Georgia has grown accustomed to playing in major non-conference games. And for the most part Georgia has come away victorious in those settings.
Last season saw the Bulldogs beat Clemson in a game where both teams were ranked in the top-5. The Bulldogs also snared wins over Notre Dame in 2017 and 2019 as well.
Georgia will find itself in a similar marquee matchup to open the 2022 season, as the Bulldogs take on Oregon on Sept. 3. Both teams figure to rank among the top-15 to start next season, with Georgia being the defending National Champion and Oregon being the Pac-12 favorite.
Given the pedigree of both programs, ESPN’s Heather Dinich thinks this game will go a long way in shaping the College Football Playoff chase for the 2022 season.
“On paper, the defending national champs should need this win to impress the committee if they don’t win the SEC (again),” Dinich wrote. “Georgia’s other non-conference games are against Samford, Kent State and Georgia Tech -- opponents that won’t elicit much more than a shoulder shrug from the committee members. Their crossover games are against Auburn and at Mississippi State, which should be wins if the Bulldogs are a true playoff contender.”
The Bulldogs do have to replace a number of key contributors from the 2022 team, specifically on the defensive side of the ball. Georgia will also have a new defensive play-caller, as Dan Lanning will now be the head coach at Oregon.
Georgia coach Kirby Smart has tabbed Glenn Schumann and Will Muschamp as the co-defensive coordinators. Chidrea Uzo-Diribe is the new outside linebackers coach for Georgia, though Smart is still looking for a new defensive backs coach as Jahmile Addae left for the same position at Miami.
Yet even with the turnover, the Bulldogs should still be favorites in every game next season, including the opener against Oregon. Georgia is one of two schools to sign a top-5 recruiting class in each of the last five recruiting cycles. Key faces like Brock Bowers, Jalen Carter, Kelee Ringo and AD Mitchell will all be back for the Bulldogs, as is quarterback Stetson Bennett.
Related: Georgia football offseason stock report: Adonai Mitchell among fastest rising stars
While Dinich does raise questions about Georgia’s 2022 schedule, much of the same rhetoric was used against Georgia last offseason. The schedule did not look all that foreboding beyond the game against Clemson. But Arkansas and Kentucky proved to be top-25 teams by the end of the season. And Georgia was so thoroughly dominant throughout the regular season that schedule questions did not matter, even after a loss to Alabama in the SEC championship game.
Lanning will be the third former assistant to face Smart as a head coach. Smart is 3-0 against said assistants, beating Sam Pittman of Arkansas twice and Shane Beamer of South Carolina once.
Georgia and Oregon will meet in Atlanta on Sept. 3. A game time has not yet been announced for the contest between the two schools.
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