Much has been made about what Kirby Smart has done over the last decade to raise the Georgia Bulldogs' ceiling, but look at what he has done to his alma mater's floor. Now in year 10 leading the Dawgs Between the Hedges, Smart has Georgia in the thick of things with the playoff picture again. No, we may not be looking at a likely national champion, but this team should win around 10 games.
There are reasons for this. Some of the team's depth has been compromised by guys leaving in the transfer portal. The pass rush is nowhere to be found. Mike Bobo is a noted meddler as an offensive play caller. Glenn Schumann is a bump on the log on the Georgia sidelines calling defense. In the end, this team may have a national championship ceiling, but probably another national quarterfinals exit.
That being said, have you seen what has transpired at two more surer things over in Austin and State College? If Georgia was a total playoff lock coming in, Penn State and Texas were even more of guarantees. We said the same things about Clemson too in the ACC. As we look at the top 10 in the latest AP Top 25 Poll, the surest of locks in Clemson, Penn State and Texas are nowhere to be found.
Let's unpack why Georgia has still had staying power in a trying year for them, while the others faded.
How the mighty have fallen!: Differences in AP Top 25 Polls from the start
For those who need a refresher, these are the top 10 teams this week in the latest AP Top 25 Poll.
- Ohio State Buckeyes
- Miami Hurricanes
- Oregon Ducks
- Ole Miss Rebels
- Texas A&M Aggies
- Oklahoma Sooners
- Indiana Hoosiers
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- Texas Tech Red Raiders
- Georgia Bulldogs
And because we all probably forgot, here was the top 10 of the AP Top 25 Poll to start the season.
- Texas Longhorns
- Penn State Nittany Lions
- Ohio State Buckeyes
- Clemson Tigers
- Georgia Bulldogs
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish
- Oregon Ducks
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- LSU Tigers
- Miami Hurricanes
Only Ohio State, Georgia, Oregon, Alabama and Miami have been in and around the top 10 all season long. Georgia and Alabama have dipped in and out of the top 10 at various points of the season, but have proven to have had staying power near the top of the sport. While LSU and Notre Dame are still ranked at No. 11 and No. 16 respectively, Clemson, Penn State and Texas are all nowhere to be found!
On the year, Clemson, Penn State and Texas have gone a combined 8-7 overall and 1-5 in conference play. In fact, the only Power Four win those schools have is Clemson wiping the floor with an utterly toothless North Carolina team last week. Texas may have had the stones to schedule Ohio State in the non-conference, while Penn State prefers to make itself feel good by beating up on tomato cans.
Now that we have seen how the mighty have fallen, here is why Georgia has not done the same here.
Why Georgia has not had the issues hurting other blue-blood contenders
While all four teams in question, including Georgia, have had tough, high-profile defeats on the season, there has not really been any excuse making coming out of Athens from Kirby Smart's mouth. Every team deals with adversity, even the best ones in the sport right now like Miami and Oregon. The biggest difference beyond that is Georgia has gotten far better quarterback play than the other guys.
Gunner Stockton has not been perfect, but he has performed light years better than Cade Klubnik at Clemson, Drew Allar at Penn State, and Arch Manning at Texas. All three quarterbacks were considerably far more received coming into the season. All three had first-round hype surrounding them. People questioned if Stockton could even throw a football! He has risen to the occasion so far.
In a way, Smart does not allow, or better yet encourage, his players to read their press clippings. Stockton has always felt like a team guy since he first came to Athens. All four quarterbacks were tremendous high school standouts, but the praise the others got was far more than what Stockton ever received. Best of all, when a play breaks down, Stockton will look to make something happen.
Overall, this is not the end-all, be-all for why Georgia has been able to have staying power in and around the top 10 of the AP Top 25 Poll all season long, while the others quickly fell out of it. There are other factors to be had. Each situation at hand is different, but Smart is once again proving he is arguably the best head coach in college football. There is something about him that just works out.
Ultimately, being a frontrunner is a bit of untrodden territory for these programs outside of Georgia. To go from the hunter to the hunted is quite a different role. Clemson used to be comfortable with this, but that was in a pre-NIL world. The game has changed, and Dabo Swinney has not adapted to it yet. While Steve Sarkisian will likely figure this out, James Franklin feels like a coach on the decline.
To tie a bow on this, coaching matters, but so does having the right quarterback to lead the team.