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The Georgia Bulldogs are coming off a golden 2021 college football season, having finally delivered a College Football Playoff National Championship to Athens. Pulling off a two-peat in the FBS is never going to be an easy task, but if Georgia football is to accomplish that feat in 2022, here are four major reasons why they will do just that.
4 reasons why Georgia football will win 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship
4. The great football minds of Athens
Georgia finally figured out a way to win the national title in 2021. They might still have the formula in their hands in 2022. After all, Georgia football's think tank is still led by head coach Kirby Smith, who will come into the new season with reasonable hopes that his squad will go all the way and win it all.
No, Smart and the Bulldogs were not able to sweep the competition last season, but after suffering their only loss in 2021 at the hands of Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide in the SEC championship game, it did not take them long enough to get payback. After absolutely beating the lights out of the Michigan Wolverines in the Capital One Orange Bowl, the Bulldogs took down Alabama in the CFP National Championship Game to the tune of a 33-18 score.
The Bulldogs did not simply win that game because they rode the momentum of their huge victory over Jim Harbaugh’s Wolverines; it’s also because Smart unlocked the full potential of his team in the biggest game of the year against the top-ranked program that season. Todd Monken remains as the offensive coordinator of Georgia, which averaged nearly 40 points a game in 2021. There is a major change in the defensive coordinator position with Dan Lanning leaving to be the head coach of the Oregon Ducks, but familiar faces will be sharing the defensive coordinator role in Athens, as Will Muschamp and Glenn Schumann have assumed that role together.
3. Georgia football knows how to produce on the ground
Bennett, of course, isn’t the only one who will be benefitting from Georgia’s offensive line which is already being projected to turn out to be among the best in college football this season. When you speak of Georgia football, there’s got to be a mention of the program’s ground attack.
While they no longer have their top two rushers in 2021 with both Zamir White and James Cook gone, Kenny McIntosh and Kendall Milton are still in Athens, ready to take over much of the team’s rushing chores. Both McIntosh and Milton had fantastic performances in the spring. McIntosh had 328 rushing yards and three touchdowns on just 58 carries in 2021, showing a glimpse of what he could do with a bigger role. Milton, on the other hand, had 259 rushing yards and a touchdown on 56 rushing attempts. On Todd McShay’s list of top 50 NFL 2023 prospects among 2022 college football players this season, McIntosh ranked third among running backs.
“McIntosh has a compact running style, running low to the ground with good lower-body flexibility. He is quick with a really good center of gravity, and while he is not overpowering, he also doesn't go down easily. McIntosh is really smooth stringing together multiple cuts and frequently makes the first defender miss, but ball security has been a slight issue. In the pass game, he has reliable hands and is comfortable lining up in the slot and out wide. He has only 130 carries over three seasons, but he has averaged 5.8 yards per carry and scored six times on the ground.”
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2. Defense remains solid
It wouldn't be shocking to say that defense was the biggest reason that the Bulldogs won it all in 2021. Dan Lanning smoothly operated Georgia's stop unit that was stacked with elite talents. In 2021, Georgia had the best scoring defense in the nation, allowing just 10.4 points per game, while also ranking third overall with only 279.1 total yards surrendered per outing. Duplicating those feats in 2022 isn't going to be easy for Georgia which lost quite a number of key contributors in the offseason. Apart from Lanning, also gone in Athens are the likes of Travon Walker, Jordan Davis, Nakobe Dean, Quay Walker, and Lewis Cine. But for a huge football program like Georgia, it is almost always going to be just fine with those losses because it is still loaded with potential future NFL first and second-rounders.
1. Stetson Bennett is still around
Stetson Bennett’s game doesn’t scream of NFL stardom potential but he should be more than good enough for Georgia football to expect big things from their offense with him under center. Last season, Bennett passed for 2,862 yards and 29 touchdowns against only seven interceptions, while also completing 64.5 percent of his pass attempts. He is also returning for his sixth season in college, and with a ton of experience behind him, he should be able to handle any situation thrown his way in 2022. That ability will come in handy for the Bulldogs, especially with big targets on their back as the reigning and defending national champion.
Here’s Lanning perfectly laying out why Stetson Bennett is a major weapon for Georgia ahead of Oregon’s showdown with his former team.
Via Don Smalley of USA Today:
“Stetson exudes confidence, right, he’s a really confident player,” Lanning said in his press conference on Monday night. “He knows what he knows, he’s very intelligent. There’s not a throw he doesn’t feel like he can’t make and obviously he’s elusive, you know when he’s in the pocket and the way he’s able to move and extend plays. So yeah, I’ve got a lot of respect for Stetson, because he got it the long hard way, right? Nothing was handed to him. You know, this guy went and earned it. He earned the respect of his teammates and his coaching staff.”
