be Kirby Smart’s toughest test since he first came to Georgia, as the Bulldogs are in a total rebuild on defense, but there is a lot of talent.
Schedule
Georgia has a tough test early as the Bulldogs must face Oregon and former defensive coordinator Dan Lanning in Atlanta to start the season. They don’t face another tough team in non-conference play though, and the SEC East does not look to be strong this year. Any team save Vanderbilt could conceivably finish in second place in the division.
Prediction
The Under has to be the play here considering Georgia has lost at least one conference game in every season since Smart has taken over. The Bulldogs lost a lot on defense, and although this is a manageable schedule, they have a tough stretch after their bye week on October 22. Georgia must face Florida, Tennessee, Mississippi State, and Kentucky in consecutive weeks, and only one of those games is in Sanford Stadium.
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