The Georgia Bulldogs are through the first quarter of the regular season. Georgia’s schedule to start the year is pretty easy. The 3-0 Bulldogs won’t leave home until Week 5 when Georgia travels to face Auburn.
Georgia topped South Carolina 24-14 in Week 3 after trailing by 11 at halftime. The Bulldogs have looked solid, but not spectacular to start the season.
Buy Bulldogs TicketsGeorgia is breaking in a new starting quarterback in Carson Beck and a new offensive coordinator in Mike Bobo, so some growing pains should be expected on that side of the ball.
What are the biggest concerns for Georgia football, ranked from least concerning to most concerning, through three weeks of the college football season?
5
Lack of elite play at quarterback
Carson Beck has taken care of the football and helped the Dawgs march down the field with decent success. Georgia’s red zone struggles are partially due to the fact that opposing defenses don’t have to account for Beck as much of a run threat.
To win a national championship, it takes elite quarterback play. Beck has not played an elite game yet. The junior quarterback has the pieces around him. Beck needs to continue to make progress and stack performances in order to get closer to playing at an elite level.
Right now, this is our smallest concern for the Bulldogs.
4
Slow starts
Georgia has gotten off to slow starts in all three of its games. The Bulldogs overwhelmed Ball State in the second quarter in Week 2, but paid for starting slow against South Carolina.
Slow starts can cause Georgia’s starters to have to play longer against inferior opponents thereby increasing the chances of a starter getting injured. Another concern with Georgia’s lackluster first halves is if Georgia gets into a hole on the road against a team like Auburn or Tennessee, then it could make the Georgia offense one-dimensional and put more pressure on quarterback Carson Beck.
3
Red zone struggles
Georgia has experienced some red zone struggles over the past couple of seasons despite winning back-to-back national championships. The Bulldogs have been rock-solid defensively over the years in the red zone, but allowed South Carolina to score two touchdowns from the red zone.
Offensively, Kirby Smart is looking for better execution on first down. Georgia needs to avoid negative plays in the red zone.
We didn’t have positive 1st and 10 plays in the red area on offense, which that gets you in trouble, too, because you usually have four downs down there to go for it.
2
Inconsistent play at kicker
Georgia football true freshman Peyton Woodring is capable of turning it around, but he is off to a shaky start in 2023. Woodring has made 4-of-7 field goal attempts. He missed a pair of kicks against South Carolina. Woodring has missed two field goals under 30 yards.
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart is trying to help Woodring get over mental obstacles that kickers can face.
Yeah, you definitely talk to him. You try to find out the whys and how they’re feeling, what’s going on emotionally, especially when it’s a freshmen. And you try to talk to him, and we’ve got guys on our team that he’s close to. We’ve got guys that work with the kickers within our organization that do a good job.
Georgia is used to outstanding play at kicker. The Bulldogs could help Woodring out by putting him in low pressure situations.
The first thing that’ll help him is scoring touchdowns, because extra points are easier than field goals.
At the end of the day, Woodring is going to have to come through for the Bulldogs in a clutch moment at some point this fall.
1
Injuries
Georgia football has a laundry list of injuries right now. Kirby Smart believes it is the most injuries that the Bulldogs have ever had during his time in Athens, Georgia.
Right tackle Amarius Mims is out with an ankle injury. Georgia has several injuries at running back. Star receiver Ladd McConkey is expected to continue missing action. Safety Javon Bullard also has an ankle injury. That’s just a few of Georgia’s injury concerns right now.
