As the curtain closes on the Georgia Bulldogs 2022 regular season, the Dawgs begin preparation for Southeastern Conference title play against Brian Kelly and his LSU Tigers.

This is a coach that Smart and the Dawgs are quite familiar with Kelly. He coached at Notre Dame during the two times that Georgia faced the Irish in 2017 and 2019. Both encounters resulted in wins for the Dawgs, but neither win came off easy. The final scores were less touchdown difference both times. 

Coach Kelly knows what he’s doing, and in his first year in the Boot, he’s already gotten off to a hot start. The Tigers are 9 and 3 and come into the game ranked at No. 5 according to the College Football Playoff committee. 

It’s not just the coach of course. There are players that help the team win too. Two Tigers to worry about in particular are quarterback Jayden Daniels and linebacker Harold Perkins. 

Coach Smart thinks quite highly of LSU’s signal caller saying:

“Everybody you talk to, he’s way faster than you envisioned. He is athletic. He can go into super quick, hyper speed mode, run away from you, run around you. He stiff-arms guys. He’s really athletic.

Not only is Daniels a threat on the ground, but his arm is just as good as his legs. Smart labeled him as a “pocket passer” during Monday’s presser. 

Linebacker Harold Perkins is simply a beast on defense. He’s had many comparisons to LSU legend, Tyrann Mathieu, and Perkins’ similar versatility on defense speaks to it. His speed off the edge and in general sets him apart from the rest, and it’s the reason why he put up 7.5 sacks this season. 

The LSU Tigers will be up there with Oregon for one of the most talented teams Georgia has faced this season, so it’ll be a test for sure. Not one that the Dawgs won’t be ready for, but a test nonetheless.

“Winter will come asking what you did in the summer,” was a phrase we heard from the players during the offseason. Well, it’s winter, so I guess we’ll see just what winter asks come this Saturday in the Benz.