OPINION: G-Day Shows Georgia is Primed For Another National Championship Run
The notion that a college football team - particularly in the college football playoff era - could reel off three consecutive national championships seems, on the surface, to be one of the most hopelessly preposterous of notions. Pie in the sky type stuff. The height of folly, even. And for good reason, given that it would represent an unprecedented feat in the history of the sport. Yes, Minnesota - of all programs - does claim three-consecutive football national championships from 1934-1936, but the first two of those national titles predated the AP Poll in an era in which it was the wild, wild west in terms of naming a national champion. While consecutive national championships is a feat that has been accomplished 14 times since 1940, the simple fact is, no program in the AP, BCS, or College Football Playoff eras has ever managed to take that next historic step into immortality by stringing together three-consecutive college football national championships. Yet, coming off of back-to-back national titles, that is precisely what the Georgia Bulldogs endeavor to do heading into the 2023 season, and after getting our first taste of this latest Georgia football team during their annual G-Day spring game, the notion of a three-peat suddenly seems a great deal less fantastical.
Now, after making as unabashedly audacious a claim as that, this is where one is duty-bound by the unwritten rules of college football discourse to offer the obligatory “well, it was a small sample size” disclaimer. Yet, while it is true that a spring game is only a fleeting snapshot of the totality of spring practice and, as such, appearances and performances can often be deceiving, raw talent and elite athleticism do not deceive. And after taking in G-Day, it is readily apparent to even the most casual college football observer that Georgia is overflowing with the human capital required to win a national championship. Of course, given Georgia’s emergence as a recruiting superpower under Kirby Smart, the program’s stockpile of talent should be of no surprise to anyone, but it is staggering nonetheless.
Carson Beck throws a completion during G-Day / Credit: Tony Walsh/UGAA
Athleticism, speed, quickness, power; it was all on full display for the college football world at large to take in as the Bulldogs completed their final scrimmage of the spring. It was not isolated to one position or one side of the ball, nor was it relegated to returning starters. Georgia’s established playmakers, of course, put on a show and reminded us all what they are capable of. Brock Bowers was, well, Brock Bowers. Georgia’s offensive line, with four players with starting experience returning from 2022’s national championship team, was nearly impenetrable once again. Ladd McConkey got open and made plays the way Ladd McConkey is apt to do. Javon Bullard looked strong in his new safety position as did Tykee Smith in Bullard’s old STAR position. Jamon Dumas-Johnson was flying around the field at inside linebacker. WR Arian Smith - arguably the fastest player in all of college football - showed signs of becoming more than just a situational player with his two touchdown performance.
Yet, despite that abundance of elite returning talent on display at G-Day, it was the fresh, new talent that offered the most encouragement regarding Georgia’s odds of pulling off the unprecedented three-peat. It is not that Georgia’s returning talent is underwhelming; it is emphatically not. However, that talent was always expected to be on the roster; therefore its presence at G-Day does not change the dynamic or expectations regarding the possibility of Georgia laying claim to yet another national championship. The fresh, new talent on display inside Sanford Stadium on Saturday, however, that does change the dynamic
There were young playmakers such as Yazeed Haynes and Anthony Evans at wide receiver, along with another dynamic newcomer in Missouri transfer Dominic Lovett who lived up to the hype. True freshman early enrollee tight end Lawson Luckie showcased the talent that has earned him rave reviews all spring. The Bulldogs threw out an array of young inside linebackers that looked like they could start right now for nearly half of the teams in the SEC despite their roles on Georgia’s second and third team defensive units. While inexperience is the rule at JACK, each of the young players receiving reps took turns flashing elite playmaking ability. Early Enrollee Joenel Aguero was cutting people in half running with the second team defense at STAR. Running back Roderick Robinson, another early enrollee, showed he is undoubtedly SEC-ready from a physical standpoint. Most importantly, QB Carson Beck’s impressive performance allowed Bulldog fans everywhere to breathe a collective sigh of relief regarding the most important position on any team.
QB Carson Beck throws a pass during G-Day 2023.
Attrition - be it to graduation, early entry into the NFL draft, the transfer portal, or otherwise - is part of the fabric of college athletics and Georgia, despite its current status as the undisputed king of college football, is not immune to the realities of the sport. The Bulldogs do, admittedly, have to replace numerous key contributors off of its 2022 national championship team. There is a Heisman Trophy finalist QB to replace along with bookend left tackles, a borderline inhuman tight end, an uncommon locker room leader, and one of the most dominant defensive lineman to ever don the red and black. Those losses are real and they are substantial, which is why the mix of immensely talented first and second-year players and veterans whose G-Day performances indicated they are ready to finally take advantage of the opportunity to make their mark on the Georgia program offered the most hope for Georgia’s chances to win its third-consecutive national championship.
Brock Bowers, Ladd McConkey, Sedrick Van Pran, Malaki Starks, and the other returning starters were always a given. The Bulldogs’ chances to accomplish the improbable three-peat were always going to hinge on the replacements for their departing stars and the depth they were able to build behind their elite first-team units. After G-Day it is unmistakably evident that not only does Georgia have sufficient answers to the attrition from the 2022 squad, but also that the Bulldogs have an embarrassment of riches up and down their roster. At this point, the question is less about whether the 2023 Georgia team will have enough talent to compensate for the losses from the 2022 team, and more about how the coaches will manage to find ways to get all of those players the playing time their talent warrants.
As detractors would be eager to point out, of course, the fresh talent on display during Georgia’s spring game is raw and inexperienced, but that is mitigated to a significant degree by the impressive developmental prowess of the Georgia coaching staff; a staff that has turned myriad recruiting afterthoughts the likes of Stetson Bennett, Ladd McConkey, Javon Bullard, Jordan Davis, and Eric Stokes not just into capable contributors, but household names. If Georgia’s coaching staff can develop 3-star prospects such as those into elite college football players, it stands to reason that the odds are high that they will mold the collection of young 4 and 5-star players in their charge into difference-makers in their own right.
Given the unprecedented nature of a three-peat in the world of modern college football, it is entirely understandable if one is still skeptical of Georgia’s chances to win its third-consecutive national championship. However, if you remain dubious of Georgia’s odds to win three-straight national titles, consider the comments head coach Kirby Smart made about his 2023 team in a rare instance in which he publicly let his guard down when asked about the year's Georgia team during his G-Day press conference.
“I’m excited. I have always said, we are built to sustain here…We are not trying to be a one hit wonder. I want to put a really good football team out there each year, and we are well on our way to doing that at this time. We probably have the most cohesive unit we’ve had at this time in terms of the guys love being with each other, they like practicing hard. We had 14 of the 15 days, I really thought we had good practices. That includes today. I was really pleased with their work ethic. They like practicing. They like football. When people come to your practices, and they’ve been to seven other schools and say ‘Man, y’all get after it. Man, your guys prate hard. Man, your guys buy in and have fun, it makes me feel better that our kids enjoy it.”
This coming from a head coach who, given his distaste for “the disease that creeps into your program that is called entitlement,” has made an artform of downplaying expectations for his teams and players over the course of his tenure in Athens. This is unprecedented language coming from Kirby Smart - a demanding taskmaster of the highest order- especially at this early stage of preparation for the 2023 season. In fact, it is so unprecedented as to be startling. So, it leaves one to contemplate, if a man built the way Kirby Smart is offers that type of unprecedented praise for a team that has yet to even enter fall camp, maybe the Bulldogs can actually pull off the impossible after all.
