Georgia football right where it wants to be in Week 4, with the world doubting them

There's no denying that Georgia had a close call against Kentucky in Week 3. The Bulldogs' first SEC road game of the year followed a similar pattern of being a defensive struggle and an offensive aberration.

Georgia had similar performances in 2022 at Missouri in Week 5, at Kentucky in Week 5 of 2020, and at Auburn in Week of 2023. Lackluster-looking efforts that raised questions about how genuine the Bulldogs were.

Despite the history of early-season road struggles that usually leads to SEC Championship Game, College Football Playoff, and National Championship Game appearnces, people still love to throw shade at Georgia when one of these ugly wins happen.

So now with a week off, and a trip to Tuscaloosa to play Alabama around the corner, Georgia finds themselves out of the No. 1 ranking (according to the AP poll and ESPN), and overshadowed by big love being thrown at Texas, Tennessee, and Ole Miss.

Even Carson Beck, who was the preseason favorite to be the first quarterback taken in the 2025 NFL Draft, has taken a back seat to Arch Manning, who technically is still a backup to Quinn Ewers at Texas.

The truth is, that's just fine with Kirby Smart, Carson Beck, and the Georgia football team. They perform better when under the radar and when people want to pick against them.

The Bulldogs will likely head into T-town as underdogs to the Crimson Tide, and most of the world will probably look for Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe to have a career day against Georgia. Nothing will drive the Dawgs to a win over the Tide more.

You want to see Carson Beck have a Heisman-worthy day? Just have the narrative going into Week 5 be that he got rattled against Kentucky and will have an even worse day against Alabama.

If the Georgia defense is told that Jam Miller will run for 200 yards and Ryan Williams will catapult himself to the top of the Biletnikoff Award list, it's a fair bet that Glenn Schumann's crew will lock Alabama down and stifle their offensive stars.

The whole "Georgia is overrated" nonsense will do nothing but fuel one of the most talented and driven teams in the country to prove all the doubters completely wrong.

Will a win in Alabama be easy? No, far from it. Georgia hasn't come away with a road win against the Tide since 2007. But it's also not going to be a runaway Crimson Tide train like 2020's hugely disappointing game.

But to think Georgia is a multi-loss team and will be skinned alive by Kalen DeBoer's Alabama team simply because of an off night against a pissed-off opponent on the road in a hostile environment is farcical.

All the jealousy-driven hatred is exactly what Georgia needs to add a little fire to their already motivated personality. Like General Omar N. Bradley said about General George S. Patton during his drive through Europe in World War II, "Give George a headline and he's good for another 30 miles."

Give Georgia another negative headline and they'll be good for another 30 points.