The 2021 Georgia Bulldogs football team represented the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

in the

2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the 152nd 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. The r ...

. The Bulldogs played their home games at

Sanford Stadium 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 92,746-seat stadium is the tenth-largest stadium in the NCAA. Architecturally, the stadium is kn ...

Athens, Georgia Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the sta ...

, and competed in the Eastern Division of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC). They were led by sixth-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 of the Georgia Bulldogs, his alma mater. He coached the 2021 Bulldogs to a national championship victory, their fi ...

. 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. The Bulldogs made it to the

College Football Playoff The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual postseason knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level ...

for the first time since 2017. After defeating

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

in the semifinals, they defeated

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

to win their first national championship since

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

. 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 The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...

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.

Previous season

Georgia finished the previous season with a record of 8–2 (7–2 in the SEC) and a

Peach Bowl The Peach Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played in Atlanta, Georgia since December 1968. Since 1997, it has been sponsored by Chick-fil-A and is officially known as the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. From 2006 to 2013, it was officially re ...

victory. After a Sugar Bowl Victory in the 2019 campaign, Georgia was predicted to be the runner up to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

in the Eastern Division. Georgia finished the regular season with a 7-2 record. Georgia was ranked No. 9 in the

(CFP) standings and they were chosen to play the No. 8

Cincinnati Bearcats The Cincinnati Bearcats are the athletic teams that represent the University of Cincinnati. Though they will move to the Big 12 Conference (XII) the teams are currently a part of the American Athletic Conference (The American), which from 1979 ...

in the 2021 Peach Bowl. The Bulldogs would win the game 24-21. After the victory, Georgia finished with a final ranking of No. 7 in both the AP and Coaches' Polls.

Offseason

SEC Media Days

Preseason All-SEC teams

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

JT Daniels JT may refer to: Arts and media * ''Jakobstads Tidning'', a Finland-Swedish newspaper * Jimma Times, owner of the Ethiopian newspaper ''Yeroo'' * ''Jornal da Tarde'', a Brazilian newspaper from São Paulo * ''JT'' (album), 1977 album by James T ...

– QB

Zamir White Zamir Alexza White, nicknamed "Zeus" (born September 18, 1999), is an American football running back for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Georgia Bulldogs football, Georgia and was drafted ...

- RB

George Pickens George Malik Pickens Jr. (born March 4, 2001) is an American football wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Georgia and was drafted by the Steelers in the second round of t ...

- WR

Jamaree Salyer Jamaree Tyreez Salyer (born July 13, 2000) is an American football guard for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Georgia and was drafted in the sixth round of the 2022 NFL Draft by the Ch ...

– OL ''3rd team''

Jermaine Burton Jermaine Demetrius Burton (born June 28, 2001) is an American football wide receiver for the Alabama Crimson Tide. He previously played for the Georgia Bulldogs. High school career Burton attended Calabasas High School in Calabasas, Califo ...

– WR Defense ''1st team'' Jordan Davis – DL ''3rd team''

Travon Walker Yury Travon Walker (; born December 18, 2000) is an American football outside linebacker for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Georgia, winning the 2022 National Championship with them ...

– 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. Incoming

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 Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

, and

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

. The Bulldogs traveled to face

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, and Vanderbilt. Georgia played

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

. 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 Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...

Charleston Southern Charleston Southern University (CSU) is a private Baptist university in North Charleston, South Carolina. It is affiliated with the South Carolina Baptist Convention ( Southern Baptist Convention). History Charleston Southern University was ch ...

from the

Big South The Big South Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. Originally a non-football conference, the Big South began sponsoring football in 2002 as part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Th ...

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

from the

ACC ACC most often refers to: * Atlantic Coast Conference, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference located in the US *American College of Cardiology, A US-based nonprofit medical association that bestows credentials upon cardiovascular spec ...

, and Clemson from the ACC in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

in the Duke's Mayo Classic.

Coaching staff

;Analysts *

Will Muschamp William Lawrence Muschamp (born August 3, 1971) is an American football coach and former player. He is the co- defensive coordinator and safeties coach at the University of Georgia. He served as head football coach at the University of Florida fr ...

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)

Scoring by quarter (SEC opponents)

Scoring by quarter (All opponents)

Awards and honors

Jordan Davis *

Bednarik Award The Chuck Bednarik Award is presented annually to the defensive player in college football as judged by the Maxwell Football Club to be the best in the United States. The award is named for Chuck Bednarik, a former college and professional Americ ...

Outland Trophy The Outland Trophy is awarded to the best college football interior lineman in the United States as adjudged by the Football Writers Association of America. It is named after John H. Outland. One of only a few players ever to be named an All-Ame ...

Nakobe Dean *

Butkus Award The Butkus Award, instituted in 1985 by the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando, is given annually to the top linebackers at the high school, collegiate and professional levels of football. The award, named in honor of College Football Hall of Fame ...

Coaches

* SEC Coach of the Year

All-SEC

First Team

TE-

Brock Bowers Brock Allen Bowers (born December 13, 2002) is an American football tight end for the Georgia Bulldogs. Bowers had a decorated high school career at Napa High School in Napa, California and was named to the All-American Bowl as a senior. A four ...

DT- Jordan Davis LB- Nakobe Dean

Second Team

OL-

OL- Justin Shaffer DT-

Devonte Wyatt Devonte Malik Wyatt (born March 31, 1998) is an American football defensive end for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Georgia Bulldogs football, Georgia and was drafted by the Packers in th ...

(AP: 2, Coaches: 1) DT-

Jalen Carter Jalen Da'Quan Carter (born April 4, 2001) is an American football defensive tackle for the Georgia Bulldogs. He was a two-time CFP national champion with the Bulldogs, winning in 2021 and 2022. High school career Carter attended Apopka Hig ...

LB-

Channing Tindall Channing D. Tindall (born March 28, 2000) is an American football linebacker for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Georgia. High school career Tindall attended Spring Valley High School in ...

DB- Lewis Cine (AP: 1, Coaches: 2) DB-

Derion Kendrick Derion Rayshawn Kendrick (born August 24, 2000) is an American football cornerback for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Clemson and Georgia. Early years Kendrick attended South Pointe H ...

P- Jake Camarda (AP: 2, Coaches: 1)

Players in the NFL Draft

References

{{College football national champion (championship game era) navbox

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

Georgia Bulldogs football seasons College Football Playoff National Champions Orange Bowl champion seasons

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