Kirby Smart doesn't know how good Georgia football is. He's not alone. It just keeps winning
AUBURN, Ala. - Sure, Georgia football came to Jordan-Hare Stadium the No. 1-ranked team in the nation, but had it really done anything besides win back-to-back national championships to be seen as the best team this season?
That’s where Saturday’s game at Auburn was a canvas for the Bulldogs to paint the picture that this year’s team is playoff-worthy and a legit title contender even without Stetson Bennett, Jalen Carter and Todd Monken.
This Auburn team was no great shakes, as a 27-10 loss to Texas A&M showed last week.
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Still, the Tigers have one of the best home atmospheres in the SEC, and Georgia hadn’t left Athens all season.
What did we learn about Georgia?
They find a way to win when down.
They did it against South Carolina.
They did it Saturday in a 27-20 win, getting its final points with 2:52 to go on a Brock Bowers 40-yard touchdown catch.
“We’re a very resilient team,” coach Kirby Smart said. “We’re not going to go where we want to go if we don’t get better.”
The Bulldogs had trailed 10-0 and 17-10, but the bass was booming from the Bulldogs' nearby locker room during the first five minutes of Smart’s postgame press conference.
“A win is a win in my book,” said safety Javon Bullard, who returned from an ankle injury and had 10 tackles and two pass breakups. “It’s not always going to be pretty.”
Auburn quarterback Payton Thorne, who rushed for 92 yards and passed for 82, had this to say afterwards: “I thought that we should have won the game, to be honest. I give credit to them though, obviously. They’re a great team, two-time defending champs.”
Georgia had beaten Auburn by an average of 20.3 points the last six games and held the Tigers to 14 or less in every game.
An Auburn team in Hugh Freeze’s first season made this one a nailbiter.
Smart praised “the leadership of this team” for twice finding a way to win tight games this season.
“You don’t know how many times you’re going to be able to do that,” he said.
No. 2 Michigan may take some No. 1 votes from Georgia (5-0, 2-0 SEC) Sunday after it won 45-7 at Nebraska. No. 3 Texas pulled away from No. 24 Kansas 40-14.
“I don’t know how good of a team we’ve got, I really don’t,” Smart said. “I don’t sit here and proclaim we’ve got some unbelievable team. I do think our team believes in each other. We step up when we need to step up.”
Georgia could have another showdown on its hands Saturday in a battle of unbeaten teams when Kentucky rolls into town fresh off a 33-14 beatdown of Florida. If it wasn’t for Texas-Oklahoma, Athens would seem a slam dunk to be the site of College GameDay but the ESPN show is heading to the Red River rivalry.
Georgia has had two battles on its hands in two SEC games and still has not only the Wildcats but unbeaten Missouri ahead in early November.
Quarterback Carson Beck, making his first road start, said the win “showcases our toughenss, it showcases our composure. We’re tough. When the going gets tough, we get harder.”
Smart didn’t use the crutch of having so many guys out of the lineup due to injuries this season in affecting the team’s level of play.
Bullard and wide receiver Ladd McConkey returned. Running back Kendall Milton played but didn’t get a carry.
“I just think there’s a lot more parity in college football,” Smart said. “I don’t think there’s great separation between anybody.”
He said NFL scouts are telling him about the talent level at other programs they’ve visited.
“I told our team that we played a team (TCU) last year in the national championship that won like nine games that were all one-score games or something. I don’t know if my heart can handle that because we need to get better. We’re going to play teams as good or better than Auburn.”
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Georgia football remains unbeaten but living dangerously this season
