Georgia Win Total Prediction
The Georgia Bulldogs were the best team in the country in 2022. Georgia went 15-0, and won the SEC and the National Championship with an emphatic 65-7 victory over TCU.
With new quarterback Carson Beck can the Bulldogs finish the regular season undefeated again in 2023?
Georgia Bulldogs Over/Under Win Total Odds via BetMGM
Over 11.5 +115
Under 11.5 -135
2022 Season Recap
Georgia was the best team in the country in 2022 by nearly every conceivable metric. The Bulldogs ranked first in average scoring margin per game (+26.4), points per play margin (0.357), and yards per point margin (8.1). The Bulldogs finished tied for first in the nation in yards per play (7.2) and ranked fifth in opponent points per game (15.3). Georgia won every regular season game by double digits except their October 1st game at Missouri, where they only won 26-22 and needed a 4th quarter comeback to pull out the victory. Georgia tight end Brock Bowers was the best pass catcher on the team last season as he reeled in 63 passes for 942 yards and 7 touchdowns. He won the Mackey Award last season which is given to the nation’s best tight end and he should be the favorite to win it again in 2023. Georgia’s backfield combination of quarterback Stetson Bennett and running back Kenny McIntosh was tremendously effective, but both players have since moved on to the NFL. The Bulldogs seem to have reloaded instead of rebuilding and should be one of the more talented teams in the country again in 2023.
2023 Season Preview
Key Player Departures: DT Jalen Carter, OT Broderick Jones, LB Nolan Smith, TE Darnell Washington, CB Kelee Ringo, QB Stetson Bennett, RB Kenny McIntosh, S Christopher Smith II, LB Robert Beal Jr., OT Warren McClendon
Key Player Additions: WR Dominic Lovett, WR Rara Thomas, CB Smoke Bouie, RB Len’Neth Whitehead, LB Raylen Wilson, DB Joenel Aguero, LT Monroe Freeling, TE Lawson Luckie, DE Jordan Hall, CB AJ Harris
Georgia lost 10 players to the 2023 NFL Draft and two players that went undrafted but signed with NFL teams this offseason. It makes sense, as the Bulldogs were the clear best team all year, and they virtually rolled through the college football season, save for a few minor hiccups. Starting on offense, Georgia lost QB Stetson Bennett, running back Kenny McIntosh, and offensive tackles Broderick Jones and Warren McClendon to the NFL Draft. For most teams that would set them back a year or two. I think Georgia will be fine. The Bulldogs return running backs Kendall Milton and Daijun Edwards, two players who averaged 5.5+ yards per carry last season. Georgia also signed four-star tackles Monroe Freeling and Bo Hughley this offseason. Those two should provide some much-needed depth at the tackle spots this year. Georgia recently named redshirt junior Carson Beck as the starting quarterback going into 2023. His experience seemed to separate him from the other signal-callers, and he should play well enough to have Georgia in position to win every game.
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Georgia’s defense should be fine despite the losses of DT Jalen Carter, LB Nolan Smith, and CB Kelee Ringo to the NFL Draft. The Bulldogs will actually return their top three sack leaders in DL Mykel Williams, LB Jamon Dumas-Johnson, and SS Javon Bullard. Georgia figures to start 7 upperclassmen on defense and the four sophomores that are projected to start all played major roles in the team’s success last season. Georgia’s depth will be unmatched this year as they boasted the #2 overall recruiting class in 2023 according to Rivals.com. Any injuries suffered by key players should be mitigated by the excellent coaching and superior roster talent that the Bulldogs have.
Key Coaching Departures: Offensive coordinator Todd Monken
Key Coaching Promotions/Additions: Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Mike Bobo, assistant head coach/tight ends coach Todd Hartley (promotion)
The biggest change to Georgia’s coaching staff is the loss of offensive coordinator Todd Monken. Monken elected to take the offensive coordinator position with the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens rather than stay in Athens. Monken was a key cog in the machine that was Georgia’s offense the past three seasons as the Bulldogs bulldozed their way to two consecutive national titles. Last season, Georgia ranked 6th in yards per pass attempt and 3rd in yards per rushing attempt while they scored 41.6 points per game, a figure that ranked 4th in the country. Monken will be replaced by former Georgia quarterback and Colorado State head coach Mike Bobo. Bobo was on Georgia’s staff last season as an offensive analyst, and he previously served as the school’s offensive coordinator and/or quarterbacks coach from 2001 to 2014. He oversaw the development of quarterbacks Matthew Stafford, Aaron Murray, and David Greene during his time with the Bulldogs and even won the Broyles Award given out to the nation’s best assistant coach in 2012. It’s often difficult to replace great coordinators for championship clubs, but I believe that Georgia did about as well as they could in hiring someone like Mike Bobo who’s familiar with the program and has had success in his current role. There’s also the factor of continuity as Bobo has previously worked with Bulldogs’ redshirt junior QB Carson Beck. I think the transition from Monken to Bobo will be a smooth one and Georgia’s offense will once again be tough to stop in 2023.
NCAA Football Over/Under Prediction
According to College Football News, Georgia has the 61st-most difficult schedule out of 133 FBS teams. This is because the Bulldogs play in the SEC East where they won’t have to play LSU, Alabama, Mississippi State, or Texas A&M. Georgia has also taken some chances with their non-conference schedule in the past, but they play Ball State and UAB in the first four weeks in the season this year. Those opponents are a far cry from teams like Oregon and Clemson that the Bulldogs have faced in the past few years. The schedule sets up very nicely for Georgia in 2023.
Georgia hasn’t lost a regular season game the past two years and they’ve gone a combined 29-1 as a whole over that span. The Bulldogs have asserted themselves as a legitimate juggernaut and a perennial national championship contender. They’ve earned that right since Kirby Smart became the head coach, as he’s gone a staggering 81-15 in his seven years at the helm in Athens. The total is 11.5, so that means Georgia has to win all of their regular season games for a third year in a row to cash the over. But I’ve looked at the schedule, and I can’t find the loss on it. Georgia’s most difficult game will be at Tennessee in their penultimate regular season tilt on November 18th, but many may remember that the Bulldogs dominated the Volunteers last season in a 27-13 win. There’s a high likelihood that Georgia is undefeated going into that game and I don’t see them losing a contest that they may need in order to make it to the SEC Championship Game. I like that you can get better-than-even odds on this total, which is one of the reasons why I’m picking the Bulldogs to run the table in the regular season again in 2023.
NCAA FOOTBALL OVER/UNDER WIN TOTAL PREDICTION: GEORGIA BULLDOGS OVER 11.5 WINS +115