Georgia Bulldogs are 1998 Tennessee Vols: A National Title-Caliber Team

Georgia Bulldogs Beat Missouri Tigers 34-0

Player of the Game: Nick Chubb-38 Carries for 143 Yards, 1 Touchdown; 4 Receptions for 31 Yards

Aaron Murray was Peyton Manning.

Hutson Mason is Tee Martin.

Todd Gurley is Jamal Lewis.

And now Nick Chubb is Travis Henry.

For those of you who don’t know your history, brush up on it with the 1998 Tennessee Volunteers. We wrote a piece about it on Friday, which you can see here.

The Vols lost all-everything quarterback in Manning. The Dawgs lost Murray. Martin was Manning’s replacement and looked awful through four games but became a very solid game manager. Mason is Murray’s replacement and developing into a very solid game manager.

Jamal Lewis went down with a season-ending injury in 1998, and Todd Gurley is now out with a suspension. Both players were considered to be the guys carrying their teams. And in each team’s first game without them, they blew out a ranked team on the road.

Tennessee’s was against Georgia, ironically. But Georgia’s was against Missouri.

They also showed they can replace their star running backs, Tennessee with Travis Henry and Georgia with Nick Chubb.

Now let’s just focus on what the Dawgs did.

Without Gurley, all they did was lead a blowout of epic proportions, 34-0. Now, the Dawgs are back in business. And not just for the SEC Championship.

This team is in the national title race. It’s getting better every week, and they showed this week that they can win without Gurley, which was a big question coming into the game.

Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Auburn, and Georgia Tech are still on the schedule, and none of those games can be taken lightly. But this team has a lot to be excited about.

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Hutson Mason is still not a big-play threat at quarterback, but he was 22 of 28 for 156 yards, 1 touchdown, and no interceptions. Chubb, as a freshman, stepped in and racked up 143 yards on the ground and another 31 receiving.

The play of Chubb is going to continue to be very valuable without Gurley.

But the big story is the defense. The Dawgs are finally back on track defensively after forcing 4 interceptions against Missouri. This is a loaded defense that had a few bad games, but if they play like they did today the rest of the year, then you can’t sleep on this team.

Oh, by the way, Tennessee won with a loaded defense in 1998. Just something to consider.