How will the Bulldogs fare in 2022? That is yet to be determined, but there are a lot of records and milestones that can be reached this season. Here are seven stats to watch as the Bulldogs take the field.
1. After six seasons, Kirby Smart has a career record of 66-15. After the Florida game last season he passed the great Harry Mehre and moved into fourth place in the all-time wins category by a Georgia head coach. While he won’t get to third place anytime soon in all-time wins – he doesn’t need much more to reach some of the other marks.
The National Championships listed are the consensus ones according to the media guide. Georgia’s 10th win of the 2015 season was led by interim head coach Bryan McClendon. The only other Bulldog head coach to lead the Dawgs to a 10-win season was Jim Donnan in 1997.
----------
2. One pretty big reason why the Bulldogs won the National Championship last season was the play of quarterback Stetson Bennett. The Offensive MVP for both the Orange Bowl and CFP Championship set many records and climbed many charts throughout the 2021 season and finds himself in the top ten in many impressive categories. He has a good chance of reaching new levels in 2022 and passing many former Bulldog greats including a Super Bowl champ and a former Dawg back on the team's staff.
Bennett is also fourth among Bulldog quarterbacks with a minimum of 300 attempts in career completion percentage at 62.1 trailing just Hutson Mason (65.0), Jake Fromm (63.2) and Aaron Murray (62.3).
Bennett's numbers would be even higher if you count the 2018 stats that he accomplished at Jones College in Mississippi. That season he threw for 1,840 yards and 16 touchdowns.
----------
3. Bennett’s main target last season was All-SEC tight end Brock Bowers. The 2021 Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award winner tied a Bulldog record with 56 receptions tying seven-time NFL Pro Bowl receiver A.J. Green for most catches as a freshman. He also set the Georgia record for most touchdown receptions in a season with 13. Here are the 11 top Dawgs in terms of touchdown receptions and you can how close Bowers is to reaching those levels.
4. Despite ESPN not listing Georgia in their top five “Running Back U” schools, the Bulldogs have the No. 1 (Herschel Walker) and No. 2 (Nick Chubb) spots in SEC history for most career yards rushing. In all, Georgia posts six players with over 3,000 yards rushing, 18 players with 2,000 yards rushing and 53 players with 1,000 yards rushing in their Bulldog careers. These next three players might not reach 2,000-yard status after this season, they have a very good shot of reaching the 1,000 total as you can see.
5. Jake Camarda set many Bulldog records as a punter while with the Dawgs, but he has moved on. However, Jack Podlesny remains on this season’s squad. He set the Georgia season record for most extra points and is already in the top ten in his career numbers. He needs a few more field goals to reach the career top ten in that category. He also needs a few more to reach the total points list by a kicker.
6. Despite having eight defensive players selected in the 2022 NFL Draft (including a record-breaking five in the first round), it was returning outside linebacker Robert Beal, Jr. who led last season’s dominant defense in sacks. With another productive season, he could move into the top-15 on Georgia’s career sack list. He is not the only Dawg who can reach that. Fellow outside linebacker Nolan Smith has eight and a half in his time with the Bulldogs. Where will these two leaders end up on this list of quarterback terrors?
7. One list that the Bulldogs have been climbing rapidly under Kirby Smart is career wins by a program. According to the Georgia media guide, the Dawgs have 853 all-time victories. That total ranks 11th all-time among major college programs. After many seasons of gaining ground, Georgia appears that it could move into the top ten after a very successful 2022 campaign. They need to have more than three victories than USC and Tennessee this season to pass them.
