Sports Americana

There was a time when Georgia football was defined by what it couldn’t do.

Close calls. Heartbreak. Alabama. More close calls.

Then Kirby Smart arrived, and somewhere along the way, the Bulldogs stopped being the team waiting for its moment and became the team everyone else was waiting to knock off.

Georgia won back-to-back national championships in 2021 and 2022. Since then, the Bulldogs have remained a fixture at the top of the sport, winning three of the last four SEC championships and reaching the College Football Playoff four times in five seasons.

So what happens when a program this successful enters another season?

The expectations don’t get smaller.

They get ridiculous.

And that’s exactly where Georgia finds itself in 2026.

The Kirby Smart Era Rolls On

Smart enters his 11th season in Athens, and at this point, calling Georgia a “contender” almost feels like underselling it.

The Bulldogs aren’t rebuilding. They’re reloading.

Georgia’s 2026 roster features plenty of experienced talent, particularly on defense. The secondary is headlined by Ellis Robinson IV and KJ Bolden, while Chris Cole and Raylen Wilson give the Bulldogs tremendous experience at linebacker.

The biggest question may be whether Georgia can replace the production it lost at wide receiver.

Six of the Bulldogs’ seven leading receivers from last season are gone, creating perhaps the biggest question mark on an otherwise loaded roster.

In Athens, of course, “question mark” usually means “we’ll have another five-star ready by October.”

Gunner Stockton’s Time

The biggest storyline on offense is quarterback Gunner Stockton.

Georgia doesn’t need Stockton to become the next Stetson Bennett, Jake Fromm or Matthew Stafford.

It just needs him to be Gunner Stockton.

The Bulldogs have plenty of talent around him, including a veteran offensive line and a running game capable of taking pressure off the quarterback. But in the modern SEC, eventually you have to throw the football—and eventually, your quarterback has to win a game for you.

Stockton gets his chance to do exactly that in 2026.

Defense Still Sets the Tone

If Georgia is going to make another run at the SEC and national championships, the defense will probably be the reason.

The Bulldogs return a tremendous amount of experience in the back seven, and PFF ranks Georgia’s linebacker unit third nationally and its secondary among the nation’s top five.

There is, however, one rather large concern: the pass rush.

Georgia struggled to create sacks and turnovers last season, and getting more pressure on opposing quarterbacks will be a major priority in 2026.

Gabe Harris could be one of the players who changes that equation. After emerging as an important edge rusher last season, he enters 2026 as one of the defense’s key pieces.

Because nothing makes a Saturday afternoon more pleasant than watching a defensive end introduce himself to an opposing quarterback.

The Schedule

The SEC isn’t exactly known for handing out gift certificates.

Georgia opens the season at home against Tennessee State and Western Kentucky before traveling to Arkansas. Then comes Oklahoma, Vanderbilt and Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

The Bulldogs then return home to face Auburn before the annual Florida game. November brings trips to Ole Miss and South Carolina, with Missouri and Georgia Tech closing out the regular season in Athens.

The Alabama game is the obvious measuring stick, but Ole Miss could be equally fascinating late in the season.

And if Georgia reaches November with its championship hopes intact, the Bulldogs will once again be sitting at the table with the biggest names in the sport.

So, Can Georgia Win It All?

Why not?

That’s the thing about Georgia now.

The Bulldogs aren’t trying to convince anyone they’re capable of winning a national championship. They’ve already done it.

Twice.

The question is whether this particular team has enough offensive firepower and enough pass-rush production to survive the gauntlet that is the SEC—and then win three or four more games against the best teams in America.

Early expectations certainly suggest the answer could be yes. Georgia enters the season as a favorite to win the SEC, while national analysts continue to view the Bulldogs as one of the country’s premier championship contenders.

And maybe that’s the most remarkable part of the Kirby Smart era.

Georgia football used to be about chasing history.

Now Georgia football is about protecting it.

The Dawgs aren’t rebuilding.

They’re hunting.