Kirby Smart will be the first to tell you that Georgia just wasn’t good enough in a number of key areas last season.

It’s why the Bulldogs, despite winning the SEC, finished with three losses during the 2024 season. The last time that happened came back in 2018.

Georgia has a number of key faces to replace entering the 2025 season. And with the usual roster churn, Smart has eyes on two key areas where Georgia has to be better.

“There’s a long list of things we can improve on,” Smart said in an interview with Cole Cubelic and Greg McElroy on WJOX. “But number one, we’ve got to stop the run better.And we’ve got to run the ball better. And if you do those two things, you’re also going to help yourself on third down. Because we weren’t where we needed to be on third down. But those problems came from first and second (down).”

Much has already been written about Georgia’s struggles to run the football last season and the need for improved tackling. Smart’s comments were not covering new ground.

So instead of focusing on why those were issues a season ago, perhaps it’s more instructive to see what improvement in those areas might ultimately look like.

When it comes to running the football, it’s hard for things to get worse than they did last year for the Bulldogs. Injuries were an issue all year at running back and on the offensive line. It’s no surprise that Georgia finished 102nd in the country in rushing yards per game given the year-long issues.

That mark was the worst of the Smart era. Georgia saw three offensive linemen from last year’s team get taken in the first 100 picks of the NFL draft, while running back Trevor Etienne came off the board in the fourth round.

Georgia didn’t make any changes when it comes to the coaching staff — keeping running backs coach Josh Crawford and offensive line coach Stacy Searels — and instead elected to bet on itself internally. Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo returns to Georgia as well.

On the offensive line, Georgia brings back four players with starting experience from a season ago. Monroe Freeling and Earnest Greene will be Georgia’s starting left and right tackles. Drew Bobo will be the team’s starting center and Micah Morris is likely to start at left guard.

Georgia brought in only one offensive lineman via the transfer portal and the last time Georgia had a freshman start on the offensive line came back in 2018.

If the offensive line is to play better, it’ll be in large part due to the players who were a part of last year’s team.

At running back, Georgia did dip into the transfer portal to add Illinois running back Joshua McCray. His skillset — he rushed for 10 touchdowns last year — should pair well with sophomore Nate Frazier. Etienne, for as talented as he was, had a skillset that overlapped with Frazier.

For as much attention that will be paid to Georgia’s next starting quarterback, the running game may be even more important. A strong running game, like Carson Beck had in his first season as a starter, makes life much easier.

In 2023, Georgia averaged 191 rushing yards per game and tied for the most rushing touchdowns with 40. A stronger run game also leads to more third-and-manageable situations, which makes third down less stressful.

Georgia led the country in third-down conversion rate in 2023, converting 55.2 percent of its attempts. That number sagged to 39.2 this past season. Some of that regression is natural but not to that extreme.

When Georgia won championships in 2021 and 2022, it averaged 191 yards and 205 yards per contest. It’s safe to say that the 190 yards per game benchmark should be what Georgia is aiming for. The third-down conversion rates in those years were 45.0 and 51.1.

Defensively, Georgia’s rush defense metrics didn’t experience the same drastic fall-off. The Bulldogs, with a defensive front that had five players drafted, finished 36th in rush defense a year ago.

The problem for Georgia was that in previous years, the Bulldogs were one of if not the very best teams in the country in rushing yards per game allowed.

From 2019 through 2022, Georgia never finished outside the top 2 in the country in rush defense. The 2023 season saw Georgia finish 20th in the metric, but that translated to just 113 rushing yards per game.

But Georgia ranked first in the country in third-down stop rate during that season. Last year, the Bulldogs fell to 17th in the country. That slippage illustrates Smart’s point.

Perhaps Georgia was due for some regression in the category, given how many elite defenders have left for the NFL draft in recent years. That was the case once again this offseason.

The Bulldogs see linebackers Raylen Wilson and CJ Allen return. On the defensive line, it’s a much younger group that will be led by Christen Miller. He is the only member of the group who was on either of the championship teams.

Georgia went into the transfer portal to add Miami defensive lineman Joshua Horton and outside linebacker Elo Modozie to bolster both position groups. The Bulldogs have recruited extremely well as well, landing the No. 1 defensive lineman, outside linebacker and inside linebacker in the country, according to the On3 Industry rankings for the 2025 recruiting cycle.

As for identifying a statistical number to look for, the No. 5 rushing defense has given up an average of 89 yards per game over the previous four seasons.

Smart rarely puts much of an emphasis on team or individual statistics to determine whether or not Georgia is successful in an area. Football games are not played on spreadsheets after all.

But if Georgia is averaging 191 rushing yards per game and giving up 90 rushing yards per game, odds are the Georgia football team will look closer to the one that won championships.

Rather than the one that left so many, fans and players alike, disappointed.

“I really don’t get caught up in it,” Smart said of expectations in an interview with Paul Finebaum. “I love the expectation. I embrace that. I think that’s a good thing because if it’s not there, then what are you playing for, you know?”