Georgia Football: 5 Reasons Why the Bulldogs Will Win the College Football Playoff

Georgia is headed back to the College Football Playoff for the third time under head coach Kirby Smart. But this time the Bulldogs are doing so as the No. 1 seed and presumed favorite to win it all again. If they pull through and finish the assignment, it will be UGA's third national title and their second in a row.

The Bulldogs pulled off a perfect season headed into the CFP with Saturday's 50-30 blitz win over LSU in the SEC Championship Game, which was not even as close as the score indicates. Obviously with their experience of last season, Smart's team has the formula and the talent to win it all again. Why will Georgia win its second straight national title? Here are five reasons why they will run roughshod over Ohio State in the semis and then dispose of either Michigan or TCU in the title game.

5 Reasons Why Georgia Will Win The College Football Playoff

1. This is the Bulldogs. This is what they do now.

Move over Alabama, there is a new bully in the SEC. This is the new reality in the college football landscape; Georgia is going to be good. Let me rephrase that: Georgia is going to be great. The Bulldogs are 31-1 in their last 32 games. Of those 31 wins, only two of them were even one-score games. They haven't experienced a Sunday coming off a loss in the last 365 days. And even their last loss — to Alabama in the 2021 SEC title game — was avenged a few weeks later as the Bulldogs routed the Tide in last year's national title game. So this is a program that is overcoming personnel losses from year to year and still stampeding every team in their way.

2. Stetson Bennett is still at the controls

Has there ever been a walk-on quarterback that has been this dominant in college football history? Bennett, a two-star talent coming out of high school, continues to be Joe Cool in the pocket and a Drew Brees-type leader in the huddle. Last year, during the Dogs' title run, Bennett's QBR was 86.7. This year his QBR is 86.3. Not bad, right? He is also hitting on 68 percent of his passes and has a 20:6 touchdown-to-interception ratio. So the bottom line is that UGA's QB has a been there-done that feel to him because there is a lot to be said for a guy who has already navigated his team to winning the trophy already. And Bennett is just what you want from a field general to win a second national title.

3. Because defense wins championships

The Bulldogs allowed a measly 292 yards per game to their opponents. And keep in mind this is a defense that lost five first-round NFL draft picks from last year's stellar unit. Five! Yet here they are sitting as the No. 2 defense in the nation giving up just 12.8 points per game, while being the best run defense (77.0 yards per game) and 11th in pass defense (111.9 pass efficiency defense). Think of it this way, the Junkyard Dogs gave up just 16 touchdowns in 13 games this season. And did you happen to see Jalen Carter against LSU? The D-tackle was a force, with a sack, two tackles for losses, and a pass breakup while just terrorizing the LSU skill position players in general.

4. They can win in so many different ways

As mentioned above, the Bulldogs haven't had many close games. But they also can adapt to any type of slugfest or track meet that any game can present. Consider the two Tigers. Against Missouri back in October, they pulled out a last-minute 26-22 escape in Columbia despite out-yarding the Black & Old Gold 481-294 and posting 28 first downs to Mizzou's 14. Despite this domination, it was the Junkyard Dogs' defense that kept them in the game until Bennett and Co. could rally from a 22-12 deficit in the final 10 minutes.

Then, look at their last game in Mercedes Benz Stadium. LSU posted 549 yards, but the Bulldogs merely shrugged their shoulders and posted 529 yards of their own and hung a half-a-century on them, making this a no-brainer from the get-go. LSU's offense couldn't out-punch the Bulldogs, despite out-gaining them. Of course, part of that has to do with UGA's ability to outscore teams early and often, 104-23 in the first quarter and 254-67 in the first half.

5. There is no Alabama to get past

You know SEC fans agree with me on this one, right? When the Crimson Tide wasn't voted into the fourth slot, there was probably a slight (though maybe inaudible) sigh of relief from the Bulldogs fans. Instead of facing the playoff-savvy Tide, the Dogs will face off against a heavily wounded Ohio State unit coming off of a 45-23 brow-beating at the hands of Michigan in their own stadium. Oh sure, C.J. Stroud and Co. certainly bring a new round of challenges to the fore, considering he is first nationally in passing efficiency and has all those high-octane receivers. But there is some relief in not going up against Bryce Young, who has beaten the Bulldogs in the past. In fact, remember that he beat the Bulldogs in the SEC title game last year going up against all five of those first-round draft picks.

— Written by Eric Sorenson, who is part of the Athlon Contributor Network. He is a college football, college baseball and college hockey addict... and writer. Follow him on Twitter @Stitch_Head.