Georgia finishes regular season No. 1 in coaches' poll
The the latest AFCA/USA Today coaches poll is out and Georgia is still in the top spot. The Bulldogs are in the No. 1 spot with a 12-0 record for the second straight season after knocking off Georgia Tech 37-14 on Saturday. They hold 60 of 63 first place votes with No. 2 Michigan getting the other three.
TCU slides up one spot to No. 3 and USC comes in at No. 4. Ohio State, after losing to Michigan, slides three spots to No. 5 followed by Alabama, Penn State, Tennessee, Washington, and Kansas State in that order.
Kirby Smart’s fell behind its instate rival on Saturday, allowing a first-quarter touchdown for the first time all year. The offense took a minute to gain its footing but when it did, it went on a 37-0 run to put the game away early in the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs rushed for 269 yards and Kenny McIntosh piled up 177 total yards and a score.
Stetson Bennett threw two touchdowns and Georgia had a 30-point lead until Tech used a fourth-down trick play against the reserve defense with a few minutes left in the contest. The Bulldogs have gone into a shell offensively the past two weeks, averaging just 19.5 pass attempts per game. They were averaging over 36 pass attempts per game prior to the trip to Kentucky.
The scoring has also been down in those games. Some of that is due to a lack of possessions with Kentucky and, to a lesser extend, Georgia Tech shortening the games. But UGA has also struggled mightily in the red zone the past two weeks with four short field goals and a complete whiff at the goal line against Kentucky.
Still, the Bulldogs have shown what they are capable of when the lights are the brightest. They came out of the 2022 gates firing vs. Oregon in the season opener, touchdowns on their first seven possessions to earn a 49-3 win.
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They blew out 8-4 South Carolina in Columbia in week three by a score of 45-7 and then dominated 10-2 Kentucky inside Sanford Stadium earlier this month. The final score was 27-13 but it was much more dominant than that. The Bulldogs led 27-6 in the third quarter before Tennessee added a late touchdown.
Next up for the Bulldogs is another chance to win the SEC. Georgia will take on LSU inside Mercedes-Benz-Stadium on December 3. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. ET on CBS.
It’ll mark the fifth time in Smart’s seven seasons as head coach that the Bulldogs have played for the league crown. Georgia has just one win in the previous four tries and that came in Smart’s first trip in 2017. The Bulldogs beat Auburn 28-7.
Since then UGA has lost to Alabama twice (2018 and 2021) and LSU once (2019). LSU is now out of the College Football Playoff picture after dropping its third game of the season to 4-8 Texas A&M. The Bulldogs are trying to win the league and keep the undefeated season going.
