Georgia did what No. 1 teams are supposed to do on Saturday: it flattened Oklahoma and made the rest of the country take notice.
The Bulldogs’ 41-13 win gave them a clean, loud argument for the top spot in the AP Top 25, even if Texas is sitting there now. Georgia didn’t just beat Oklahoma.
It controlled the game from the opening minutes, sprinting to a 7-0 lead and then stretching that advantage to 28-0 by halftime. The second half didn’t offer much relief for the Sooners, either, as Georgia kept piling it on and made Oklahoma look like it didn’t belong on the same field.
At 4-0, Georgia still hasn’t been seriously tested, but that hasn’t stopped it from crushing every team in front of it. The Bulldogs opened with a 60-point win over Tennessee State, followed that with a 50-point win over Western Kentucky, then beat Arkansas by 28 on the road before the 28-point rout of Oklahoma.
Yes, the schedule has been soft. But the dominance has been real, and Oklahoma’s defense was supposed to be one of the best in the country.
Georgia still scored at will and smothered the Sooners for most of the afternoon.
Texas, meanwhile, has the kind of résumé that looks strong at first glance and gets a little shakier the longer you stare at it. The Longhorns do own two ranked wins, over Ohio State and Tennessee, and those are better on paper than anything Georgia has right now. But neither one came cleanly.
Ohio State spent three quarters in control before Texas stormed back with a 20-point fourth quarter to steal it. That comeback deserves credit, but it also came with a heavy dose of good fortune. The Tennessee win was close, too - Texas escaped by three even though the Vols were working with their backup quarterback for part of the game and nearly flipped the outcome after recovering an onside kick late.
And Tennessee’s own résumé is still a question mark. The Vols haven’t picked up a quality win yet, so it’s hard to know exactly what Texas beat. If Tennessee slides and turns out to be a middling team, that narrow Texas win won’t age well.
So yes, Georgia has a case. A strong one, actually. Whether AP Poll voters are ready to move the Bulldogs ahead of Texas is another matter, but after the way Georgia handled Oklahoma, the argument for No. 1 belongs to them now.
In Other News...
Georgia Has One Dangerous Problem Heading Into Vanderbilt
Georgia has spent this season looking every bit like a team that expects to keep winning, and the matchup with Vanderbilt fits the same script on paper. The Bulldogs are undefeated, favored again, and coming off a run of steady, no-drama performances that have kept them in the thick of the national conversation while the rest of the league keeps trying to catch up.
Still, there is a little extra edge to this one because Vanderbilts quarterback is freshman Jared Curtis, who was once committed to Georgia before ending up with the Commodores. The bigger concern for the Bulldogs, though, is less about the opponent than about themselves and whether they can stay locked in for four quarters, since the season has shown they can control games when they stay sharp and leave openings only when their focus slips. [Read more 🡒]
Kirby Smart Hinted At A Bigger Georgia Role Fans Will Notice
With Vanderbilt next on the schedule, Kirby Smart used his weekly availability to touch on the usual game-week checkpoints and a few broader themes around Georgias roster. He praised Clark Leas work with the Commodores, pointed to players such as Jared Curtis and Thomas Blackshear as part of the discussion, and walked through the kind of injury and practice updates that tend to shape how the Bulldogs prepare from one Saturday to the next.
Smart also spent time on the kind of player development questions Georgia fans tend to notice over the course of a season, offering thoughts on London Humphreys, JJ Hane, Dwight Phillips and Jordan Hall. Taken together, the remarks suggested a coach looking beyond the immediate matchup, with more attention on how individual roles are taking shape and where the Bulldogs may be leaning as SEC play keeps moving forward. [Read more 🡒]
Brock Bowers Is Already Giving Georgia Fans A Reason To Watch
Brock Bowers wasted no time reminding everyone why Georgia fans still track his every move on Sundays. Back from a knee injury, the former Bulldogs star was the focal point of the Las Vegas Raiders offense in a 35-27 win over the New Orleans Saints, piling up 10 catches for 116 yards and a touchdown in a performance that looked awfully familiar to anyone who watched him in Athens.
There was more Georgia flavor in the result, too, with Nakobe Dean leading the Raiders defense with a team-high 12 tackles and helping close the door with a game-sealing fumble recovery. At 3-0, Las Vegas is leaning on multiple former Bulldogs in all three phases, and for Georgia fans, that makes the Raiders an especially relevant watch even before the full story of this season takes shape. [Read more 🡒]