The 2018 Georgia Bulldogs football team represented the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

during the

2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the 149th season of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at its highest level of competition, the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) ...

. The Bulldogs played their home games at

Sanford Stadium Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium is the on-campus playing venue for football at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, United States (also known as UGA). The 93,033-seat stadium is the ninth-largest American football stadium in the NCAA ...

and competed as members of the Eastern Division of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

. They were led by third-year head coach

Kirby Smart Kirby Paul Smart (born December 23, 1975) is an American football coach and former player. He is the current head football coach at the University of Georgia, his alma mater. As head coach, he led the Bulldogs to back-to-back national champion ...

. Georgia entered the 2018 season as defending SEC champions and the previous season's national runners-up, and they were ranked third in the 2018 preseason AP Poll. The Bulldogs won their first six games by an average margin of victory of 30 points but suffered their first loss on the road against

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

. The team rebounded with victories over No. 9

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

and No. 11

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

, and secured their place in the

2018 SEC Championship Game The 2018 SEC Championship Game was played on Saturday, December 1, 2018, in the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, to determine the 2018 football champion of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The game featured the East Division champion Georgia a ...

as champions of the East Division. The game was a rematch of the

2018 College Football Playoff National Championship The 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship was a college football bowl game played on January 8, 2018, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia, and was televised nationally by ESPN. The fourth College Football Playoff N ...

against West Division champion

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, and the results of the games matched as Alabama once again came from behind to win the 2018 match-up. Georgia was left just outside the top four in the final CFP rankings, and they were invited to the

Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed only ...

to play

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

runner-up

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. The Bulldogs were upset by the Longhorns 28–21 and finished the year with a record of 11–3. The Bulldogs were led on offense by sophomore quarterback

Jake Fromm William Jacob Fromm (born July 30, 1998) is an American professional football quarterback. He played college football for the Georgia Bulldogs and was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the fifth round of the 2020 NFL draft. Fromm has also been ...

, who finished the year with 2,761 passing yards and 30 passing touchdowns. Fromm finished in second in the conference behind Alabama's

Tua Tagovailoa Tuanigamanuolepola Donny Tagovailoa ( ; born March 2, 1998) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Alabama Crimson Tide ...

in passing touchdowns and passing efficiency rating (171.3). On the ground,

D'Andre Swift D'Andre Tiyon Swift (born January 14, 1999) is an American professional American football, football running back for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Georgia Bulldogs football, Georgia B ...

and

Elijah Holyfield Elijah Esaias Holyfield (born November 30, 1997) is an American professional wrestler and former professional football running back. He is signed to WWE. Holyfield played college football for the Georgia Bulldogs and spent four seasons in the ...

each finished with more than 1,000 rushing yards, the second consecutive year that Georgia had two 1,000-yard backs. On defense, cornerback Deandre Baker was a consensus first-team All-American and the recipient of the

Jim Thorpe Award The Jim Thorpe Award, named in memory of multi-sport athlete Jim Thorpe, has been awarded to the top defensive back in college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athle ...

Recruiting

2018 recruiting class

Preseason

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

SEC media poll

The SEC media poll was released on July 20, 2018, with the Bulldogs predicted to win the SEC East Division.

Preseason All-SEC teams

The Bulldogs had twelve players selected to the preseason all-SEC teams. Offense ''2nd team''

– RB

Terry Godwin Terry Tyrome Godwin (born October 23, 1996) is an American professional football wide receiver. He played college football at Georgia and was selected by the Carolina Panthers in the seventh round of the 2019 NFL draft. He has also been a member ...

– WR Isaac Nauta – TE Andrew Thomas – OL Lamont Gaillard – C ''3rd team''

– QB Defense ''1st team'' Deandre Baker – DB J. R. Reed – DB ''2nd team'' Jonathan Ledbetter – DL

D'Andre Walker D'Andre Walker (born January 23, 1997) is an American former professional football linebacker. He played college football at Georgia. He was selected by the Tennessee Titans in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL draft. Early life Walker attended L ...

– LB Specialists ''1st team''

Rodrigo Blankenship Rodrigo John Blankenship (born January 29, 1997), nicknamed "Hot Rod", is an American professional football placekicker for the St. Louis Battlehawks of the United Football League (UFL). He played college football for the Georgia Bulldogs, w ...

– K ''2nd team'' Mecole Hardman – RET

Schedule

Roster

Game summaries

No.22 Austin Peay

At No. 24 South Carolina

Middle Tennessee

At Missouri

Tennessee

*Sources:

Vanderbilt

At No. 13 LSU

Florida

At Kentucky

Auburn

UMass

Georgia Tech

vs. Alabama (SEC Championship)

*Sources: Statistics

vs Texas (2019 Sugar Bowl)

Players drafted into the NFL

Source:

Rankings

References

{{Georgia Bulldogs football navbox

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

Georgia Bulldogs football seasons

Georgia Bulldogs football The Georgia Bulldogs football program represents the University of Georgia in the sport of American football. The Georgia Bulldogs, Bulldogs compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) a ...