georgia football kirby smart kent state sean lewis

Technically speaking, Kent State’s Sean Lewis was incorrect when assessing the Georgia football team.

“I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say it’s the greatest collection of talent that has ever been assembled on a football team because of the work that coach Smart, his staff and the tireless, relentless effort that they’ve put in to building a program to an elite, elite level,” Lewis said in his Monday press conference. “It’s a tremendous test, a tremendous opportunity. They’re uber-talented.”

Per the 247Sports Team Composite rankings, Alabama’s current team holds the distinction of being the most talented team ever assembled. Georgia comes in at No. 2 in those rankings for the 2022 season. Its raw total of 989 is actually a slight step-down from last season, where the Bulldogs had a rating of 1001.

The on-field results though show a very different team than the one on paper. No team has been as dominant as Georgia to start the season, as the Bulldogs have outscored their foes by a total of 130-10. Georgia is also one of four teams to have two wins against Power 5 teams, with Penn State, Florida State and Syracuse being the other three.

For the Bulldogs, there is an excitement to go out and execute at an outrageously high level every week, regardless of the opponent.

“The worst thing that can happen to this team is to start believing what people say about them,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “The toughest job we have this week is trying to explain to everybody that Kent State’s a really good football team. I know you think I just sit up here and say that, but you turn the tape on, they’ve got a really, really good football team.”

Georgia isn’t the first talented team Lewis’ team has seen this season, as the Golden Flashes already have played road games against No. 18 Washington and No. 6 Oklahoma. Kent State lost both of those contests but the Huskies and Sooners did have to work to beat Kent State.

Smart expects his team to do the same on Saturday when the two teams meet at 12 p.m. ET in Sanford Stadium.

“It’s really about, does our team want to grow? And this is a week we need to have growth. We have to get better in a lot of spots,” Smart said. “You guys don’t get to see it from our perspective and the fans don’t get to see it in our perspective in terms of what we see on tape and how many mistakes we make, and how many guys we need to get better. We’re certainly going to need them to get better this week.”

Lewis also took time in his press conference to praise quarterback Stetson Bennett. The Kent State head coach is well aware of Bennett’s talent, as Kent State had offered him back when he was at Jones College in Mississippi. Bennett elected to instead to return to Georgia and has since blossomed into one of the best players in the country this season.

While Kent State doesn’t play Georgia as frequently as some SEC teams do, Lewis seems to have a really strong grasp of why the Bulldogs are the No. 1 team in the country.

And why the game on Saturday will be an incredible challenge for a battle-tested Kent State team.

“Their tight end No. 19, he’s a super-freak,” Lewis said. “He is an All-American and he’s not the only one. It is a galaxy collection of stars and talent all over the place. There are first-round draft picks everywhere. They just re-upped. The standard they have and the expectation they have because of the leadership of coach Smart, the way they’ve developed their talent. I can’t wait to compete in that arena with them.”

Kirby Smart ready to see his team grow against Kent State

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