The Georgia Bulldogs enter the 2024 season as one of the favorite to win the National Championship. Almost a lock to make the College Football Playoff, the Bulldogs are led again by head coach Kirby smart who led them to back-to-back national championships in 2021 and 2022.
According to College Football Network, the Bulldogs have the ninth most difficult schedule in FBS with season that includes road trips to Texas, Alabama and Ole Miss. Despite this, many do not expect the Bulldogs to lose many games in 2024 with five-star talent all over the field.
Which games will Georgia Football lose in 2024?
Kentucky
Do not look past the Kentucky Wildcats in 2024. This road test for the Georgia Bulldogs will see them squaring off against former Bulldogs quarterback Brock Vandagriff who transferred to the Wildcats this past offseason.
Brock Vandagriff’s college experience is invaluable: Vandagriff spent three seasons in Athens backing up Stetson Bennett and Carson Beck, while being a part of two National Championship teams. Vandagriff knows what winning looks like, and this combined with all of the returning talent surrounding him makes the Wildcats a tough out on the road for the Bulldogs.
Jamon Dumas-Johnson transfers in from Georgia: The Wildcats return nine starters on defense including leading tackler D’Eryk Jackson who totaled 89 tackles last season. The Wildcats also bring in another Bulldog transfer in linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson who like Vandagriff had been with the program for the past three seasons.
Dumas-Johnson totaled 125 tackles and 9.5 sacks during his time in Athens. He will serve as a great leader on the defensive side of the Ball for the Wildcats.
Georgia Tech
This one will be a shocker to many, but the tide has to turn as some point, right? All joking aside, the Yellowjackets improved tremendously under head coach Brent Key from 2022 to 2023 and should be even more-so in 2024.
The Yellowjackets return quarterback Haynes King who threw for 2,842 yards and 27 touchdowns in his first season as the starter in 2023. While King will have to cut down on the interceptions, do not be surprised if he does so which could have the Yellowjackets in a better position than years past heading into their annual rivalry against the Bulldogs where they have not had much to play for.
The Yellowjackets also return 17 starters in total which also includes leading rusher Jamal Haynes and wide receivers Malik Rutherford and Eric Singleton Jr. Haynes ran for over 1,000 yards in 2023 while Rutherford and Singleton Jr. combined for 1,216 yards receiving and 10 touchdowns.
Georgia’s losses will help them, not hurt them
The Bulldogs dropping these two contests is no knock on them, but rather a testament to the grind of an SEC schedule. With the addition of the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners beginning this season, it was inevitable that the Bulldogs caught one of those two teams. For them, an early season showdown in Austin will just add to the physicality of an already difficult SEC schedule.
While it is tough to fathom the Bulldogs losing any games at the beginning of each year it seems, remember that they have only gone undefeated once under Smart. These losses however should help more than hurt the Bulldogs in the College Football Playoff, which they would presumably make having only two losses.