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I picked Georgia to win the SEC. Predictable? Yes. Boring? Fine. Inevitable? No. In an era defined by rapid upheaval, the one eternal sure-fire bet in college football is that there is no such thing as “inevitable,” a point reinforced again last December when Georgia’s bid for a three-peat came to an abrupt end in the SEC Championship Game. That glitch deleted a 29-game winning streak, a 24-week run at the top of the AP poll, and a long-running aura of invincibility. The Dawgs looked like shoo-ins, right up until they didn’t.
In retrospect, it’s tempting to make the case that they spent too long in cruise control against a middling regular-season schedule that never presented them with a real, Playoff-caliber test. In that context, at least, it’s slightly less surprising that they failed the first one they faced. But that definitely will not be the case in 2024: There’s the main-event opener against Clemson (in Atlanta), followed by big-ticket road trips in September (at Alabama), October (at Texas) and November (at Ole Miss).
As usual, you don’t need to know anything about who the Dawgs have coming back to know who they are: Stacked at every position, unfazed by attrition, well-acquainted with high stakes, rarely in danger of getting caught with their pants down against random underdogs, better than the sum of their parts.
And, this time, led by a quarterback (Carson Beck) who might win the Heisman Trophy.
They’re the default pick in this spot for a reason. But this time they’re actually going to have to put some skins on the wall to keep it.
Dawgs at a Glance …
2023 Recap: 13-1 (8-1 SEC; Won Orange Bowl; 4th in final AP poll)
Best Player: QB Carson Beck
Best Pro Prospect: Edge Mykel Williams
Best Addition: RB Trevor Etienne (Florida)
Best Names: DL Nazir Stackhouse … WR NiTareon “Nitro” Tuggle
Most Grizzled: OL Xavier Truss (6th year; 28 career starts at OG/OT)
Emerging Dude: Sophomore DB Joenel Aguero
Biggest strength: Tenured QB, seasoned o-line, standard-issue Kirby Smart defense, abundance of dudes at every position, high-stakes experience … I don’t think I need to go on.
Nagging concern: Blah pass rush. Coaches experimented in the spring with moving Mykel Williams from a hand-in-the-dirt d-line role to outside linebacker in an effort to generate more juice, but ideally they’d love to see an underclassman rise to the occasion.
Looming question: Who’s the dominant individual presence? The gotta-have-it receiver now that Brock Bowers is gone? The 1-on-1 nightmare? The feared pass rusher? No shortage of candidates, but even the headliners are more “first among equals” in a loaded rotation than true stars.
The schedule: Easily the most booby-trapped slate of Smart’s tenure, and that’s before you even consider the possibility of an upset bid from Auburn, Florida, or Tennessee.
RELATED: Predicting every Georgia game in 2024
The upshot
The expanded Playoff lowers the bar for entry but raises the bar for winning it all once you’re in. Georgia benefits both ways: Stepping on a land mine or two in the regular season isn’t a deal-breaker, and if there’s any team in the country built to win 4 straight against top competition when it counts, it’s the Dawgs.
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Matt Hinton, author of 'Monday Down South' and our resident QB guru, has previously written for Dr. Saturday, CBS and Grantland.
