What They’re Saying About Georgia: Lindy’s Sports

Talking season is in full swing around the world of College Football. This week, tons of it is taking place in Nashville for SEC Media Days, however it’s been happening all summer long in preview magazines across the country. After previously sharing with you what the folks at Athlon Sports and Phil Steele have to say about Georgia, we dive into the work of Lindy’s Sports to see what they think about the Bulldogs.

Like the others, Lindy’s has Georgia at No. 1 coming into the season. Their top 10 has Big Ten rivals Michigan and Ohio State at No. 2 and No. 3 respectively followed by the Bulldogs’ potential SEC Championship Game opponents Alabama and LSU at No. 4 and No. 5. Florida State (No. 6), Washington (No. 7), Penn State (No. 8), Texas (No. 9) and USC (No. 10) round out the top 10.

Of course Georgia’s quest for a three-peat is the biggest storyline in all of College Football. After the Bulldogs beat Alabama to claim their first National Championship in over 40 decades in January of 2022, they went 15-0 that fall to keep the trophy in Athens for another year. Dennis Dodd shares just how rare it would be for the Bulldogs to win back-to-back-to-back championships. Georgia is looking to become the first team in the AP Poll era to do so. Minnesota in the 1930s was the last team to claim three in a row and two of those were before the AP Poll even existed.

Moving on from there, Anthony Gimino debates whether Kirby Smart has passed Nick Saban as the sport’s top coach. In his mind, “the pupil has surpassed the master,” citing the fact that Saban is only getting older while Smart is accomplishing things Saban hadn’t sniffed at his age of 47.

Smart won his first two titles at 46 and 47. It took until 52 and 58 for Saban. He’s also got a slightly better record over his first seven seasons at Georgia than Saban did at Alabama (81-15 to 79-15). His conclusion in all of this? “Mind his Ps and Qs and it’s not out of the realm of possibility for Kirby Smart to go from merely the best coach in college football to what the kids call the GOAT.”

Names to Know and Dates to Save

Dominic Lovett, WR – Lindy’s lists Lovett as the No. 2 non-quarterback impact transfer. “Champs adding a second-team All-SEC wideout.”Brock Bowers, TE – In looking ahead to the 2024 NFL Draft, Lindy’s lists Bowers as the No. 1 tight end prospect.Sedrick Van Pran, C – In looking ahead to the 2024 NFL Draft, Lindy’s lists Bowers as the No. 1 center prospect.Smael Mondon, LB – In looking ahead to the 2024 NFL Draft, Lindy’s lists Bowers as the No. 3 linebacker prospect behind Jeremiah Trotter (Clemson) and Tommy Eichenberg (Ohio State)Kamari Lassiter, CB – In looking ahead to the 2024 NFL Draft, Lindy’s lists Bowers as the No. 2 cornerback prospect behind Kool-Aid McKinstry (Alabama).

Save the date Lindy’s says! November 18th when Georgia takes on Tennessee in Knoxville is the third best conference game of the season across the country. While the Bulldogs absolutely have what can be considered a light schedule without a marquee matchup in the non-conference and avoid the heavyweights of the SEC West, last year’s game between Georgia and Tennessee featured the two teams with stake the claim of the top spot in the country. Could this year be the same? I’m not so certain with all that the Vols lose, but going to Neyland Stadium makes it interesting in its own right.

Georgia’s games against South Carolina (Sept. 16), Auburn (Sept. 30) and Florida (Oct. 28) also made the cut on the SEC “Big Ones.”

Bowers, Van Pran and Jamon Dumas-Johnson earn First-Team All-American honors while there are spots on Lindy’s All-SEC Team for the likes of Mykel Williams (1st), Malaki Starks (1st), Javon Bullard (1st), Nazir Stackhouse (2nd), Mondon (2nd), Lassiter (2nd), Lovett (3rd), Ladd McConkey (3rd), Amarius Mims (3rd) and Chaz Chambliss (3rd) too.

Easy as 1-2-3

Lindy’s is going out on a limb and predicting the Dawgs to do it and bring home a third straight title to Athens. While they lay out how difficult that has been over the years, as they put it “Georgia is going for three in ’23, looking as dominant as it did in 2022, as loaded as it was in ’21.”

Georgia returns 14 starters from a squad that went 15-0 and was inexperienced. They grew up and got better as the season went along. Yes, there is a change at quarterback – what Lindy’s considers to be the bad news – but hopes are high for Carson Beck.

In summary, Lindy’s says, “This team doesn’t need an easy schedule – but it got one anyway … A smooth two months of regular ol’ games leads to the Nov. 18 SEC east showdown at Tennessee, which then leads to a series of increasingly high-stakes games, which leads to this: Georgia will three-peat.”

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