ATLANTA — Vince Dooley was 21-4 against Kentucky, 21-1-1 against Vanderbilt, 19-6 against Georgia Tech. That’s what you’d call a baseline. Never — well, almost never — did Dooley’s Georgia lose to somebody it shouldn’t have.
Kirby Smart has built his own baseline. Forget his first season, which included losses to Vandy and Tech. From 2017 on, the Bulldogs have lost five regular-season games. Only in the COVID-19 season of 2020 did they drop more than one. Only twice have the losses come against SEC East brethren — Florida in 2020, which was understandable, and South Carolina in 2019, which this observer considers the biggest upset in Sanford Stadium history.
Over the past five seasons, Georgia is 58-10. Four losses were to Alabama. Apart from the South Carolina aberration — Jake Fromm threw three interceptions and lost a fumble; Rodrigo Blankenship missed two field-goal tries, the second in overtime — only the Sugar Bowl against Texas could be deemed a significant upset, and the Longhorns entered the game ranked 15th. Also Georgia, denied a playoff spot, didn’t want to be there.
