The Bulldogs’ recent trip to Lexington shocked Georgia fans across the country and all of college football after a narrow 13-12 win against the unranked Kentucky Wildcats. Going into the game, Coach Smart emphasized the difficulty of the matchup to his team and to the media. The entire staff repeatedly said, “blow by blow.” It certainly ended up being the physical, hard-fought game that Coach Smart predicted. While the offense had its struggles, the defense held just enough to escape with a victory.
For Georgia, the first two games of the season against Clemson and Tennessee Tech went about as well as they could have gone. Not only did the Dawgs win those games, but did so in convincing fashion led by dominant defense, a controlled offense, and what seems like a roster with quality depth. However, after the anything but impressive victory against Kentucky, the bye week was just what Smart’s team needed as they re-evaluating their identity. Some fans across Bulldog Nation believe that this team still has what it takes to be a national title contender, while others feel that maybe this team hasn’t shown enough to be considered as so. In our eyes, there should still be plenty of hope in the Dawgs. Looking back on the last two seasons, Georgia had very similar games against unranked, SEC teams on the road. In 2022, it was a four-point win in a battle with Missouri. In 2023, a dogfight with Auburn was won by a score of 27-20. The common theme with these two games is that while Georgia could have very easily gone back to Athens with a loss, they found a way to sneak out a victory and save their College Football Playoff hopes. It is now time to put Kentucky behind and accomplish one of the hardest feats in the sport: winning on the road against the Crimson Tide.
Alabama is set to face its first SEC opponent without Nick Saban on the staff in 17 years. With this being said, the Tide has not lost any of the talent recruited by their legendary coach. They opened against Western Kentucky with a resounding 63-0 win. For all but about three quarters, Alabama has dominated so far this season. Those three struggling quarters came against South Florida. Jalen Milroe was only able to lead the Bama offense to six points heading into halftime against the Bulls. In classic Alabama fashion though, they pulled away in the end, making the game seem like it was never close. Using momentum from the fourth quarter of their game against South Florida, Kalen DeBoer and the Tide took the road up to the cheese state of Wisconsin. The Badgers started off with a nice drive but once starting quarterback Tyler Van Dyke went down with an injury, there was no turning back. Alabama returned to Tuscaloosa with a 38-point win. Alabama has established a visible presence of physicality and ability to set the run game. Plus, the youngest player in college football, 17-year-old wide receiver Ryan Williams, has been lighting up the field. He already has 285 yards and four TDs in only ten receptions.
Hot take of the Week:
On the road in the toughest conference in football, one of the easiest ways to control the game is to keep the quarterback rattled, which in turn can force costly turnovers. Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe has yet to turn the ball over this season, which is why along with his solid offensive numbers, he’s suddenly emerged as a Heisman candidate through the first month of the season. The Georgia defense has been the team’s strong point thus far and will easily be the best defense the Tide will have faced so far. Our hot take of the week is that the Dawgs will force Milroe’s first big mistake of the season. Whether it’s a strip-sack or a missed throw, the “Junkyard Dawgs” will have to rattle Milroe in the rushing and passing game if they want avoid letting the game slip away like it did in last year’s SEC Championship game.