2021 Georgia Bulldogs football team

2021 Georgia Bulldogs football
Consensus national champion
SEC Eastern Division champion
Orange Bowl champion
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
DivisionEastern Division
Ranking
CoachesNo. 1
APNo. 1
Record14–1 (8–0 SEC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorTodd Monken (2nd season)
Offensive schemePro spread
Co-defensive coordinatorDan Lanning (3rd season)
Co-defensive coordinatorGlenn Schumann (3rd season)
Base defense3–4
Home stadiumSanford Stadium
Uniform
Seasons
← 2020
2022 →
2021 Southeastern Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
East Division
No. 1 Georgia x#^   8 0     14 1  
No. 18 Kentucky*   5 3     10 3  
Tennessee   4 4     7 6  
Missouri   3 5     6 7  
South Carolina   3 5     7 6  
Florida   2 6     6 7  
Vanderbilt   0 8     2 10  
West Division
No. 2 Alabama x$^   7 1     13 2  
No. 11 Ole Miss   6 2     10 3  
No. 21 Arkansas   4 4     9 4  
Mississippi State   4 4     7 6  
Texas A&M   4 4     8 4  
Auburn   3 5     6 7  
LSU   3 5     6 7  
Championship: Alabama 41, Georgia 24
  • # – College Football Playoff champion
  • ^ – College Football Playoff participant
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • * – Kentucky vacated all wins due to NCAA violations.
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2021 Georgia Bulldogs football team represented the University of Georgia in the 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bulldogs played their home games at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia, and competed in the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They were led by sixth-year head coach Kirby Smart. They finished the season with 14 wins and 1 loss (14–1 overall, 8–0 in the SEC). Georgia won the National Championship and was the consensus No. 1 team at the conclusion of the season. The 14 games won by the Bulldogs also set the record for the most wins in a single season in school history until it was broken the following season, where Georgia finished with a 15–0 record.[1]

This season is one of two back-to-back Georgia seasons that won a national championship. In the 2021 season, Georgia won 33–18 against Alabama, and in the 2022 season, Georgia won 65–7 against TCU.

The Bulldogs made it to the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2017. After defeating Michigan in the semifinals, they defeated Alabama to win their first national championship since 1980. This was the first time a No. 3 team has won the CFP National Championship. It also marked the first time in the history of college football, since the Associated Press poll began in 1936, that a college football team had won an AP National Championship after losing their respective conference championship game in the same season.

Some experts have viewed the 2021 Bulldogs as having one of the greatest defenses in college football history.[2][3]

  1. ^ "Georgia Bulldogs Football Record By Year". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  2. ^ Planos, Josh (January 12, 2022). "Georgia's Defense Lived Up To Its Billing As One Of The Best Ever". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
  3. ^ "5 stats you might not know about Georgia's historically dominant, title-winning defense". Saturday Down South. January 15, 2022. Retrieved December 22, 2022.