Georgia Is Making Its Case for Being the Best Team in College Football

With all due respect to the greatest coach to ever grace a sideline and the most potent dynasty of our lifetime, Alabama is not currently the best college football team in America.

To be clear, this is not meant to be controversial. It is not an attempt to gain clicks by alienating all the Crimson Tide fans in attendance, although this outcome seems like a given.

Alabama is a wonderful football team, which it proved once again against Ole Miss and Lane Kiffin on Saturday. While some questioned how Nick Saban would handle a team and an offense that has looked dominant through much of the young season, Alabama did what Alabama almost always does.

But that result, as significant as it was, wasn't the outcome that stood out most Saturday.

No performance was more dominating and convincing than what Georgia unleashed on Arkansas, one of the darlings of the young season. And while numbers don't always tell the story of a football game, it's the only place to begin when summarizing the 37-0 loss.

The score could have been a lot worse. Georgia, which dominated time of possession, largely sat on the ball in the second half. Given the fact that the game was essentially over by the end of the first quarter, the strategy is hard to argue with.

The Razorbacks, coming off their biggest win of the year at Texas A&M, were held to 162 total yards of offense and nine first downs. They didn't tally a single point, nor did they ever really threaten the possibility of scoring.

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In some ways, it was perhaps expected. Georgia was more than a two-touchdown favorite in this game—a point spread that came into question when starting quarterback JT Daniels was ruled out because of injury Saturday morning.

But even with backup Stetson Bennett leading the offense, the Bulldogs had no issues. And to be frank, you—yes, you—could have been the starting quarterback for Georgia, and they still would have won.

That speaks to the talent of a team that has out-recruited the rest of college football, including Alabama, over the past four years.

So far this season, this talent has translated to box scores like the one we saw against Arkansas, regardless of the opponent.

Through five games this season, Georgia has allowed one offensive touchdown. One.

For those curious, South Carolina scored that lone touchdown. It came in the fourth quarter of a game that featured a score of 40-6. (That is a nice way of saying it came in garbage time.)

The total tally on the season is as follows:

Georgia 205, Georgia Opponents 23

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What's most striking about the way Georgia plays is how overwhelming it all looks. It feels, in many ways, Alabama-esque.

The defense, especially up front, is athletic, enormous and almost impossible to move. And while the offense doesn't have the same pop as some other teams with championship aspirations, including the Crimson Tide, it doesn't have to with so many other pieces in place.

The offensive line is a wall of mass and destruction; the running backs are a mix of power, speed and pass-catching threats. And at quarterback, Daniels has the potential to become an elite player, but injuries have slowed that progress mightily. Even then, Georgia hasn't needed him to be anything more than average.

This is everything you could possibly want in a football team—a glutton of athletes capable of finally bringing Georgia the national championship that has eluded it for far too long.

And so, as we journey to the meat of the college football season, two programs stand out above all others.

While we might disagree on whether Georgia is better than Alabama, we are likely more in sync on the following: The gap between these two programs and the rest of college football feels monumental.

Sure, Iowa has a menacing defense. And yes, Cincinnati has shown it can compete with anyone, including Georgia, over the past year. But in terms of optics, talent and coaching, the 2021 season feels like one that will ultimately be defined by one of these two teams.

On Alabama's side, the wins have been more meaningful. Beating Miami in the opener doesn't mean much these days, although victories over Florida and Ole Miss are fine resume additions.

And let's not kid ourselves. This is Alabama. As long as Saban is coaching, we will always hold this team to a higher standard than anyone else. We will naturally rank this program higher because history tells us this is a wise thing to do.

For Georgia, it's about domination. Like Alabama, its Week 1 win has lost plenty of luster. Clemson is nothing close to the team we thought we were getting, and thus that triumph doesn't carry the same weight we thought it might.

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But beating Arkansas—and everyone else, for that matter—in the way it has certainly felt different. It's overpowering. Overwhelming. It's dominance in the highest form.

Whether you fancy Alabama or Georgia as your team of choice through the first month-and-change of the college football season, it likely won't matter. In some instances, we have to play the hypothetical when talking about teams that might never meet.

When it comes to these two, it feels like it's more or less a matter of when.

Barring the unforeseen, Alabama and Georgia will meet in the SEC Championship Game. They could then very well meet again in the College Football Playoff or national championship—a path that has already been traveled.

Until then, give me Georgia—not because it's the trendy thing to do or because it's fun to enrage a fan base, but because the early domination is worth rewarding.

In truth, it doesn't matter now what team is ranked higher than the other. All that matters is that they meet before the season ends so we can tie a bow on the conversation and witness football greatness in its purest form.

We'll know the answer then, and what a moment it shall be.