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.
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. The Bulldogs are also the last team to win the national championship without winning their respective conference championship game until the 2024 Ohio State Buckeyes.
Some experts have viewed the 2021 Bulldogs as having one of the greatest defenses in college football history.
Offseason
SEC Media Days
Media poll (East Division) 1 Georgia 923 (124) 2 Florida 784 (7) 3 Kentucky 624 (2) 4 Missouri 555 5 Tennessee 362 6 South Carolina 355 (1) 7 Vanderbilt 149
Media poll (SEC Championship) 1 Alabama 84 2 Georgia 45 3 Ole Miss 14 Texas A&M 1 Florida 1 Kentucky 1 South Carolina 1
Preseason All-SEC teams The Bulldogs had eleven players selected to the preseason all-SEC teams.
Offense
2nd team
JT Daniels – QB
Zamir White - RB
George Pickens - WR
Jamaree Salyer – OL
3rd team
Jermaine Burton – WR
Defense
1st team
Jordan Davis – DL
3rd team
Travon Walker – DL
Nakobe Dean – LB
Lewis Cine - DB
Specialists
1st team
Jake Camarda – P
3rd team
Kearis Jackson - RS
Transfers
Outgoing
The Bulldogs lost 13 players via transfer from the 2020 season. They gained 3 players for the 2021 season.
Name No. Pos. Height Weight Hometown Year New school Demetris Robertson #16 WR 6’0 190 Savannah, GA Sophomore Auburn Major Burns #20 DB 6’2 175 Baton Rouge, LA Freshman LSU Tommy Bush #12 WR 6’5 195 Schertz, TX Sophomore North Texas John Seter #16 QB 6’3 180 Athens, Ga Junior SMU Tyrique Stevenson #7 CB 6’0 202 Miami, Fla Senior Miami Matt Landers #5 WR 6’5 200 Saint Petersburg, FL Junior Toledo Prather Hudson #24 DB 5’11 200 Columbus, Ga Senior Illinois Jermaine Johnson II #11 DL 6’5 262 Eden Prairie, MN Senior Florida State Netori Johnson #72 DL 6'4 325 Ellenwood, GA Junior Middle Tennessee Makiya Tongue #19 WR 6’2 223 Baton Rouge, LA Junior Oregon State Trey Blount #14 WR 6’2 211 Atlanta, GA Junior Old Dominion D'Wan Mathis #2 QB 6’1 235 Oak Park, Mich Freshman Temple Kolby Wyatt #82 TE 6’4 240 San Diego, Cal Senior Hawaii
Incoming Name No. Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Prev. school Tykee Smith #23 CB 5'10" 198 Junior Philadelphia, PA West Virginia Derion Kendrick #11 CB 6'0" 190 Sophomore Rock Hill, SC Clemson Arik Gilbert #14 TE 6'5" 248 Sophomore Marietta, GA LSU
Roster
Schedule
Spring game The Bulldogs held the Georgia football spring game, "G-Day", on April 17. The Red Team beat the Black Team 28–23. Due to COVID-19 the games capacity was limited to just over 20,000 fans.
Regular season Georgia announced its 2021 schedule on January 27, 2021. It consisted of six home games, four away games, and two neutral site games. The Bulldogs hosted SEC foes Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, and South Carolina. The Bulldogs traveled to face Auburn, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt. Georgia played Florida in Jacksonville, Florida.
Georgia's out of conference opponents represented the ACC, C-USA and Big South. The Bulldogs played four non-conference games which were against UAB from the Conference USA, Charleston Southern from the Big South, Georgia Tech from the ACC, and Clemson from the ACC in Charlotte, North Carolina in the Duke's Mayo Classic.
Coaching staff Kirby Smart Head coach 6th Todd Monken Offensive coordinator / quarterbacks coach 2nd Matt Luke Associate head coach / Offensive line coach 2nd Scott Cochran Special teams coordinator 2nd Dan Lanning Defensive coordinator/outside linebackers coach 3rd Glenn Schumann Co-defensive coordinator/Inside linebackers coach 3rd Cortez Hankton Pass game coordinator/Wide receivers coach4th Dell McGee Run game coordinator/Running backs coach3rd Todd Hartley Tight ends coach 3rd Jahmile Addae Defensive backs coach 1st Tray Scott Defensive line coach 5thReference:2021 Georgia Bulldogs Football Media Guide, p. 2
Analysts
Will Muschamp
Game summaries
vs No. 3 Clemson
vs UAB
vs South Carolina
vs Vanderbilt
vs No. 8 Arkansas
vs No. 18 Auburn
vs No. 11 Kentucky
vs Florida
vs Missouri
vs Tennessee
vs Charleston Southern
vs Georgia Tech
vs No. 3 Alabama
vs No. 2 Michigan .
vs No. 1 Alabama
Rankings
Statistics
Scoring
Scoring by quarter (non-conference opponents) +1234TotalAll opponents0371828Georgia73693821201
Scoring by quarter (SEC opponents) +1234TotalSEC opponents25371449125Georgia901267884378
Scoring by quarter (all opponents) +1234TotalAll opponents25402167153Georgia163195116105579
Awards and honors Jordan Davis
Bednarik Award Outland Trophy
Nakobe Dean
Butkus Award
Coaches Kirby Smart
SEC Coach of the Year
All-SEC
First Team TE- Brock Bowers
DT- Jordan Davis
LB- Nakobe Dean
Second Team OL- Jamaree Salyer
OL- Justin Shaffer
DT- Devonte Wyatt (AP: 2, Coaches: 1)
DT- Jalen Carter
LB- Channing Tindall
DB- Lewis Cine (AP: 1, Coaches: 2)
DB- Derion Kendrick
P- Jake Camarda (AP: 2, Coaches: 1)
Players in the NFL draft
Fifteen Bulldogs were selected in the 2022 NFL Draft, setting a new record for draft picks from a single school in the seven-round draft era (1994–present).
Travon Walker DE Jacksonville Jaguars 1 1Jordan DavisDTPhiladelphia Eagles113Quay WalkerLBGreen Bay Packers122Devonte WyattDTGreen Bay Packers128Lewis CineSMinnesota Vikings132George PickensWRPittsburgh Steelers252James CookRBBuffalo Bills263Nakobe DeanLBPhiladelphia Eagles383Channing TindallLBMiami Dolphins3102Zamir WhiteRBLas Vegas Raiders4122Jake CamardaPTampa Bay Buccaneers4133Justin ShafferGAtlanta Falcons6190Jamaree SalyerGLos Angeles Chargers6195Derion KendrickCBLos Angeles Rams6212John FitzPatrickTEAtlanta Falcons6213
References