As Change Engulfs College Football, Georgia Is Still the Team to Beat

As the fourth quarter bled out and Georgia flexed its many muscles against Clemson in the sport's marquee game of the opening weekend, the reality set back in.

Since the last time we spoke, much has changed in college football. The greatest coach of all-time, Nick Saban, put down his headset and picked up a microphone. The SEC added two elite programs, while conferences endured their own dramatic changes across the land.

The College Football Playoff tripled in size, skipping over an eight-team format for something more robust. Oh, and the transfer portal and NIL continued to engulf the sport like an anaconda.

Things are different now in so many ways, and they will take some getting used to. Amid an avalanche of change, however, Georgia is a notable constant.

The Bulldogs won their 40th consecutive regular season game on Saturday—a slow-to-start performance that turned dominant in the second half while facing off against the nation's No. 14 ranked team.

In time, we'll know more about what Georgia's 34-3 win over Clemson means. At the moment, however, as most top teams fork out enormous sums of money to play lesser opponents and rack up an easy win, the result feels significant.

The star of the show was unquestionably the defense, which limited the Tigers to only two first-half first downs. This has been a theme in Athens that has transcended across these 40 consecutive wins and multiple national championships.

All told, Georgia held Clemson to just 188 yards of offense. While it's fair to question just how good the Tigers will be on this side of the ball, the speed and the talent jumped off the screen.

Over the years, Kirby Smart has had his fair share of elite offensive players, defense has been its calling card. Having sent yet more exceptional players on both sides of the ball, the Bulldogs stayed true to a blueprint they took from Alabama and made their own.

They reloaded.

Offensively, the Carson Beck show started slowly. One of the nation's most gifted QBs seemed slightly out of sorts in the first 30 minutes—albeit against a defense overflowing with future NFL players.

In the second half, Beck and the entire Georgia found its rhythm, spreading the ball around each drive. There was running back Nate Frazier, a tantalizing true freshman playing meaningful reps and making meaningful plays. There was sophomore wideout London Humphreys, catching only two balls but making the most of them with 63 yards receiving and a touchdown.

And there was Beck, the centerpiece of it all. The QB, widely considered one of the favorites to win the Heisman, finished with a ho-hum 278 yards passing and two touchdowns against a defense that is likely to dominate most weeks moving forward.

If this sounds familiar, well, it should. This is the Georgia formula, and it's not always easy on the eyes.

Sometimes, ugly can be beautiful. In fact, ugly can be successful, brandable and wildly effective.

This wasn't a football masterpiece, and please don't let anyone tell you otherwise. In some ways, that's what makes this lopsided outcome so special. It guided Alabama to multiple national titles; it's done the same for this program, which no longer needs its a-game to smother opponents.

The Georgia Bulldogs live in a football universe that is precisely this, and it's the perfect counter for all of the changes and modifications currently blanketing the sport.

In adding Texas and Oklahoma, the SEC has unquestionably gotten more difficult. While the access to the playoff has increased—giving a team like Georgia the opportunity to avoid being left out like it was last season—the path has gotten more challenging.

The competition, even with the departure of Saban, has elevated the assignment. And Georgia's schedule, which includes road trips to Alabama, Texas and Ole Miss, has teeth.

Another national title is anything but a given. In fact, one could argue, and this writer has done just that over the past few months, that Ohio State still has more talent on its roster. This is not something we've uttered much over the past five years.

Still, this year, for all that is new and different and unknown, starts with the sport's most known entity. And to conquer this first season in this dramatically different era of the sport, one doesn't have to search long and hard for the biggest obstacle.

On Saturday, once again, that obstacle was made clear. Until further notice, it starts and stops with Georgia.