The Case For and Against the Georgia Bulldogs Winning a 3rd Straight Title
In the modern era of college football, no team has ever won back-to-back-to-back national championships.
That should come as no surprise. Winning one title is exceedingly difficult. Winning two is something that has occurred only a handful of times in the last hundred years.
And three? Well, you get the point.
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As November begins and the closing stretch of the season commences, the Bulldogs are in a position to make history.
Still unbeaten, Georgia debuted at No. 2 in the initial College Football Playoff Rankings. The question now, of course, is how this latest pursuit will ultimately end.
Can Georgia win its third consecutive national championship? Of course it can. Recent history says plenty. But the obstacles are real and different this time around.
Here is a case both for and against the Bulldogs delivering a three-peat.
The Case for Georgia to Win the National Championship
When you can recruit and develop as consistently as Georgia can, well, you put yourself in a position to win every single football game.
Granted, this simple formula can often be challenging to recreate. Just ask Jimbo Fisher and Texas A&M.
But when executed, a flow of talent can make sustained success a reality. "Having better players than the opposition" is an odd way to begin this discussion, but it also feels like the only way to begin.
Georgia's star power is different. It's less individualized and more cumulative in nature. But make no mistake about it, all the years of successful recruiting have helped construct another supremely talented roster.
At quarterback, Carson Beck has the look and feel of an emerging star. Beck has scored 17 touchdowns and thrown just four interceptions thus far this season. While he will never post Caleb Williams-esque stats in this offense, he's currently seventh in the nation in both passing yards per game and completion percentage.
As his experience grows, so should his performance. Beck isn't just a nice piece on a good team; he's a great player poised to improve with more reps.
Missing Brock Bowers, who is currently sidelined with an ankle injury, is a big deal. But the Georgia offense has also been without wideout Ladd McConkey for much of the season. On Saturday, we saw how brilliant a healthy McConkey can be against Florida.
If Bowers and McConkey are healthy late in the year or in the College Football Playoff, this offense will be a problem for defenses. Add in a running game that is averaging nearly five yards per carry, and the balance could prove to be significant.
On defense, Georgia might not be the same dominant force that it has been in recent years, but this group is still plenty good. The Bulldogs have allowed just 14.8 points per game this season, which is seventh nationally.
Jamon Dumas-Johnson, Mykel Williams and other athletic players up front should be able to provide a stable, consistent pass rush. With so many athletes on this side of the ball, Georgia has options.
This team has a quarterback, a talented roster and one of the best head coaches in football. Let's not skip over just how superb Kirby Smart is at this whole coaching thing. He's become an absolute force.
All the pieces are in place.
The Case Against Georgia to Win the National Championship
Brock Bowers is currently hurt. That's a problem.
A healthy Bowers could make Georgia's hopes and dreams come true. Anything less than that, however, will put an unbelievable amount of pressure on the offense.
Can the rest of the group pick up the slack? Perhaps. But Bowers' brilliance and presence is critical beyond description. Not having him fully functional will likely make life hard.
Beyond the obvious, the Bulldogs simply haven't been tested. The lone win against a ranked team came at home against Kentucky back in early October. The Wildcats have lost three consecutive games, and they are nowhere close to the Top 25.
That is a nice way of reinforcing the obvious: Georgia's path to 8-0 has been, well, light. Only three of those eight wins have come against teams with a winning record, and one of those teams is UT Martin.
Something will give on this front shortly. The Bulldogs play Missouri, Ole Miss and Tennessee over the next three weeks. All three are currently ranked in the top 20 of the AP Poll. Things escalate in a hurry.
Oh, and a game against Alabama or LSU or a team to be determined in the SEC Championship Game will also be on tap if the Bulldogs make it that far.
Forget about winning the national championship for a moment; Georgia has a challenging path to win the SEC and make the College Football Playoff.
Statically, despite playing weaker competition, Georgia's defense has regressed. Although it is capable, as mentioned above, it likely won't win this team any games like it once did. As the opposition improves, it's safe to ask how well this group will play.
This is a talented, deep group. But it's not presently dominant. (Again, we're grading on a tough curve.)
The other piece of this, of course, has very little to do with Georgia. The competition in the SEC and beyond is legitimate.
There are quality teams still to come in the SEC, as already mentioned. There are also a handful of teams that have equal—or perhaps better—talent than the Bulldogs.
Michigan, sign-stealing scandal, aside, looks like it will be up for the challenge. Ohio State, fresh off its No. 1 ranking in the initial College Football Rankings, could be as well. Oregon, Washington and Florida State, powered by gifted quarterbacks, are obviously a threat.
Georgia has looked like the dominant force in this sport during this prolonged stretch of dominance. There were worthy challengers along the way—mainly Alabama and then Ohio State over the past few years.
That is not necessarily the case, at least thus far, this year. Georgia deserves to be mentioned amongst the elite teams in college football, but the Bulldogs will have to do things differently this time around.
The Verdict
Of course, they can.
Georgia might not be the same team that dominated college football a few years ago, but this team's version is plenty good. Injuries and a lack of meaningful competition clouds the picture, although the coming weeks and more meaningful games will be telling.
It's hard to handicap how playoff and title game will translate for a team that returned plenty of key pieces, although this experience certainly separates Georgia from the rest of the competition.
In a year that might not have a truly dominant team, the Bulldogs are a contender. In fact, based off betting markets, they are still the favorite. History is within reach.
When you consider the fact that this team has won the last two championships, that is a remarkable accomplishment. And yet, there is still work to be done.
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