Georgia Bulldogs football coach Kirby Smart doesn’t have a team as talented as his 2021 and 2022 teams. As The Athletic’s Seth Emerson noted, no team may ever reach that standard again in the NIL era. Those two seasons were the final years of eligibility from the program’s unfathomably stacked pre-COVID-19 recruiting classes, before big spenders from the Big Ten and the state of Texas started hoarding talent via pay-to-play arrangements.
That’s not what’s causing a crisis in Athens, Georgia, after the Dawgs’ 24-21 loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide this past Saturday night at Sanford Stadium. It’s been accepted that perfection, or near-perfection, isn’t necessary after the Ohio State Buckeyes won the College Football Playoff National Championship despite a rivalry week loss to the then-five-win Michigan Wolverines.
No. As Emerson writes, it’s the crushing reality that UGA isn’t head-and-shoulders above its high-spending opponents in the SEC, making its remaining schedule, besides the Kentucky Wildcats and Charlotte 49ers, represent potential pitfalls that can prevent a fourth CFP appearance in five years.
“Next week should at least go better, with Kentucky, perhaps the SEC’s worst team, coming to Sanford. But Georgia travels to Auburn and hosts Ole Miss and Texas. It plays Georgia Tech at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Even games at Mississippi State and against Florida are no sure thing if Georgia doesn’t resolve its issues,” Emerson wrote.
Glenn Schumann’s defense is not ranked in the top 10 nationally in any meaningful category. A 44-41 overtime win over the Tennessee Volunteers on Rocky Top was awfully close to kickstarting this hysteria two weeks ago.
There is worry. While the Dawgs’ fanbase is one the national media knows will ride the roller coaster up, down, and in whatever direction it’s taken – after all, it was just last week that Georgia was said to be “thriving” – there are legitimate issues that may disqualify this team from being a true contender as things currently stand.
Not only does the defense have holes in the secondary, but for the first time since JT Daniels, the offense is led by a quarterback in Gunner Stockton who probably isn’t NFL-caliber. Stockton isn’t bailing the Bulldogs out of situations Stetson Bennett and Carson Beck could’ve.
These are not the same Dawgs as years past. The “Georgia Standard” is undeniably lower.
Unfortunately, their opponents have all improved. The talent gap has been closed.
We’ll see if Smart can show why there’s a gap between his salary and the rest of his upcoming opponents.