Georgia season preview: Best and worst-case scenario

The Georgia Bulldogs were so close to a national title that they could taste it, but how will they follow up that effort in the 2018 season?

It didn’t take long at all for Kirby Smart to get the Georgia Bulldogs in the National Championship conversation. Well, not just the conversation, but actually playing in the title game. That’s where the Dawgs were one year ago after winning the SEC East with a 7-1 record in the conference and then avenging their lone regular season loss in the SEC Championship Game by topping the Auburn Tigers.

That earned Georgia the No. 3 position in the College Football Playoff and set them up with a Rose Bowl matchup with the Oklahoma Sooners, which turned out to be arguably the best game of the season. The Bulldogs ultimately prevailed, 54-48, in double-overtime over Baker Mayfield and Co., setting up a matchup with the Alabama Crimson Tide in the National Championship Game.

Unfortunately for those in Athens, the title game was all about heartbreak. After taking a 13-0 lead into halftime and then going up 20-7 midway through the third quarter after Bama made a quarterback switch to Tua Tagovailoa from Jalen Hurts, Alabama scored 13 unanswered points in the second half to force overtime. Georgia opened the extra frame with a 51-yard field goal but then took the loss on the second play of Alabama’s possession with a 41-yard game-winning touchdown pass from Tagovailoa to DeVonta Smith.

Heading into the 2018 college football season, title hopes are alive and well for the Bulldogs still. However, that doesn’t mean that this is a team without questions as they suffered some big losses. The defense returns just five starters, which includes the losses of first-round draft pick linebacker Roquan Smith and explosive edge rusher Lorenzo Carter. Meanwhile, the offense will be without their two-headed monster at running back, Nick Chubb and Sony Michel, while also moving forward without their best offensive lineman from last season, Isaiah Wynn.

As is the case with a program of this caliber, the Bulldogs have the talent to step in and replace those that they’ve lost though. The question, however, is if these guys can play at the level of their predecessors. That question is most pressing in the case of guys like Juwan Taylor and Monty Rice, who will step in at linebacker and look to carry that group. Expecting them to have the impact of Smith and Carter before them is a fool’s errand, but they must be solid.

Helping their cause, however, will be the fact that Georgia’s secondary might be among the best in college football. Deandre Baker and Tyrique McGhee are a lethal duo at corner and there are high hopes for Richard LeCounte and Jarvis Wilson at safety as well.

For the offense, the losses of Chubb and Michel may not be as greatly felt, largely because Georgia is a running back factory it seems. D’Andre Swift seems ready to step in and shoulder the bulk of the load right away, flashing at times last season and looking like a stud at the position. Moreover, with quarterback Jake Fromm having a year of experience under his belt and a talented wide receiver group headlined by Terry Godwin and Riley Ridley, this offense should have the same pop as it did a year ago, and perhaps even more.

But how will their season play out? Let’s take a look at their best- and worst-case scenarios for the 2018 season.

Best-case scenario

• Sept. 1 vs. Austin Peay – W
• Sept. 8 at South Carolina – W
• Sept. 15 vs. Middle Tennessee – W
• Sept. 22 at Missouri – W
• Sept. 29 vs. Tennessee – W
• Oct. 6 vs. Vanderbilt – W
• Oct. 13 at LSU – W
• Oct. 27 vs. Florida – W
• Nov. 3 at Kentucky – W
• Nov. 10 vs. Auburn – W
• Nov. 17 vs. UMass – W
• Nov. 24 vs. Georgia Tech – W

This really shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who watched the Bulldogs last year. If everything goes according to plan, this team should indeed be in the College Football Playoff once again, either with an unbeaten record or a one-loss record. That, of course, is dependent upon what would happen in the SEC Championship Game.

What’s clear, however, is that Georgia is looking at a largely friendly schedule. Yes, they play some good teams and nothing about the SEC is ever easy. However, this group of Dawgs should be favored throughout every matchup in the regular season and have a chance to go into postseason play unbeaten.

Worst-case scenario

• Sept. 1 vs. Austin Peay – W
• Sept. 8 at South Carolina – W
• Sept. 15 vs. Middle Tennessee – W
• Sept. 22 at Missouri – W
• Sept. 29 vs. Tennessee – W
• Oct. 6 vs. Vanderbilt – W
• Oct. 13 at LSU – W
• Oct. 27 vs. Florida – L
• Nov. 3 at Kentucky – W
• Nov. 10 vs. Auburn – L
• Nov. 17 vs. UMass – W
• Nov. 24 vs. Georgia Tech – W

Finding a worst-case scenario isn’t necessarily difficult for Georgia, despite how talented that Smart’s team is from top-to-bottom. Put simply, this is a team that underwent a number of big changes this offseason. They lost key pieces on defense, their two best running backs, one of their leading wide receivers and have a second-year quarterback that will likely be asked to do more.

Yes, the worst-case scenario for the Bulldogs really isn’t as bad as it would be for most teams. They are that good, that deep and that dangerous even with all that could go wrong on this team. Having said that, this is a team with National Championship hopes, and this scenario would likely have them falling short of that.