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Georgia Bulldogs make jump in second poll of 2022 season

Palmber-Thombsby:Palmer Thombs•09/06/22•

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Tony Walsh/UGA Sports Communications

Week One of College Football is in the books, and that’s means it’s time for new polls. Released on Tuesday this week as opposed to the traditional Sunday spot — due to a couple of games still needing to be played on Sunday and Monday nights — Georgia jumps up one spot in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll from No. 3 to No. 2. The Bulldogs, who received six votes for the top spot in the preseason, still have that same number of nods for No. 1 to its name in the second poll of the season.

UPDATE (2:15 p.m.) – Georgia is also No. 2 in the AP Poll, jumping Ohio State there as well. However, the Bulldogs did pick up a bigger portion of the first-place votes, going from three in the preseason to 17 (over 25% of the total votes) in Week Two.

Coaches Poll

Alabama still holds on to its top spot in the country after beating Utah State 55-0 in a game where reigning Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young threw for five touchdowns and added another score on the ground, but the Bulldogs pass by Ohio State following their dominant 49-3 win over Oregon. Stetson Bennett threw for a career-high 368 yards and two touchdowns while the defense intercepted Bo Nix twice on the day and kept Oregon out of the end zone for the first time since 2017. Christopher Smith, who had one of those interceptions, was named SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts. The Buckeyes on the other hand struggled a little bit at home as a 17.5-point favorite over Notre Dame before eventually creating some separation to win Saturday night’s primetime matchup.

As for other teams that are on Georgia’s schedule, as well as the one that the Bulldogs beat on Saturday, SEC East opponents Florida and Kentucky find themselves at No. 19 and No. 20 respectively. The Gators beat Utah in the other Saturday night spotlight game to jump into the rankings after having been on the outside looking in to start the season. Florida and Kentucky will play each other this week. Meanwhile, Oregon dropped from No. 12 to No. 24 following the loss to Georgia.

Tennessee (No. 26), Mississippi State (No. 31), Auburn (No. 36) and South Carolina (No. 39) are the others receiving votes.

  1. Alabama Crimson Tide
  2. Georgia Bulldogs
  3. Ohio State Buckeyes
  4. Clemson Tigers
  5. Michigan Wolverines
  6. Texas A&M Aggies
  7. Oklahoma Sooners
  8. Baylor Bears
  9. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
  10. Oklahoma State Cowboys
  11. Michigan State Spartans
  12. USC Trojans
  13. NC State Wolfpack
  14. Pitt Panthers
  15. Utah Utes
  16. Miami Hurricanes
  17. Arkansas Razorbacks
  18. Wisconsin Badgers
  19. Florida Gators
  20. Kentucky Wildcats
  21. Wake Forest Demon Deacons
  22. Texas Longhorns
  23. Ole Miss Rebels
  24. Oregon Ducks
  25. BYU Cougars

AP Poll

Florida goes from unranked to No. 12 in the AP Poll, and Tennessee joins at No. 24 as well. Kentucky, No. 20, is also a ranked opponent that Georgia will play. As for Oregon, the Ducks fell out and are in the ‘Others Receiving Votes’ category at No. 26 along with Auburn (No. 35), Mississippi State (No. 36) and South Carolina (No. 40).

  1. Alabama Crimson Tide
  2. Georgia Bulldogs
  3. Ohio State Buckeyes
  4. Michigan Wolverines
  5. Clemson Tigers
  6. Texas A&M Aggies
  7. Oklahoma Sooners
  8. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
  9. Baylor Bears
  10. USC Trojans
  11. Oklahoma State Cowboys
  12. Florida Gators
  13. Utah Utes
  14. Michigan State Spartans
  15. Miami Hurricanes
  16. Arkansas Razorbacks
  17. Pitt Panthers
  18. NC State Wolfpack
  19. Wisconsin Badgers
  20. Kentucky Wildcats
  21. BYU Cougars
  22. Ole Miss Rebels
  23. Wake Forest Demon Deacons
  24. Tennessee Volunteers
  25. Houston Cougars

“I was really proud of the way our kids played,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said in his postgame press conference. “We tried to talk about coming out and playing as if we were hunting, and we wanted to play connected football. That was all we talked about all week; we’re going to play connected, we’re going to play aggressive, we’re going to be a hunter. Kids kind of bought into that theme, and they like playing here.”

“Offensively we did execute at a high level, which when you have an experienced quarterback and you have experienced players, you can do that,” he continued. “I thought Coach Monken and his offensive staff had a good plan. They played well. Defensively we were a little more bend-but-don’t-break. At the half we both had 14 1st downs and really had not stopped them like either team had wanted. Some opportunistic turnovers really helped the defense.”

Georgia is back in action this coming Saturday at home against FCS opponent Samford. Kickoff time is set for 4:00 p.m. ET on the SEC Network.

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