To date, the Georgia football program has won four national titles, so let's rank them now!
Over the last two seasons, Kirby Smart has transformed the Georgia football program from notorious underachievers into being the undisputed national power reigning over the sport.
I mean, it's been nothing short of fantastic. All those years of suffering one gut-punch after another has been so incredibly worth it. Eventually, water will find its level and somebody else's favorite college football program will have its day in the sun. But for now, it's good to be a Dawg, bro! With an unprecedented three-peat possibly on the horizon, let's rank some nattys, shall we?
With four claimed national championships in program history, how does their foursome stack up?
Georgia football: Ranking all of the Dawgs' national championship seasons so far
It was Georgia's first national championship, but no one alive even remembers it
While Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall may have a funny name, there is no joke about what Wally Butts did during his iconic run leading the Georgia football program. He was at the helm of the Dawgs from 1939 to 1960. Butts coached several incredible players, but none were as important to Georgia football lore as Frank Sinkwich and Charley Trippi. They helped Georgia win it all in 1942.
The 1942 Bulldogs went 11-1 overall and 6-1 in SEC play. Their lone loss came vs. major rival Auburn in Columbus. They beat three ranked teams that year in No. 3 Alabama on Halloween, No. 2 Georgia Tech over Thanksgiving Weekend and No. 13 UCLA in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day. Sinkwich won the Heisman Trophy during Butts' fourth year at the helm, but they finished … No. 2?
That is because the AP Poll crowned its national champion before the bowl games. Ohio State was ranked ahead of Georgia and did not play in a bowl game. Shutting out the Bruins in Pasadena was enough to propel the Dawgs to national-championship status by many of the popular polls of that era. Sinkwich is the only Georgia player to win a national title and a Heisman in the same season.
It was a different era of college football, but it is hard to see the 1942 team beating Georgia's best.
Certainly Georgia's most cathartic, but this team had a few flaws and blemishes
It goes without saying, this one meant the most. Some 41 years in the making, them Dawgs done finally done it, y'all! There had been a handful of teams in the 21st century capable of winning it all, but none that called The Classic City home pulled it off until the 2021 team did the thing in Indianapolis. Jordan Davis and Nakobe Dean were unanimous All-Americans on this elite defense.
I plan on telling my future grandchildren stories about just how great the 2021 Georgia defense really was. It was probably the best college defense I ever saw. With it, the Dawgs ran roughshod on the SEC, going 8-0 in conference play for the first time ever. However, they laid a rotten egg over in Atlanta vs. the former bogeyman of theirs known as Nick Saban's Alabama Crimson Tide.
The Dawgs made the College Football Playoff as the No. 3 seed and then proceeded to blow the Michigan Wolverines out in the Orange Bowl. This all led to a rematch with the Tide in Indianapolis. Stetson Bennett IV's late-game heroics put the Dawgs over the top, while Kelee Ringo's pick-six sealed the deal. The defense was generational, but the offense was not quite as good as 2022's.
If you were to have the 2021 team face the 2022 team in a simulation, the latter would win more.
UGA's 1980 title carries gravitas because of Herschel Walker's rise to stardom
The lore surrounding the 1980 team could lose its luster in the coming years, but growing up in Georgia, you heard nothing but great stories about Vince Dooley's finest team Between the Hedges. Yes, Dooley and defensive back Scott Woerner were also College Football Hall of Famers, and Erk Russell should be too, but 1980 is synonymous with the meteoric rise of Herschel Walker.
Dooley won a ton of games in his iconic career, but he never had another player like Walker. Four things from this season standout, most having to do with Walker himself. He ran over a Tennessee linebacker before out-dueling Heisman winner George Rogers' South Carolina squad. Of course, quarterback Buck Belue found Lindsay Scott to end Florida in Jacksonville to Larry Munson's liking.
That was all great, but one big game remained. It took a herculean effort out of a super-banged-up Walker to pretty much single-handedly beat Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl to go undefeated and win the national championship. Georgia was fantastic the next two years, but this was peak Walker. Had it not been for the last two seasons, or Walker's political career, this would be No. 1.
I don't know if this was the best team Georgia ever, but few fired on all cylinders like this one did.
Prisoner of the moment, I really don't care. This team was complete and special!
Yes, Frank Sinwich won the 1942 Heisman Trophy. Yes, Herschel Walker was the greatest talent to ever play in Athens. And yes, the 2021 Georgia defense will forever remain the stuff of legend. However, I think last year's team would beat them all if they were to play head-to-head. In time, we will grow to truly appreciate what we just saw out of Kirby Smart's dominant 2022 campaign.
It wasn't always pretty, but who cares? 15-0 is 15-0, and the Dawgs did just that. Although last year's defense wasn't as historically dominant as the 2021 squad, it had its moments. You could argue that Jalen Carter was the best defensive player to play in Athens since Champ Bailey, or at least since David Pollack. More importantly, this team never lost. Plus, its offense was underrated.
Quarterback Stetson Bennett IV became the first Georgia player since Garrison Hearst in 1992 to be a Heisman Trophy finalist. Whenever his name was called, "The Mailman" delivered. Despite the Dawgs being pushed by Missouri, and most notably Ohio State in the Peach Bowl, they never gave up. This resulted in what will go down as the most lopsided national title win ever over poor TCU.
This was a more complete team than the 2021 team, and therefore, we should appreciate it more.