As national champions, Georgia football starts the new season with the target on their backs. Which team doesn’t want to knock the defending champions off their lofty perch?
Georgia football once again has a relatively reasonable schedule, so repeating a title could be in the cards for the Dawgs. After running the SEC East for the last few seasons, there is a new standard for Georgia, but after losing so many players to the NFL Draft, could 2022 see carnage?
There is no doubt that head coach Kirby Smart and his coaching staff will have the national champions well prepared for their debut on the college football stage against Oregon on Sept. 3.
If last year’s performances tell us anything, a win in the season opener will kick start the momentum towards another shot at a title.
Georgia football will have to deal with these four SEC East teams trying to dethrone the Dawgs.
Experience also tells us that danger can lurk within the depths of the SEC East. A conference that is deceitfully difficult to negotiate given unfair comparisons against its noisy sibling, the SEC West.
But first and foremost, Georgia must win the East to progress to legendary greatness this season. With coaching changes and impressive recruiting, the SEC East is each year getting harder to win. So who stands in the way of Georgia’s repeat of SEC East glory?
Let’s look at three teams who could give the national champions a shock. Every SEC game is important, but with the Dawgs steamrolling the SEC East, these four squads have their games against Georgia circled to try and pull off a good ole college football miracle.
Georgia football vs. South Carolina
There is growing consensus within college football that Gamecocks head coach Shane Beamer may be building, quietly but confidently, something special in Columbia, SC., and the Georgia football squad may need to watch out for them in 2022.
Former Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Spencer Rattler joined Beamer through the transfer portal back in December. While Rattler divides opinion, he was undoubtedly a prominent name that transferred into a team with no end of issues at the quarterback position last season.
If Rattler can perform as he did in the early stages of his career, the return could be huge. However, most will recall the collapse of a Sooners team in last year’s Red River showdown. While Rattler should not have shouldered all the blame, his performance in such a high-profile game was not commanding, and his demise as the Sooners’ starter was sealed.
Beamer is in his second year and has had a year to implement his system and get his team to buy into the culture. In addition, the Gamecocks jumped into the transfer portal to maximum effect.
Running backs Christian Beal-Smith and Lovasea Carroll transfer from Wake Forest and Georgia, respectively. Dawg fans will remember Carroll from his time in Athens, but not as a running back. You will recall him in the Red and Black as a defensive back. Beal-Smith and Carroll strengthen a running backs room with returners Marshawn Lloyd and Rashad Amos.
Another transfer, Juice Wells, arrives from James Madison and will fight returner Josh Vann for one of the starting wideout spots. Wells has been practicing with Rattler over the summer months to get to grips with the playbook and build rapport with his new quarterback.
While there is a lot for Gamecocks fans to be optimistic about on offense — it is still the one that stalled out a lot last season. So Dawgs fans will be confident that the defense will handle the trip to Columbia without too much damage.
However, the Gamecocks will field a stout defense that held opponents to 17 points or less in six games last season. Pash rush remains key to the success of this defense, with high hopes on the shoulders of Zaach Pickens and Jordan Burch.
So, can the Gamecocks’ defense stop the Dawgs’ offense? The issue for Georgia is that this game arrives early, on Sept. 17, or in Week 3 of the season. So any slow start to Georgia’s game plan runs the risk of misfiring. However, unless Rattler gets off to a rocket fuelled start, it seems unlikely that the Georgia defense cannot negate the offensive firepower that the Gamecocks have.
This game could prove to be tricky and unfortunate timing for Georgia. But can the Gamecocks overcome the Bulldogs? It could be a tough game, but I don’t think the Gamecocks can pull something like this off in September.
Georgia football vs. Florida
Given the intensity of the rivalry, there is no doubt that the Florida game is a top priority for the Georgia football team. The fact that the game occurs on a neutral site can be for and against Georgia. As history has shown us, this game can either hurt or elevate the Dawgs, and it doesn’t matter what each team’s record is.
This game is the biggest rivalry on Georgia’s schedule, but given the Gators enter this season with a new coach, issues with recruiting and a team still trying to find a quarterback to lead the team — are the Gators as big a competitor as South Carolina, Kentucky or Tennessee?
What we do know just now is that the highly expectant and unrealistic Florida fan base is in something of a tailspin at the progress, or lack thereof, that new head coach, Billy Napier, has made with recruiting. Many recruits who expressed intent or even committed to Florida have backtracked. Which, as we know, is the cardinal sin for an SEC coach.
The recent inability to secure quarterback Jaden Rashada has got Gators fans in a state of apoplexy and underlines Napier’s first real problem. Florida’s quarterback position, this time last year, was stacked, or so experts believed.
Emory Jones, who many thought and still think was the answer – was not, but the argument is moot given that Jones transferred to Tempe, Ariz., to become a Sun Devil.
Anthony Richardson was the heir apparent last season and got thrust into the spotlight after a slow start from Jones. Richardson, who will likely start Napier’s tenure in Gainesville as the starting quarterback, didn’t exactly impress. Will he be the player the Gators recruited or who buckled under the pressure last season?
Despite the slow start to recruiting, the Gators’ roster is full of talent. However, as Gator fans will testify, there is little depth on this roster, which is why Gator fans are hot under the collar and demanding quick action.
So much so that Napier issued an open letter to Gator Nation this week to rally the fanbase and bring everyone back together — which sounds like a program on the brink of implosion.
Outside of Gainesville, expectations for Napier’s first year are low. If he wishes to build the best program in the SEC, putting the building blocks in place will take time. Napier needs time. It kind of sounds like Butch Jones and his brick-by-brick debacle.
So why do I rank this fixture as one of the hardest on the Bulldogs’ schedule? It’s Florida, and it’s a rivalry. Since 2010, Georgia has had a healthy 7-4 lead in the series. However, this series is not as one-sided as it sounds.
Georgia won three in a row, followed by Florida’s three straight wins, and then came the Dawgs’ dominance. So this rivalry swings back and forth, which is why Georgia should never treat this game lightly.
Georgia football vs. Tennessee
The Tennessee Volunteers have growing support amongst pundits and commentators alike. They are this year’s hot pick, which is a testament to Vols head coach Josh Heupel’s job in Knoxville. The Vols go into this new season with the weight of expectation on them, and this is something for a team whose fanbase has the most unrealistic of expectations.
But to win the SEC East? Well, that’s quite the set of expectations.
Could these pesky Vols be the closest team to stopping the Bulldogs from another SEC East title? Well, at least the signs from last year are good for Vols fans.
First of all, we know that Tennessee has a talented quarterback. Hendon Hooker transferred into Knoxville from Virginia Tech at the start of last season. Recruited by the previous coaching staff but didn’t get a chance to play for Jeremy Pruitt.
Instead, Hooker was left in a situation where he was playing for a staff that didn’t recruit him and who recruited a new quarterback, Joe Milton, from Michigan. Hooker fought for his place.
Milton, who looked on fire in Spring and Fall camp, started the season as the start, but a poor start quickly cut short by injury opened the door to Hooker. He had the kind of season that brought him into the national spotlight and is now considered one of the top-ranked quarterbacks coming into the new season.
Joining Hooker is Cedric Tillman, who had an excellent season at wide receiver, and Jabari Small, who is the starting running back by some distance. The Vols also return four starters on the offensive line, meaning Josh Heupel has an impressive foundation to build on this year.
On defense, the Vols return Jeremy Banks at linebacker and defensive end Byron Young — both played key roles last season. Also returning are safeties Trevon Flowers and Jaylen McCollough, who are veteran leaders.
Tennessee has a lot of momentum moving into this 2022 season, more than both Florida and South Carolina. While a miracle is possible, do they have the depth to compete with Georgia? It isn’t too far-fetched to think they could upset the Dawgs, but it’s doubtful.
Georgia football vs. Kentucky
Kentucky could be the closest challenger that could dethrone Georgia this season, as the Dawgs have to hit the road and play the Wildcats at Kroger Field.
With quarterback Will Levis and his supporting cast of Tayvion Robinson, Chris Rodriguez, JuTahn McClain, Barion Brown and Dane Key, head coach Mark Stoops has a lot of talent to build off last year’s 10-win season. However, five of those wins were by a touchdown or less, with losses typically coming by a much wider margin, meaning there is still some work to do.
The Wildcats have high expectations for this upcoming season because they have the returning talent needed to build off the previous year’s success. Can Levis live up to the first-round draft pick chatter? Can the Kentucky defense perform on the same level as its offense?
So, I don’t believe Kentucky lives up to last year’s reputation, but I’ll at least give them credit that they could catch the Dawgs slipping and find a miracle as they did against the Gators and LSU last season. They will be a strong test, but it will be interesting to see if they can build off 2021.
Repeating a national championship is an almost impossible task. In doing so, the Bulldogs would take on legendary status, but to get that far, Georgia must dominate the SEC East. Can any of these teams stop them and keep the Dawgs out of Atlanta? Maybe, but it’ll take a miracle because the Dawgs are on another level.