Georgia Football: Can anyone stop Bulldogs from winning SEC East again?
Georgia football rolled through the SEC East unblemished last season. Will anyone be able to upstage the Bulldogs in 2018?
Okay, Georgia is going to be good again. Maybe. Probably. I know everyone else has the ‘Dawgs locked up to win the SEC East, but a great recruiting class does not guarantee that your team is going to do well. Just ask Florida State.
If on-field success was predetermined by raw talent, the FBS would be a very different proposition at the end of the year. There are teams with loaded rosters that disappoint their fans (again, just ask the Seminoles) and teams that achieve amazing results despite a humdrum recruiting class. (Think about Navy in 2015–yes, Keenan Reynolds was a prodigious talent, but the team as a whole never gets the recruits that a powerhouse like Ohio State gets.)
Another prime example would be the Wisconsin Badgers–they were undefeated until the Big Ten championship game. The Badgers didn’t land the best recruiting class in the Big Ten–far from it; yet they managed to have a marvelous season nonetheless with one loss and a No. 7 finish.
But I digress. Who will take the SEC East crown? Can anyone topple the Dawgs on their inexorable path to Atlanta in December? Look, it’s not probable, but let’s just consider a UGA-doomsday scenario. The biggest contenders to upset the Dawgs? Florida and South Carolina. Before you laugh, hear me out.
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Who can stop the Bulldogs?
Yes, Florida’s Dan Mullen is getting chippy way too early, but he is a heck of a coach and his presence at the helm should add momentum to that talented program. The game is pretty much at home for the Gators at Everbank Field in Jacksonville. Add that to a young Georgia defense, and the Gators might be a pitfall for UGA.
UGA lost their best offensive player, Isaiah Wynn, to the NFL Draft. The one-two knockout punch of Sony Michel and Nick Chubb graduated and moved on, as well. Losing these players on the O-line is a loss for the team–not just in talent, but in the kind of veteran leadership that a young team needs. In addition, their secondary was wobbly in 2017, and they haven’t replaced any of those skill players for 2018.
South Carolina returns talented quarterback Jake Bentley and the dynamic wide receiver Deebo Samuel will be off the injured list for the Gamecocks next season. Georgia may not have trouble with either of these teams, mind you–but to say that Georgia is going to sweep the SEC East is foolish. Last year, Georgia struggled against Notre Dame and lost pretty handily to Auburn in their first meeting.
If either UF or USC can take down Georgia, it could mean another UF trip to Atlanta in December. The SEC East will be weak again in 2018, outside of Kirby Smart‘s Dawgs, of course. However, this is college football and weird things happen every week.
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Most likely Georgia will have a storybook season with little to no drama–but they don’t have it sewn up. So while I think that Coach Mullen is being a bit mouthy, he also has history and talent on his side.