Honeymoon in Athens could be over for Smart if Bulldogs don’t meet expectations

Georgia was picked to win the SEC East. Georgia has two dynamic running backs. Georgia has a strong-armed QB and a defense that returns all but one starter.

It’s all there for the Bulldogs to make a run in a wide-open SEC East and perhaps get back to Atlanta. Despite the vote, there’s still a lot of (excuse the pun) hedging.

Georgia has been known to disappoint in years of lofty preseason praise. They also find ways to disappoint in years of middling preseason praise (like last year).

The Bulldogs lost four of five games last year, including to Tennessee on a Hail Mary, and to Vanderbilt on a play that had many labeling coach Kirby Smart as coach Kirby Opposite of His Surname. Needing to pick up a fourth-and-1 to get into field-goal range and having A) Nick Chubb and B) Sony Michel at their disposal, the Bulldogs somehow chose C) Isaiah McKenzie. Zach Cunningham nailed the small receiver for no gain while the running backs, who each have 1,000-yard rushing seasons, looked on.

When they lost by a point to Georgia Tech to cap a 7-5 year, it seemed poetic. The Bulldogs had gotten bored winning nine or 10 games per year under Mark Richt and sent the longtime coach packing, and now look what they had. Even a win over TCU in the Liberty Bowl was little salve to the wound.

“As far as expectations, I know everybody wants to talk about it and ask questions about it. For me, it’s important that you understand as the head coach of the University of Georgia, I’m proud to be there, but we embrace those as the coaching staff, we embrace those as our players, when you come to the University of Georgia, the expectation is to win championships,” Smart said at SEC Media Days. “That’s what we expect to do at the University of Georgia, and that’s the standard we’ll be held to.”

Expectations are high because going into the season, Georgia resembles some of its most glorious teams. The Bulldogs not only have a workhorse tailback, they have two. Quarterback Jacob Eason will surely settle in after a year of learning on the fly. The defense lost nickel Maurice Smith, but returns everyone else, and was the No. 16 defense in the country last year.

The question is can Georgia survive the schedule and avoid season-destroying losses that have popped up in recent years?

The Bulldogs host Appalachian State and travel to Notre Dame in Weeks 1-2. They play at Tennessee, Auburn and Georgia Tech. They host South Carolina and Kentucky, but have the annual trek to Jacksonville to play Florida.

One has to figure the defense is going to be solid. It knows what to do and did it very well much of the season last year. Of the Bulldogs’ five losses, three were by three points or less.

But the offense …

Will it do enough to make the defense’s efforts pay off?

Chubb is one of the best backs in the nation, but had a tendency to disappear in the biggest games (he was a non-factor in all five losses). Michel can be a gamebreaker, but he’ll be a clear No. 2 RB and receiving target for Eason.

Eason was a freshman last year and struggled with consistency. He has a trio of good receivers to aid him but the line lost three starters. If the Bulldogs can’t address their weaknesses and leave the defense on the field too long, more of those close losses will occur.

Richt was turfed after winning at least nine games in four of his last five years. Smart will discover that being right there at the point of winning, but not winning, has a brief honeymoon in Athens.