Jeremy Pruitt explains why Georgia is prepared to avoid post-championship pitfalls

Georgia football is coming off arguably the best seasons in their program’s history. They beat Alabama in an SEC Championship rematch to win their second national championship. The Bulldogs finished 14-1 and with the No. 1 defense in the nation allowing just 10.2 points per game. Success like that can often lead to a drop off in the year or so after. In the opinion of former Georgia DC Jeremy Pruitt, he thinks there will be little to no hangover from last year’s title team.

In an interview with DawgNation’s Mike Griffith, Pruitt said the Bulldogs have the recruiting and experience at quarterback to sustain their success.

“Georgia has been recruiting at a very high level so there’s still a lot of really good football players (there),” said Pruitt. “There’s something about having experience and one of the most important things is an experienced quarterback. Georgia has that.”

Kirby Smart’s staff brought in the No. 3 class in the nation according to On3’s Consensus Team Recruiting Rankings. They also return Stetson Bennett, their title winning QB who threw for 2,862 yards and 29 touchdowns.

With that said, Pruitt believes their biggest strength will remain their defense. Eight players being selected in the 2022 NFL Draft from an all-time good defense will naturally lead to some drop off. However, he trusts their defense to have them in position in the end.

“As long as Kirby’s at Georgia, they’re gonna play good defense. It may be a different group each year. Maybe the D-line (is) a little stronger than the inside backers this year just because experience. Or maybe the secondary is,” said Pruitt. “They’re gonna play good defense and they’ll figure out a way to do it. It might look a little different but you can bet they’ll be there when it counts.”

The Bulldogs will likely see a regression of some kind between last season and this one. Dominance like that doesn’t come without the price of some degree of turnover in the years to follow. Still, there’s no reason to believe Georgia won’t remain the team to beat in the SEC East and again be in contention for and in the College Football Playoff.