Kirby Mike Griffith column Georgia

ATHENS — Kirby Smart delivered a stern message after Georgia’s 55-0 thrashing of Vanderbilt, the team’s most complete win of the season since a 49-3 win over Oregon in the season opener.

“We’ve got a long way to go, guys,” Smart said of his No. 1-ranked, reigning national champion Bulldogs.

“We’ve got a long way to go to be the team we need to be,” he said. “We’ve got to get that done in practices so that we can play well down the stretch run.”

Georgia out-gained Vanderbilt (3-4, 0-3) 579-150, scoring on its four of its first five drives, dialing its offense back in with 11 different receivers catching passes and six different Bulldogs scoring touchdowns.

Blowing out the Commodores offered a chance for team morale to get well with the bench cleared, and now Smart will rest key players hoping they heal as much as possible during the bye week.

Tough path

Smart knows the challenges Georgia has ahead, first facing rival Florida in a designated home game played in Jacksonville, and then playing host to red-hot Tennessee in Athens on Nov. 5.

Road trips to Mississippi State and Kentucky follow, before the annual meeting against overmatched but always chippy Georgia Tech.

Some might think the Bulldogs have a future date with Alabama in the SEC Championship Game, too.

Smart, however, prescribes eating the elephant one bite at a time and it’s not of the Big Al variety.

“I”m worried about tomorrow, man, I’m not looking down at that run,” Smart said. “If you start looking at that run, you get caught up, so I’m looking solely at one thing.

“It’s not Florida or anyone else, it’s us,” Smart said. “I’m gonna dig, chew and claw to get every player on our roster better because one of those guys is gonna be counted on to make a play in a tough game.”

Reloaded champs

The reloaded version of 2022 Georgia football has been a work in progress, even as Smart has kept the program at the top of the collegiate landscape.

Smart and the Bulldogs aim to become the first team to repeat as national champions since Alabama turned that trick in 2011 and 2012.

It was a storyline that seemed unlikely after Georgia had an NFL-record 15 players selected into the NFL draft and then 13 more left via the transfer portal.

The Bulldogs pursued a few key players in the portal, most notably USC quarterback Caleb Williams, but wound up replenishing strictly through the high school recruiting cycle.

Stetson Bennett returned to be the best version of himself against Vanderbilt after a three-game stretch without a TD pass, looking good in completing 24 of 30 passes for 289 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Backup quarterback Carson Beck was worth noting, too, 8-of-11 passing for 98 yards and two TDs.

If any program knows the importance of depth, it’s Georgia after overcoming an injury to its preseason 2021 Heisman candidate (JT Daniels) and the loss of sacks leader (Adam Anderson) before the 2021 November stretch run.

It’s why Georgia fans feel good about Daijun Edwards and Branson Robinson emerging at tailback behind veteran Kenny McIntosh and banged-up Kendall Milton, and Arik Gilbert getting his first catch and TD of the season behind elite tight ends Darnell Washington and Brock Bowers.

Coming into form

The Bulldogs’ bread-and-butter offensive positions are covered while the receiving corps appears on the mend with Adonai Mitchell on the verge of returning, and Kearis Jackson re-emerging,

The defense will never be a finished product in Smart’s mind, and the level of greatness this season’s team reaches could hinge on the return date and effectiveness of projected first-round pick Jalen Carter.

But what Georgia has going now is very strong, the Bulldogs having pitched first-half shutouts in four of seven games and ranked second in the nation in scoring defense (9.1 points per game).

Smart is the first to acknowledge it has been a favorable schedule, going so far as to qualify his team’s shutout over a Vanderbilt team that held a 20-17 halftime lead on SEC West Division leader Ole Miss last week.

“That was an outmanned team, we were better than we were,” Smart said, “and we’ve got to be able to execute when we play people that have equal talent.”

Florida. Tennessee. Mississippi State. Kentucky.

“We’re working like, ‘Hey, our threes may have to play in a game,’ " Smart said. “You just don’t know. You never know what’s going to happen.”