Georgia holds on to top spot in coaches poll
Georgia played its sloppiest game of the 2022 season on Saturday but it remains in the No. 1 spot of the latest USA Today coaches’ poll. Alabama ranks No. 2 followed by Ohio State at No. 3. Michigan sits in the No. 4 spot. Clemson rounds out the top five.
The Bulldogs lead the way with 34 first-place votes. Alabama has 26 such votes and Ohio State has four. The SEC has two more teams inside the top 10 with Kentucky coming in at No. 8 and Tennessee at No. 9. Ole Miss is No. 11 with Texas A&M at No. 17 and Arkansas at No. 19.
Georgia opened the season at No. 3 in both major polls but rose to No. 2 after throttling Oregon in the season opener. The Bulldogs were elevated to No. 1 in the AP poll after week two when they beat Samford 33-0 and Alabama needed a late field goal to take down Texas.
The coaches poll elevated Georgia after its week three beatdown of South Carolina. The Bulldogs outscored opponents 130-10 through the first three weeks. That number is now 169 to 32 after four games.
UGA’s week-four showing vs. Kent State looked quite a bit different than the first three weeks. Kirby Smart, however, didn’t seem at all concerned afterward.
“I didn’t talk anything about it not being as bad,” Smart said when asked about things being as good or bad as they seem. “I thought they played really hard, really physical and they played a really good football team. When you’re honest with your team, they believe you. When you walk in on Monday and say, ‘This team’s really good. They might be better than what we’ve played. You’ve got to practice well,’ then they go practice good, they’ve listened. After the game, I’m not going to go back and be like, ‘Gah guys, this team stinks.’ That is a good football team. They won their conference last year, they’ve got a really good conference, they’ve played two other ranked teams really tough. I’ve got a lot of respect for Kent State, their coach, the coaching job that they do. I’m not down about the way our guys played. If you turn the ball over four times, you’re going to be in ballgames like that. So we’ve got to prevent that first.”
Next up for Georgia is the first of seven consecutive games against the SEC. The Bulldogs play seven league games in eight weeks with an open Saturday on October 22. UGA’s opponent this Saturday will be Missouri. That game will be played at Faurot Field in Columbia, Mo. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET and it’ll be televised by The SEC Network.
