What Kirby Smart and Georgia has in store for an encore

The George Bulldogs have lofty expectations in 2018. Meeting those expectations has never been more important for the program.

The Georgia Bulldogs are arguably the “it” program in college football right now. After a stellar season that concluded in a run to the National Championship Game, the Bulldogs are loaded for the future under head coach Kirby Smart. Now, heading into their “sequel” after a championship run, the program is directly set up to finish off their goal and be crowned National Champions at years end.

The Bulldogs have some of the best talent on both sides of the ball in the country and just finished with a monstrous recruiting class that featured a plethora of 5-star recruits that should have them competing for SEC Championships and more in the foreseeable future.

Winning seven out of eight in the toughest conference in college football doesn’t happen by accident. Smart has done a great job of taking a team that had good personnel in place and helping them reach that next level.

Jake Fromm looked great in his first year as quarterback for the Bulldogs and nearly delivered his team to a National Championship. He’s going to be the x-factor this season for the Bulldogs on offense, just as any quarterback is for their program.

Avoiding a sophomore slump is going to be absolutely critical if the Bulldogs are going to be back in the playoff picture. Fortunately for them, their schedule this season is set up for them to be in position to run the table.

They don’t face Alabama in the regular season and wouldn’t have to worry about them until a likely SEC Championship date. With an offense in transition, their tougher tests don’t happen til toward the middle of the season and that’s going to be huge given some of the key departures.

Offensively, Sony Michel and Nick Chubb are gone from the backfield. Losing their two horses is going to be a lot for the Bulldogs to overcome. Sophomore running back D’Andre Swift is going to have big shoes to fill right away.

With a new look in the run game behind him, Fromm might rely on his passing ability a little bit more. The impact of Riley Ridley and others was on display late throughout the season and the younger brother of the all-time Alabama great will certainly now have the family spotlight on him on Saturday’s.

The running back spot isn’t the only place where the Bulldogs are losing key faces. On the defensive side of the ball, the Bulldogs are losing their two key linebackers that helped keep the machine running.

Roquan Smith and Lorenzo Carter will now be replaced by Juwan Taylor and Monty Rice. In the two playoff games, Smith and Carter made huge impacts on the defensive side of the ball. Smith won’t be there to run sideline to sideline and make impressive third down stops.

Taylor and Rice will have plenty of help behind them in the secondary, as Tyrique McGhee and Deandre Baker are a dynamic cornerback pair. As the theme goes for Georgia here, they’ll have guys ready to make that leap into new roles as the team looks to stay in the same lane they were this past season.

Life in the SEC can be tough and as mentioned, the schedule can mean a lot to making or breaking a team’s season. Their first big test of the season will be a road game in October at LSU before two huge home games against Florida and Auburn later in the campaign.

Looking at their schedule, George has a favorable route to the SEC Championship Game. A win there would assuredly put them in the playoffs, by virtue of playing in the SEC. Anything can happen on the gridiron and sometimes the loftiest of expectations can crumble a team before it even gets started. Given the nature of the beast, the Bulldogs have the schedule and next generation of superstars to push through and meet them.