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Georgia Football: 5 takeaways from Bulldogs’ 2018 season

By Justin Dottavio

ATLANTA, GA - JANUARY 08: Head coach Kirby Smart of the Georgia Bulldogs reacts to a penalty during the third quarter against the Alabama Crimson Tide in the CFP National Championship presented by AT&T at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on January 8, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - JANUARY 08: Head coach Kirby Smart of the Georgia Bulldogs reacts to a penalty during the third quarter against the Alabama Crimson Tide in the CFP National Championship presented by AT&T at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on January 8, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /
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Georgia football finished 2018 with an 11-3 final record and two straight losses. Here are five takeaways from the Bulldogs’ 2018 season.

The Georgia Bulldogs finished the 2018 season with an 11-3 record and two straight losses to end the season. The Bulldogs, in Kirby Smart‘s third year as a head coach, will need to balance reloading with retooling as the expectations are high in Athens, Ga. The Dawgs finished the year ranked third per the S&P+ analytics system, even after the 28-21 loss to Texas in the Sugar Bowl.

Georgia will be losing assistant coach Jim Cheney to the Tennessee Volunteers along with quarterback Justin Fields as a transfer to The Ohio State University. Three starters also opted to leave early for the NFL, something in-conference rivals Alabama and LSU have been dealing with for the better part of a decade. The early departures are running back Elijah Holyfield, tight end Isaac Nauta and wide receiver Riley Ridley. The trio scored 26 touchdowns on the season.

Yet there’s reason to pause the ‘Kirby Smart has lost control of…’ hyperbole. That reason is the Bulldogs brought in the nation’s top rated recruiting class in 2018 and have the nation’s second-best class in 2019, per 247Sports. You could say 2018 was a disappointment, but only by UGA standards.

The defense is still strong and the kicking game was nearly flawless, besides the poor choice of fake field goals and punts at inopportune times. However, if they worked like fakes always did for Les Miles, Smart would be deemed a genius.

Here are five takeaways from the 2018 season for the Bulldogs.

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