2018 Georgia football preview

The sudden ending to last season’s national championship game won’t soon escape the minds of Georgia Bulldog fans, but third-year coach Kirby Smart put it in the rearview mirror long ago.

“I think that’s something that you guys think about a lot, but not really us,” Smart said in July at SEC Media Days. “We’re on to the next year. We are on to the new recruit. We’re on to the next strategy.”

The next strategy will be concerned with replacing the contributions of 12 starters from last season who have departed. Those include the most prolific rushing duo in major college football history, the Butkus Award winner (given to the nation’s best linebacker) and two more first-round NFL draft picks.

Sophomore quarterback Jake Fromm, who finished third in the SEC in passing efficiency last season, does return, as do four starting offensive linemen and one of a deep stable of running backs.

The talent from back-to-back top-three recruiting classes will also be tasked with maintaining the steady improvement that carried the Bulldogs from an 8-5 season in 2016 to the national championship game last year.

“You guys keep printing how many we lost, and I think that helps us,” Smart said. “The more you guys talk about what we lost, the more those guys say let me show you what I can do.”

2018 schedule
Sept. 1 – Austin Peay
Sept. 8 – at South Carolina
Sept. 15 – Middle Tennessee
Sept. 22 – at Missouri
Sept. 29 – Tennessee
Oct. 6 – Vanderbilt
Oct. 13 – at LSU
Oct. 27 – Florida (Jacksonville)
Nov. 3 – at Kentucky
Nov. 10 – Auburn
Nov. 17 – UMass
Nov. 24 – Georgia Tech

2017 record: 13-2 (7-1 conf./1st in SEC East – SEC champions)
All-time SEC championships: 13
All-time bowl appearances: 54 (31-20-3)

2017 results
Sept. 2 – Appalachian State – W 31-10
Sept. 9 – at Notre Dame – W 20-19
Sept. 16 – Samford – W 42-14
Sept. 23 – Mississippi State – W 31-3
Sept. 30 – at Tennessee – W 41-0
Oct. 7 – at Vanderbilt – W 45-14
Oct. 14 – Missouri – W 53-28
Oct. 28 – Florida* – W 42-7
Nov. 4 – South Carolina – W 24-10
Nov. 11 – at Auburn – L 40-17
Nov. 18 – Kentucky – W 42-13
Nov. 25 – at Georgia Tech – W 38-7
Dec. 2 – Auburn+ – W 28-7
Jan. 1 – Oklahoma# – W 54-48
Jan. 8 – Alabama^ – L 26-23 (OT)
*Jacksonville, Florida
+SEC Championship Game
#Rose Bowl playoff semifinal
^College Football Playoff National Championship

Returning statistical leaders

Rushing – Att – Yards – Avg – TD
D’Andre Swift – 81 – 618 – 7.6 – 3
Passing – Comp-Att – INT – TD – Yards
Jake Fromm – 181-291 – 7 – 24 – 2615
Receiving – Rec Yards – Avg – TD
Terry Godwin – 38 – 639 – 16.8 – 6
Tackles – Total – INT – Sacks – TFL
J.R. Reed – 79 – 2 – 1.5 – 5

Starters returning: 13
Offense: 8
Defense: 4
Specialty: 1

Starters lost: 12
Offense: 3
Defense: 7
Specialty: 2

Returning offensive starters: Kendall Baker (OG, Sr.), Rodrigo Blankenship (PK, Jr.), Ben Cleveland (OG, R-So.), Jake Fromm (QB, So.), Lamont Gaillard (OG, Jr.), Terry Godwin (WR, Sr.), Nick Moore (SN, Jr.), Isaac Nauta (TE, Jr.), Riley Ridley (WR, Jr.), Andrew Thomas (OT, So.)
Returning defensive starters: Deandre Baker (CB, Jr.), Tyler Clark (DT, Jr.), Jonathan Ledbetter (DE, Sr.), J.R. Reed (CB, Jr.)