The Georgia Bulldogs have come up short against Alabama in the past two seasons, but can Kirby Smart get his team over the hump in 2019?
As has been customary, the Georgia Bulldogs won the SEC East in 2018. They then were in the driver’s seat to knock off Alabama in the SEC Championship Game and punch their ticket to the College Football Playoff. Instead, Jalen Hurts orchestrated a comeback win for the Crimson Tide. Out of the CFP, Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs put up a stinker against Texas in the Sugar Bowl. Now they look to 2019 hoping to finally get over the hump.
- 2018 record: 11-3
- Spring game date: Saturday, April 20 – 2:00 p.m. ET
Biggest spring storyline
The story for Georgia has become quite simple: Can they get past Alabama? Last year’s blown lead in the SEC Championship Game marked the second-straight year that the Crimson Tide erased a Bulldogs lead to earn a substantial victory, doing so the previous year in the College Football Playoff.
From a talent perspective, it’s clear that Georgia can match up with Bama. Moreover, Smart has shown he can gameplan out of the gate to stifle the SEC giants. Having said that, Smart needs to better prepare himself or the unexpected as quarterback changes have derailed the head coach and his team against the Tide in each of the past two seasons.
All eyes will be on the head man changing that narrative in the 2019 season where the Bulldogs should be one of the favorites to compete for a National Championship. But, more than likely, Smart will have to find a way to top Nick Saban if he wants to hoist the trophy at season’s end.
Biggest reason for optimism
Despite some key losses on both sides of the ball, the Bulldogs biggest reason for optimism looking to the 2019 season lies with Jake Fromm and the running back group. While Georgia will have to replace four of their top pass-catchers from last year, having Fromm enter his third season as the starting quarterback while also seeing D’Andre Swift, James Cook and Brian Herrien all come back behind him leaves reason to be excited about this offense.
Fromm will have plenty of eyes on him in 2019 as some scouts have him pegged as one of the top quarterback prospects that could be available in the 2020 NFL Draft. Moreover, the running back corps, which has long been the bread and butter of the Bulldogs offense, is more than capable of continuing the be the heart of the offense. With that kind of consistency on that side of the ball, there’s no reason to think that they won’t again be a dangerous offense every week.
Biggest question mark
You could make the case that the biggest question for Georgia in 2019 will be who will emerge in the passing game as the top options for Fromm. While that will surely be in focus on offense, the biggest questions that this team will face throughout the upcoming season are on the other side of the ball.
After losing the likes of Roquan Smith and Lorenzo Carter following the 2017-18 season, the Bulldogs defense was a bit uneven throughout this past season. They weren’t necessarily bad, but they certainly lacked consistent playmakers outside of Deandre Baker at cornerback. With Baker now entering the NFL, the UGA defense needs the likes of Monty Rice, Patrick Surtain Jr. and other to step up and give the high-upside offense a little more cushion to work with.
Biggest offseason addition
In the same vein as looking at players that need to step up for the Georgia defense, they could get some help from their recruiting class, specifically from Nolan Smith. Put simply, the Bulldogs pass rush in 2018 left a lot to be desired. However, their adding the top-ranked recruit in the country in Smith, who just happens to be a weakside defensive end.
While Smith will be a true freshman and could face a learning curve, his talent is abundant and could allow him to have an instant impact for the Bulldogs defense. They sorely need a dominant presence up front and Smith could potentially provide that for them upon arrival in Athens.
Biggest game to look forward to
Playing in the SEC, there are always a number of in-conference games that could be crucial for the Bulldogs. However, Georgia’s game to circle in 2019 will be a Sept. 21 matchup in Athens against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. With the SEC gauntlet lying after that matchup, the Bulldogs can ill afford to drop a high-profile matchup like that if they want to keep their title hopes intact. Having said that, the Irish should be a top-10 team that will give UGA all they can handle.