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Georgia football head coach Kirby Smart is well aware that playing in close games is not sustainable for this Bulldog team. The most recent comeback came on Saturday against rival Florida, where quarterback Gunner Stockton led a game-winning touchdown drive with less than five minutes left in the game, capped off by a long Chauncey Bowens touchdown run. But the outcome may have been a result of a bad fourth-and-one decision by Florida interim head coach Billy Gonzalez. However, the Bulldogs continue to win, and as they enter the final month of their season, a College Football Playoff appearance seems more than likely if they can take care of business, but that will mean starting off faster in games. Head coach Kirby Smart believes the team must ‘control what they can control’ Georgia was close to enduring its second loss of the season against Florida, but a strong fourth-quarter finish once again gave the Bulldogs their seventh win to improve to 7-1, and 5-1 in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). In a recent DawgNation.com article by Connor Riley, Kirby Smart gave his thoughts on the slow starts and the fourth-quarter comebacks: “I do know that it’ll take care of itself if you handle your business, and if you don’t you’ll be worried about a lot of those things,” Smart said. “That’s just the state of college football where it is. We’re trying to control what we can control right now, what’s in our hands.” ‘Controlling what they can control’ has set Georgia up to be the fifth-ranked team in the nation, and if things fall Georgia’s way in the final month of the season, it may lead to an SEC Championship berth. Slow starts are common in college football, but when you need an 82-yard drive late in the fourth quarter to defeat a 3-5 Florida team, there’s going to some cause for concern. Georgia Bulldogs Outlook for Remaining Schedule Another thing Kirby mentioned when talking to the media is the resounding effort from his group, and their “no quit” mentality: “They’ve got no quit in them,” Smart said. “These guys have competed. They’ve been in every game they’ve played. They have upgraded the talent level since he’s been there. You look at the group he’s put together defensively, offensively and special teams. They’ve got really good players all over the field. Our guys are going to be up for a great challenge this week.” “This week” refers to Mississippi State, where Georgia will travel to on Saturday to take on their counterpart “Bulldogs”. After getting back from Starkville, MS, Georgia will host the Texas Longhorns in what looks to be a top-ranked matchup. That Georgia-Texas matchup will be especially big for the Longhorns, who will likely be out of CFP talks with another loss. As long as Georgia doesn’t drop two of its remaining four games, they are essentially a lock to be one of the top 12 teams with a chance at winning a National Championship in January.
