I admit it: I took the bait.

I (foolishly) thought Arkansas, which is still a good football team, would somehow keep it close for 3 quarters before Georgia would eventually, and inevitably, turn the tables to improve to 5-0. Sam Pittman, who had spent several years in Athens, simply wasn’t going to let his Razorbacks get blown out of Sanford Stadium.

What happened? The Razorbacks got blown out of Sanford Stadium. It’s not the first time I’ve been wrong, by the way. The Bulldogs did it without JT Daniels, who sat out with a lat injury and hopefully should be available for the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry at Auburn.

That put Stetson Bennett IV back in the spotlight. As it turns out, the way the Dawgs were running the ball, I could have been behind center Saturday. Bennett threw it just 11 times all afternoon, completing 7 of those passes for 72 yards.

No, this one belonged to the Dawgs’ running performance, which was credited with 273 yards on 56 carries, averaging 4.9 yards a carry. So much was made about the Hogs’ ability to dominate the line of scrimmage, which you’d expect from a longtime offensive line coach in Pittman. They got a taste of their own medicine between the hedges: The 273 yards they yielded was the most they’ve given up on the ground this season. The 56 Georgia carries? That’s the most in the Kirby Smart era and the highest since a 58-attempt day at Missouri in 2014.

It was a pitch-perfect game plan installed by Smart and offensive coordinator Todd Monken. It also showed another dimension to this team that we haven’t necessarily seen quite often: a team that can grind out and fight for yards to wear down a defensive line. It was necessary without Daniels; Smart and Monken knew that Bennett couldn’t just air it out in the same fashion that he did against UAB. This was a much different opponent, a much different team.

And the plan worked to perfection. Is that the key to beating every single team down the stretch? Probably not. But that was exactly what the Dawgs needed with 7 games left in the regular season. This was about a complete performance from them behind an offensive line that’s starting to gel and build confidence.

And, of course, the defense did its part, recording 4 sacks and holding Arkansas to 75 rushing yards. The Razorbacks’ lowest ground total before Saturday was 202. KJ Jefferson was forced into easily his worst showing of the season.

So, what are the flaws for this team? No one’s perfect, but it’s hard to find many right now.

Daniels, the cynic might say, hasn’t been tested yet this year. He went the whole way against what’s turned out to be an average Clemson team and was solid against South Carolina before playing just the 1st half in the blowout at Vanderbilt — and wasn’t able to go against UAB and Arkansas. But he’s shown command of the offense when healthy and is hopefully ready to carry the load during the stretch run of games this month.

But look at the other parts of this roster.

The running game and offensive line improve every week. The pass-catching corps wasn’t needed as much Saturday but continues to get healthy. We already know about this defense’s capabilities.

And at this point, who will be able to beat this team in the regular season the way they’re not just playing, but raising their performance level week after week? Auburn’s strength is a running game led by Tank Bigsby and Jarquez Hunter. With all due respect to those guys — and to Bo Nix, who played inspired football Saturday night at LSU — it might be just another day at the office for the Dawgs’ defensive front.

And that’s just the defense, which has pitched back-to-back shutouts and has allowed just 1 touchdown through 5 games. Having a “week-to-week” Daniels back in the fold boosts their chances even more, as if they needed any further help.

Either way, this team is flat-out good. And whether you think they deserve to be No. 1 or not — I’m coming around to the idea — you can’t argue with the fact that these Dawgs just keep on getting better. And they might just be the ones that bring a long-awaited championship trophy home to Athens.