Category: UGA Football

Kirby Smart is in his eighth year directing the Bulldogs who are 91-15 in this span including back-to-back national championships in 2021 and 2022. This offseason, Georgia took a deep dive on the New Zealand All Blacks, the world’s most successful rugby team, or quite frankly, any sports team in history.

Georgia has established an SEC record for Most Consecutive Weeks at No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll. The Bulldogs are second all-time at 22 weeks, and this is the longest streak in the College Football Playoff era. 33 Southern California, 12/8/03 to 12/4/05 22 GEORGIA, 10/9/22 – current

The Bulldog senior class collected its 47th win with its latest victory over No. 9 Ole Miss.

1. 49-5 (2022)
2. 47-3 (2023)

On Saturday at No. 13 Tennessee, Georgia takes aim at an SEC regular season three-peat, that is to go 8-0 in three consecutive seasons, something that no other program has done since the league went to an eight-game schedule in 1992. In 2021, the Bulldogs posted their first perfect 8-0 SEC mark in school history with an average margin of victory of 31.9 points. The 2022 Bulldogs followed with another 8-0 SEC season with the average margin of victory of 25.5. The 2023 Bulldogs have an average margin of victory in SEC games this year of 19.9.

UT (7-3, 3-3 SEC), coached by Josh Heupel, has won 14 straight home games, which is the third longest active streak at home behind Georgia (25) and Michigan (21). The Vols average 32.0 ppg while allowing 20.2 ppg. UT ranks eighth nationally in rushing offense (213.3 ypg). They rank second in the SEC with 33 sacks. UT is coming off a 36-7 road loss to No. 12 Missouri as the Tigers tallied 531 yards of total offense, the most allowed by the Vols this year. UT came into that contest allowing an SEC-low 97 yards rushing per game but the league leader, Cody Schrader, scampered for 205 yards on 35 carries.

The 2022 contest in Athens marked the first 1-2 (Associated Press ranking) matchup in Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium history and was just the third ever top five matchup. The Bulldogs, No. 1 in the polls but No. 3 in the initial CFP rankings, faced off against Tennessee who was No. 1 in the CFP. Along with CBS broadcasting the game, ESPN College GameDay and SEC Nation were all in Athens. Georgia emerged with a 27-13 victory. UT entered the contest ranked No. 1 in the county in points per game (49.4). Georgia’s defense limited them to 289 yards on 75 plays.

The Bulldogs lead the all-time series with UT 27-23-2 including winning the past six meetings. This is the longest streak of Bulldog success in the series. The Bulldogs are 6-1 against the Vols under Kirby Smart, the lone defeat coming in 2016 on a Hail-Mary by Josh Dobbs in Athens. He completed a 43-yarder to Jauan Jennings as time expired to lift No. 11 Tennessee past No. 25 Georgia 34-31.

The Bulldogs are one of only three teams in the country who are ranked in the top 10 in both Scoring Offense and Scoring Defense. The Bulldogs rank sixth in Scoring Defense at 15.6 ppg and sixth in Scoring Offense at 40.6 ppg. The other two teams are Michigan (10-0) and SMU (8-2).

One of the keys to Georgia’s success is its third down defense. The Bulldogs are ranked seventh nationally with opponents converting just 28 percent of the time. In SEC action, Georgia opponents are a combined 26-for-84 on third downs (28 percent). The Bulldogs lead the country in converting third downs (56 percent). Georgia has converted 47 of 86 third downs (55 percent) against league opponents.

Since the arrival of Kirby Smart in 2016, the Bulldogs have featured talented defenses and twice led the nation in Scoring Defense. This season, Georgia is ranked sixth nationally allowing 15.6 points/game.

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