Another week, another solid performance, and another week of rising expectations. Georgia's victory over Vanderbilt was not the most impressive win of the season, but that alone is pretty impressive. While the Dawgs weren't at their best, the B game or C game was more than enough to win a SEC road game. I don't think anyone needs to be reminded, but Georgia lost to Vanderbilt last year at home. I think we can all agree, this year is much more fun.
Now the Dawgs get ready to host lowly Missouri between the hedges for Homecoming . You might be thinking this game is nearly pointless, but all I have to do is point you towards Norman, Oklahoma to show that no game is a guaranteed win. The Sooners lost at home to an Iowa State team who had their backup quarterback starting the game.
While there is no logical reason Missouri should be within 4 touchdowns of Georgia, some times sports can be illogical.
I would be fine if the team skipped watching the tape of the Vanderbilt game and watched the entire Oklahoma game instead.
With the Oklahoma loss, I saw a lot of social media posts about Georgia deserving to be #3 in the polls instead of #4. While that is a perfectly fine argument to make, the reality is that it doesn't matter one bit where Georgia is ranked right now. The focus for this team should be the next game on the schedule, and I'm sure that is exactly where Kirby will have their focus this week.
If Georgia keeps winning, the polls will take care of themselves.
One of the best things about this week was that Florida managed to lose at home, to LSU, who was coming off a home loss to Troy last week. The Gators now have one loss in the SEC, and will be considered underdogs this week as they head to Texas A&M. Unless something dramatic happens, Florida will pick up their second SEC loss against the Aggies, which means Georgia will be in position to all but clinch the East in Jacksonville.
While Jacksonville has been a house of horrors for the Dawgs for a quarter of a century, this could end up being one of the most important games Georgia has played there in a very long time. The last time Georgia was undefeated heading into the Cocktail Party was 2002, in Richt's second season. Georgia found a way to lose that game when they were much better than Florida for the only loss of the 2002 season.
Even if Missouri turns out to be a cupcake next week, the memories of 2002 should be plenty to keep Georgia fans uncomfortable for two weeks until the big game arrives.
One last thought for the week and it's about expectations. While the first half of the season has been a lot of fun, Georgia fans are notorious about letting themselves get carried away with expectations too early in the season. I was guilty if it in 2013 after Georgia beat LSU at home, and I put the Dawgs in the SEC title game. But this year is different. First, the team is playing with a consistency that I don't remember ever seeing before from Georgia, bust most importantly Georgia doesn't have that much competition left on their schedule.
Here we are, half way through the season and Georgia only has one game left against a ranked team. They only have two true road games left, and one of those is in Atlanta, where Georgia hasn't lost since 1999. The SEC is down again this year, and the East is down even by the East's ridiculously low standards. So Georgia's accent into the upper echelon on the college football world is equal parts Georgia's improvement and their opponents' mediocrity.
But don't worry, if the Dawgs take care of business over the next few weeks, they will get their chance to see where they measure up against the Tide in Atlanta.
Until then, keep enjoying the ride as the Dawgs keep chopping that wood.
Glory, Glory
Go Dawgs!
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