Kirby Smart’s boys are feeling confident heading into the 2025 season. The junior tight end Lawson Luckie rightly pointed out, “This year everyone’s hungry, everyone’s got something to prove.” Now, isn’t it obvious? In the 2024 season, with the Sugar Bowl loss, Smart’s squad lost the Natty race. But the head coach is still following his promise to the T that he made after the big loss to Alabama in 2018, when Nick Saban was the head coach. “I think everyone can see Georgia is gonna be a force to be reckoned with.” They’re aiming for an unputdownable 2025 season, but a recent ranking is sure to leave Smart and his boys crestfallen.

While the 2025 season is yet to lift the curtains, here comes a  ‘Preseason Top 25 for 2025.’

On the June 23rd episode of George Wrighster’s College Football podcast, the host, George Wrighster, curated a list based on three deciding factors. The rosters, the coaching changes, and the transfer portal moves. Rather than hitting the top spot, Smart’s Georgia was held back at No. 7.

The analyst went like, “Oh, everybody’s screaming, ‘Gunner Stockton, what is he going to be?’ He’s a liability. But maybe he’s exactly what the Bulldogs need to get back to that no-nonsense, sm- -k you in the mouth play action, be-efficient-with-the-football type of offense; maybe that’s what they need. Because Georgia, despite winning the SEC last year and getting a bye in the college football playoff and having Kirby Smart just still continue to dominate the conference, it didn’t turn out, and it didn’t look like we have grown accustomed to.”

Last season, Gunner Stockton started only once, in the Sugar Bowl loss, where he threw for 234 yards and a touchdown. Despite this, Coach Kirby Smart has high hopes for him, trusting his strong arm, good deep throws, and decent touch near the line of scrimmage. Analysts, especially Aaron Murray, have also praised Stockton as a better locker room presence than former QB Carson Beck. Even with these positives, Smart can’t relax.

As Wrighster noted, “I know that we just saw two of the better teams in college football history win a national championship out of Georgia a couple of years ago, but that ain’t what this roster is. NIL and the transfer portal have made it so. Georgia, yes, their roster is excellent, but at the end of the day, the depth is not what it used to be, where you would bring in one five-star, ‘Oh, he’s tired, he gets hurt, bring in another one, bring in another NFL guy.’ Just an army of them, and now behind the NFL guy you got a young guy, and that’s the difference.”

The Georgia Bulldogs’ defensive line has been listed among the top 10 ahead of the 2025 college football season. However, not to forget, Smart and Co. have lost a handful of contributors from last year’s roster. The notable players to have flown off to the NFL include Mykel Williams, Nazir Stackhouse, and Warren Brinson. As if this wake-up call was not enough for Smart, here comes some more. 

Kirby Smart needs to find the answer to ‘Is Georgia still Georgia?’

Well, Smart must be feeling some huge weight on his shoulders. He is carrying the Bulldogs program that proudly boasts four National Championships: 1942, 1980, 2021, and 2022. So, it has been two years since Smart failed to bring back their crown jewel. It’s high time that the Georgia Bulldogs’ head coach showed who he really is. However, this proving process is bound to bring him some nasty flashbacks.

On the June 23rd episode of The Joel Klatt Show, the host Joel Klatt came up with his list of ‘10 Games that will shape the 2025 College Football Season.’ In that list, the Georgia vs. Alabama face-off holds prime importance.

Klatt said, “They can play in a parking lot. It’s going to be not only a great game, but it’s going to be a highly meaningful game. The winner of this game likely goes to the SEC championship. I don’t see the winner of this game not being a top two seed in the SEC, so that’s why it’s vital.” Georgia and Alabama have met four times in the last five seasons, with nearly every matchup having some form of postseason implications.

Klatt continued, “You get the implications of like, is Alabama back at their level that they were with Nick Saban. This is a huge early test for Kalen DeBoer in year two if they’re able to beat Georgia. Is Georgia slipping back to them? They beat him last year. If they beat him again this year, it’s like, ‘Hey, well, wait, what’s going on with Kirby and Georgia? They lost to Alabama last year in DeBoer’s first year. They lost to Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame in the college football playoff. Is Georgia still Georgia? I think they need to win this game to be considered.”

Moving into 2025, Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs will be looking for their first regular-season win over the Crimson Tide since 2007. Not just this, if they beat Kalen DeBoer’s squad, they will earn their first victory over Alabama in Sanford Stadium since 2003. So, if Kirby Smart is not yet awake, here is the wake-up call for an Alabama blockade.