Welcome to the first installment of the Morning Five, in which we bring you five quick facts that every Georgia Bulldog fan needs to be aware of. Today, we’re focusing on five games that will define the Red and Black’s 2024 season, with one nugget that brings a bit of context to each matchup.
#1 Clemson isn’t in fact #1. Dabo Swinney’s squad will enter the 2024 season having not been picked to finish first overall in the preseason by league media for the first time since 2017. Those of us in SEC country have certainly gotten off our fair share of jokes over the years about the level of competition in the Almost Competent Conference. But be that as it may the Country Gentlemen have put together a pretty solid streak of dominance there. One expects that the bulletin boards on the other side of Lake Hartwell have been covered with clippings of effusive praise for Florida State this offseason. Will that motivate the Tigers when they face Georgia to kick things off on August 31st?
#2 Josh Heupel, Streak Buster? The Bulldogs have not lost a home game in Sanford Stadium since being upset by South Carolina in 2019. There’s every reason to believe that, whatever happens in the series of tough road tests Georgia faces this season, that undefeated streak will continue. The best hope to break it may be offensive genius (TM) and Bobby Hill impersonator Josh Heupel, whose 15th ranked Tennessee Volunteers are the only team the Dawgs face at home this season who are currently ranked.
#3 Somebody forgot to send Greg Sankey a Christmas card. Admittedly that’s less a cold hard fact and more a suspicion. It’s as good an explanation as any for the Red and Black’s murderous road schedule. Somehow, a November 9th trip to Oxford to take on #6 Ole Miss is only the third most dangerous road trip of the season.
#2 39 is a nice number. 43 would be nicer. Kirby Smart’s team has won 39 consecutive regular season football games. And while Bulldog fans can’t overlook the opener against Clemson or a September 14th trip to Lexington to take on Kentucky, the likely first big test of that streak will come on September 28th when they travel to Tuscaloosa to take on Kalen DeBoer’s Alabama team.
Alabama quite possibly kept Georgia from securing its third consecutive national title by jumping up and biting the Bulldogs in the SEC championship game last December. It was a fitting swan song for Nick Saban, besting his star pupil one more time. But winning an early season matchup with Smart to snap the Dawgs’ regular season streak would be a big boost for Saban’s successor. On the other hand, rolling into T-town and turning the Tide would be a great way for Kirby to demonstrate that there’s a new boss in the SEC.
#1 There can be only one. No, I haven’t been rewatching Highlander for the eightieth time (I did that yesterday). I mean atop the SEC football firmament. And there’s a decent chance that surviving master of the SEC will be either Georgia or their October 19th opponents, the Texas Longhorns.
While not immortal, these two programs are among the all-time greats in college football. Georgia has spent 51 weeks at the top of the AP poll in program history, good for 9th among collegiate programs. Texas is right behind at #10 with 45 weeks on top. Georgia has produced 49 first round NFL Draft picks, tenth most among college programs. Texas is right behind the Dawgsin eleventh with 48. Georgia has been to the second highest number of bowl games (62) among college programs. Texas is third with 59 postseason appearances. The schools have each produced two Heisman winners. Each program is coached by a young former Nick Saban assistant, sits inside a talent-rich recruiting bed, and is well-funded.
In short, Georgia and Texas seem fated to battle each other in a gridiron pas de deux that could span years, even decades. For what it’s worth, the ‘Horns lead the all-time series 3-1. I expect the teams will be seeing a lot more of each other in the next few seasons. Until later…
Go ‘Dawgs!!!