Georgia football: What if 2021 Dawgs become 2019 LSU?

The 2019 LSU Tigers are a blueprint for what the 2021 Georgia football team can become.

Georgia football fans are sure to be in rare form after seeing these similarities between the 2019 LSU Tigers and what the 2021 Georgia Bulldogs have the potential to be. No wonder ESPN’s Cole Cubelic is so high on the Dawgs.

Evan Crowell of Dawgs Daily outlines four interesting parallels between the 2019 LSU team and the 2021 Georgia squad. These include a transfer quarterback from another Power 5 blue-blood in his second year at his SEC school, a potentially dynamic freshman cornerback, two excellent wide receivers rounding into form and a recent New Year’s Six bowl win over the Group of 5 champion.

If you want to add two more commonalities Crowell did not include, you could say Georgia and LSU continually recruit at a top-five level nationally and neither is expected to beat Alabama to win the SEC. While these areas of common ground are certainly fascinating, how much validity can we put in these comparisons? Can 2021 Georgia really become 2019 LSU? Let’s investigate right now.

2019 LSU was a once-in-a-lifetime team until 2020 Alabama came along

For Georgia to have any hopes of becoming 2019 LSU, JT Daniels has to be this year’s Joe Burrow. While Daniels has first-round talent, to say he will be the next Burrow is a bit of a reach. That is because Burrow had the best single-season a college quarterback has ever had. The only other signal-caller who can argue against that claim in recent history is Cam Newton at Auburn in 2010.

While Kelee Ringo is a former five-star recruit, he did miss his entire true freshman season with a torn labrum. If he becomes what Derek Stingley Jr. was for the 2019 Bayou Bengals, then that would be absolutely phenomenal for Kirby Smart and his defensive staff. Because Stingley did regress in his sophomore year, this is not entirely out of the realm of possibility for Ringo and UGA.

LSU had at least two outstanding receivers in Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson. If you want to project two wideouts to play up to their lofty 2019 standard, you would have to go with George Pickens and Jermaine Burton to pull that off. Again, they have tremendous talent, but will need Daniels to have the greatest season a Georgia quarterback has ever put together. This is a reach.

As for coming off a victory over a Group of 5 champion, 2018 LSU beat the UCF Knights in the Fiesta Bowl, while 2020 Georgia defeated the Cincinnati Bearcats in the Peach Bowl. While this is purely coincidental, you can project some positive momentum to carry over into next season after beating an undefeated Group of 5 champion. It does give the SEC dark horses a bit of an edge.

So could 2021 Georgia be 2019 LSU? Let’s not count on it. However, we will know right away if the Dawgs are up for the challenge. They will face southeastern rival Clemson at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte on opening weekend. Should the Dawgs prove victorious, then the only other tough game on their 2021 slate is the annual neutral-site affair down in Jacksonville vs. Florida.

If 2021 Georgia does become 2019 LSU, oh, I will be one of the first people to tell you. Trust me.

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