Comparing the 2017 Georgia football team to the 2002 Bulldogs after six games

Conclusion

When people say that Kirby Smart has Georgia’s rebuild going well ahead of schedule, they’re not exaggerating. For as great as the 2002 Bulldogs were, the 2017 team just looks better midway through the season.

Mark Richt is a great coach, but there was just something about him that couldn’t let him to coach his team through the long grind that’s an SEC schedule. That’s something he clearly inherited from Bobby Bowden. Kirby Smart is coming from a coaching staff that perfected running through the SEC gauntlet. He’s applying when he learned at Alabama to his coaching style at Georgia.

Georgia football played great defense in 2002, but it has more experienced leadership in 2017. David Pollack was a converted fullback who earned a starting spot in 2002 before becoming the teams best player. The best player on defense this year is one of three or four players, all of them upper-classmen.

And the offense in 2017 has it’s identity figured out. They know and everyone else knows to expect about 35 hand-offs and only around 15 pass attempts. The Bulldogs are getting the most out of every hand-off and pass. I don’t believe the same could be said about the offense in 2002.

Next: Georgia's top-5 games in the Georgia Dome

Right now, watching Georgia football is like watching the 2002 team all over again. But it feels a little different. There are parallel’s but there also clear differences. And all of those differences seem to be positives in favor of this years squad.