There are still a ton of undefeated teams in college football: Texas, Notre Dame, Ole Miss, Indiana, Miami and Alabama, just to name a few. However, Georgia sits atop ESPN’s ranking of college football’s 35 unbeaten teams after Week 3, even though the Bulldogs haven’t played a team that has seriously tested them this season.
ESPN writer Bill Connelly ranked Georgia first on Sunday, ahead of Notre Dame, Indiana, Texas and Miami. He based the list on which teams he trusts most, using advanced stats and his own gut. Georgia ranks second in SP+ and third in ESPN’s Football Power Index.
Georgia tops ESPN unbeaten rankings
The Bulldogs beat Arkansas 45-17 on Saturday in Fayetteville, Ark., in their SEC opener. Georgia led 21-3 at halftime and ran for 254 yards. The defense held Arkansas to 17 rushing yards, the Razorbacks’ lowest total since they gained 16 against LSU in 2018.
Georgia is now 3-0 overall and 1-0 in SEC play. Connelly wrote that it felt strange to open the list with a team that hasn’t been pushed. Head coach Kirby Smart’s team has beaten Tennessee State, Western Kentucky and Arkansas by a combined 178-40. Western Kentucky ranks 122nd in SP+, and Arkansas ranks 70th.
Georgia has also run the fewest snaps in the country outside of garbage time, according to Connelly. But he still trusts the Bulldogs because few programs in college football are as well known.
Why does Georgia’s offense look different?
Connelly wrote that a lack of big plays had been Georgia’s biggest problem for a few years, but 12.0% of the Bulldogs’ plays have gained 20 or more yards this season. That ranks second in the country.
Pass catchers Craig Dandridge and Sacovie White-Helton are averaging 19.8 yards per catch. Running back Nate Frazier is averaging 8.4 yards per carry. Connelly expects those numbers to drop against better defenses. Still, he wrote that even good explosiveness would make Georgia one of the two or three best teams in the country.
Quarterback Gunner Stockton hurt Arkansas most as a runner. He completed 10 of 13 passes for 147 yards and a touchdown, and he ran for a career-high 97 yards. That total included a career-long 62-yard run in the second quarter.
Stockton also hit Dandridge for a 61-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter. He has now thrown more touchdown passes than incompletions this season. Running back Chauncey Bowens ran for three touchdowns, and Frazier added 75 yards on 14 carries. Backup quarterback Ryan Puglisi played for the third straight game and led an 11-play drive.
“I think Gunner did a good job of making us right,” Smart said. “Several of those were pass plays that became run plays.”
Oklahoma at Georgia comes next
Georgia’s biggest home game so far comes Saturday, Sept. 26, when Oklahoma visits Sanford Stadium at 3:30 p.m. ET. The Sooners lost 17-10 at Michigan in Week 2 and fell out of the AP Top 25 this week. Oklahoma still received 91 votes in the new poll.
This will be only the second meeting between the two programs. Georgia beat Oklahoma 54-48 in double overtime in the Rose Bowl, a College Football Playoff semifinal, after the 2017 season.
SP+ gives Georgia a 22.3% chance to finish the regular season 12-0. Notre Dame, No. 2 on Connelly’s list, has a 35.0% chance. Georgia’s schedule also includes road trips to Alabama on Oct. 10 and Ole Miss on Nov. 7.
The AP Top 25 has Georgia at No. 2 behind Texas. The Bulldogs got three first-place votes, while Texas topped 58 of the 69 ballots. Ole Miss moved up to No. 4 after beating LSU, and Indiana slipped to No. 5.
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