Georgia football: what the Bulldogs must avoid in order to win the SEC East in 2017
Football season is quickly approaching and fans are eager for an SEC Eastern Division Championship. Can Georgia football bring the SEC East crown back to Athens in 2017?
Many expect the Georgia Bulldogs to win the SEC East in 2017. The team returns nearly every defensive starter from last year. Plus two of the nation’s best running backs in Nick Chubb and Sony Michel. Jacob Eason and Kirby Smart both enter their second year in the program with high expectations being placed on them.
The SEC East appears to be just as winnable for Georgia football as it has the last three seasons. Despite everything the Bulldogs have going for them, the team must absolutely not let one key thing happen this season if they want to win the SEC East: losing a winnable conference game before playing Florida down in Jacksonville.
That one thing is what has plagued the Bulldogs’ chances of winning the SEC East in the last three seasons. The game against Florida down in Jacksonville the last three seasons has resulted in three Florida wins and has led to two SEC East Championships for Florida. All three of those losses for Georgia had major implications in greatly diminishing or eliminating the Bulldogs’ chances at winning the East.
More from Dawn of the Dawg
- Georgia Football: Top 5 Nick Chubb Moments at Georgia
- Georgia Football: Know the enemy UAB Blazers
- Nick Chubb is America’s running back, and he will return
- Georgia Football: Should laundry list of injuries be a cause to panic?
- Georgia Football: Report cards for Week 3 game against South Carolina
Other than simply losing these games to Florida, these last three losses have stung even worse because the Bulldogs already had a blemish on their conference record heading into that weekend. And the case could be made that Georgia should have avoided all three blemishes.
In 2014, the Bulldogs lost 38-35 to a South Carolina team it should have taken care of easily. The defense gave up 38 points and the loss all but erased any joy felt from the Clemson game.
In 2015, Georgia lost 38-31 to Tennessee. They may have won if not for a dropped touchdown pass. That loss followed the Alabama blowout loss from a week earlier and gave Georgia two conference losses. In 2016, the Bulldogs lost a sloppy game at home to Vanderbilt 17-16 prior to playing Florida.
There is a common theme at Georgia, losing to Florida stings. But losing to Florida when you already have conference losses that you should not have stings even worse. Losing to Florida doesn’t have to derail the season if Georgia can make it Jacksonville without any bumps.
That is obviously easier said than done. But as of late, the Georgia-Florida game has major implications in the SEC East race.
Next: Mike's three favorite Georgia victories
Even if Florida beats Georgia again in 2017, it will hurt a lot less in Athens and still leave the Bulldogs in reach of their season goals if they can avoid an early hiccup in the conference schedule before traveling to Jacksonville.