ATHENS — Georgia needed exactly one game to shift the narrative in the SEC, proving that while the team might be down this season, it’s certainly not out.
The Bulldogs, in fact, are the odds-on favorite to win the SEC, per DraftKings.com, after scoring a 44-41 overtime win over Tennessee in Neyland Stadium on Saturday in Knoxville.
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“This was as peak Georgia as it gets,” ESPN podcast host Matt Barrie said on his show this week.
“They seem to find a way, when they have really, really good — and not their best — to find a way to win.”
SEC Network host Paul Finebaum agreed, noting the Bulldogs were not among the trendy picks at the start of the season, even as defending league champs.
“That’s the trademark of Kirby Smart, he’s employed it throughout his career at Georgia,” Finebaum said of Smart’s ability to win close games, the Bulldogs triumphing in three of their last six games in walk-off fashion. “What it really does is, is that they have positioned themselves now.”
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It’s a deep SEC, with 11 of the 16 teams in the league ranked in the AP Top 25.
Georgia, at No. 5, is the second-highest ranked team in the league (LSU is at No. 3), and has seen first-year starting quarterback Gunner Stockton establish himself on the big stage.
“The SEC is wide open now, but we had forgotten Georgia, and you can’t overlook them now,” Finebaum said. “Two (Saturdays) from now they’ll be playing Alabama — that’s always been their Armageddon — if they get Alabama, they are sitting pretty.”
Smart is 1-6 all-time against Alabama, but the Tide has not played Smart between the hedges in Athens since he took over as head coach at Georgia in 2016.
The Bulldogs opened as a 3.5-point favorite in the 7:30 p.m., Sept. 27 game, and more media personalities are acknowledging that Georgia is once again the team to beat.
“The SEC still goes through Georgia,” FoxSports podcast host Joel Klatt said, “because those Dawgs can bite.
“They have resilience. This is a great, proud program. They practice with urgency. They build their roster with urgency. They play with urgency. This is what we didn’t see from Alabama against Florida State in Week One. This is a team that answered the bell in that environment.”
No doubt, Georgia rallied from 21-7 down at the end of the first quarter and trailed 38-30 in the final minutes, their projected win percentage in the game slipping to 6 percent per ESPN metrics.
But Stockton’s 28-yard touchdown pass to London Humphreys became an Oil Painting Moment after Zachariah Branch caught the ensuing 2-point conversion pass, and the Dawgs won in overtime.
