One Kirby Smart Stat Georgia Fans Need to be Paying Attention to in 2024

Christian Goeckel | May 24, 2024

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart talks with Tennessee defensive lineman Roman Harrison (30) after a football game between Tennessee and Georgia at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn., on Saturday, Nov. 18, 2023. / Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA

Kirby Smart has Georgia at the top of the college football world, but he'll need to keep up a trend in one key area if the Bulldogs are going to reclaim the SEC and national title.

Winning in college football is hard. Winning in the SEC - the sport's most dominant conference - is incredibly difficult. Winning on the road in the SEC against a ranked opponent is nearly impossible.

It's what ends up breaking most coaches in the end. You can do everything right, win every game you're supposed to at home and on the road, but if you can't get over the hump against tough opponents on the road, you'll never reach a championship. It's something Georgia will need to do in 2024 if they hope to reclaim the SEC crown and play in the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff.

The Bulldogs will play four SEC teams on the road this fall - Kentucky, Alabama, Texas, and Ole Miss - and they'll all likely be ranked when they host Georgia. If they're going to make it to the Playoff, Georgia will likely need to win three of those games. So how do the Bulldogs stack up historically?

In their eight seasons under head coach Kirby Smart, Georgia is 6-4 (60%) in true road games against ranked opponents. Some of the games have been program-changing, like Georgia's thrilling 20-19 win at Notre Dame in 2017, while some have been blowouts, like the 40-17 loss at Auburn that same season.

Again, winning at an opponent's place is always a tall task, especially when they're still in the hunt for a postseason berth. In his first eight seasons at Alabama, Nick Saban went 9-5 (64%) on his way to three national titles. But it's something you have to do if you're going to win at the highest level.

Other Georgia News:

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• Georgia Football Dominating Last Five Years of NFL Draft

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