5 reasons Georgia makes the 2019 College Football Playoff
The Georgia Bulldogs were tantalizingly close to winning the College Football Playoff last season, but here’s why they’ll make it back in 2019.
Georgia Bulldogs fans across the country had to have the taste of a national championship on their tongues on Jan. 8. After two quarters of football in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game, they’d blanked the Alabama Crimson Tide and held a 13-point lead. Then, after the third quarter subsided, they were still ahead, 20-10. It was in their clutches, even with the Tide surging. Things, of course, took a turn for the worse in the case of the Bulldogs.
After allowing 10 unanswered points in the fourth quarter, Georgia then had their collective heart broken by Nick Saban’s group in overtime, falling short of the title by a score of 26-23. And with that began the journey to try and get back into position to win the title once again come the 2019 College Football Playoff.
Of course, many of the stars that helped lead the Bulldogs to the bring of a championship last season are no longer in Athens under head coach Kirby Smart’s watch. Nick Chubb, Roquan Smith, Isaiah Wynn, Sony Michel and Lorenzo Carter (to just name a few) are all readying for lives in the NFL. However, that doesn’t mean that UGA is left high-and-dry in the wake of those losses. Instead, they’re still eyeing another trip to the CFP.
With quarterback Jake Fromm returning to lead to offense as a true sophomore, the Georgia Bulldogs indeed have title aspirations this season. There will surely be some hardships as it pertains to coping with their losses, but they undoubtedly have what it takes to get back to the College Football Playoff in 2019.
Let’s take a look at five reasons why that’s so.
5. Kirby Smart
After going 8-5 in the 2016 season — his first as the head coach in Athens — there was still high expectations for what Kirby Smart could do with the Georgia Bulldogs moving forward. He was pulled from his previous position as the defensive coordinator at Alabama to take the program from a quagmire of good-not-great and get them to the next level. Obviously he was able to do so last season as he led them to the National Championship Game after winning the SEC.
It’s clear that Smart has this program heading in the right direction, and he also deserves immense credit for how he’s setting up things moving forward. Smart’s acumen as a recruiter is already showing in a major way as he brought in the top-ranked class for 2018. Not only is that the mark of a great coach and recruiter, but it’s also simply huge for the Bulldogs in regards to replacing stars and important pieces that leave the program, be it for the NFL or by other means.
Perhaps more important than that, however, is the prowess that Smart has shown as a coach. Sure, some will point to him being out-coached by Nick Saban in the second half of the title game. But let’s be honest: First, we are talking about The Nick Saban. Second, he won the first half of that battle, for what that’s worth.
Throughout last season, Smart proved time and again to be a fantastic coach with how he handled things at quarterback, his timeshare at running back and even with how he played to his strengths on defense. The point is, there is every reason to believe in Smart’s ability to continue proving he’s an elite college football coach.