With each 5-star recruit signing with Georgia, one thing became more and more evident on Wednesday.

“Woah. Kirby Smart really has that thing rolling at Georgia.”

What Smart did wasn’t like when he signed in his first full recruiting cycle last year. It wasn’t like a random blowout win against an SEC East team, either. It wasn’t event like the SEC Championship that Georgia won for the first time in 12 years.

Wednesday was the new standard for Georgia recruiting. And by the look of it, that standard is through the roof.

Forget about just beating Alabama for the SEC’s top-rated recruiting class. Georgia is on its way to becoming the first non-Alabama school since 2010 to claim the title of “nation’s top-rated recruiting class.”

That’s at least the case in the 247sports rankings, where the Dawgs were ranked No. 1 by day’s end. They moved into that spot after getting yet another top-100 recruit on Wednesday night.

But regardless of if they can fend off Ohio State and hold onto the top spot, one thing certainly looks clear — Georgia’s momentum is an unstoppable force right now.

Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

It’s not as if there was doubt that Georgia would having a loaded signing class. Barring something crazy, the Dawgs entered Wednesday in good shape to sign a top-5 class coming off their conference title and College Football Playoff berth. What we didn’t know was just how good of a day it was going to be.

But one by one, the dominoes fell in Georgia’s favor.

No. 1 dual-threat quarterback Justin Fields didn’t have any last-second change of heart. Five-star offensive lineman Jamaree Salyer picked the Dawgs. Hours later, fellow 5-star offensive lineman Cade Mays did the same, as did 5-star defensive end Brenton Cox.

Finishing Wednesday with more 5-star recruits than Alabama, Ohio State and Texas combined was all you needed to know about the day that Georgia had. Having three of those 5-star recruits commit and sign on Wednesday only added to the hoopla for Georgia. There are plenty of Power 5 programs who go an entire decade without landing that many 5-star recruits.

And it wasn’t like all of these kids were in Smart’s backyard for the taking. He went into Knoxville and out-battled Dabo Swinney to land Mays. Smart even went into Florida and surprisingly flipped late Alabama commit Nadab Joseph. By day’s end, Smart won recruiting battles against Nick Saban, Swinney and Urban Meyer, who are widely considered the top 3 coaches in the sport.

Think about that.

This is still Smart’s second season in Athens. The guy hasn’t even coached in a New Year’s 6 bowl yet and he’s already making that kind of headway in the recruiting circles. That’s amazing.

And of course, a lot of that credit goes to Smart’s staff. Guys like Dell McGee and Sam Pittman were integral pieces to Georgia’s monumental day. Smart surrounded himself with assistants who have done a tremendous job of communicating the Dawgs’ mission. That is, do things the Alabama way.

Smart took a page out of Saban’s playbook on Wednesday. He’ll at least match the amount of 5-star recruits that Alabama signed 2 of the past 3 years. And what’s to say that can’t happen every year?

Georgia has the recruiting base, the coaching staff, the fan support and even the facilities to keep this thing going for years to come. They already have commitments from three 5-stars in 2019, including two from Georgia. Isn’t it hard to believe what the Dawgs were in the Liberty Bowl, TaxSlayer Bowl and Belk Bowl the past 3 years?

Wednesday was indeed a program-changing day, much like when Saban signed his first No. 1 class in 2011. He then rattled off seven consecutive top-ranked classes and went to four national championships in a 6-year window.

Was Wednesday just another climb in Saban’s footsteps?

It could’ve been. Georgia certainly didn’t move back on Wednesday. Say what you want about the over-hyping of recruits, but signing a class that could wind up at No. 1 is something anyone can see the benefits in. You don’t have to hit a home run on every top-100 recruit, you have more in-house competition than ever and obviously, you have more talent on the field every Saturday.

Few programs can establish a culture with those three things. Georgia, in a very short time of the Smart era, did just that. Only time will tell if that translates into national championships. For now, another thing certainly looks clear.

The Dawgs ain’t going to the Belk Bowl anytime soon.