Georgia Bulldogs looking like No. 1 again during sizzling start to football season

Georgia has won its first three games by more than 43 points and the 10 total points it has allowed are the Bulldogs’ fewest for a season’s first three games in 95 years.

The Bulldogs forced six turnovers and have yet to commit one. The lone touchdown they yielded came in the final minute, against reserve players, when South Carolina was trailing 48-0.

The Bulldogs opened the season by blowing out then-No. 11 Oregon, then shut out Samford before going on the road and opening their SEC schedule by manhandling South Carolina this past Saturday.

“We’re going to have to play a four-quarter game at some point. We’re going to have to stay in shape,” Georgia quarterback Bennett said. “This isn’t going to happen every week.”

Georgia’s next four opponents, beginning with Saturday’s home game against Kent State (1-2), have a combined record of 8-5 with none of their wins coming against teams from Power 5 conferences.

After that, the Bulldogs head to Jacksonville to face No. 20 Florida (2-1), which struggled to beat South Florida on Saturday, and plays at No. 11 Tennessee (3-0) this week. If the Gators, who have yet to throw a touchdown pass this year, lose to the Vols, who are favored by 10 points, they’ll likely fall out of the rankings.

Georgia might not play a ranked team until the Bulldogs welcome Tennessee to Sanford Stadium on Nov. 5 — after Tennessee has played a slate that includes No. 8 Kentucky and No. 2 Alabama.

In short, there’s a chance Georgia might not play a ranked team until the SEC Championship Game, should the Bulldogs win their fifth SEC East Division title in the past six seasons.

But Georgia coach Kirby Smart isn’t focused on the future; he’s too concerned with the present. He’s been adamant that last year is a memory, that winning the program’s first national title in 41 years won’t help this year’s team win another.

“I’ve said all year we have good football players,” Smart said. “We just have to play well, and they have to buy in to being selfless and helping each other. This team’s way different than last year. We don’t have 15 guys who are going to be drafted next year. We don’t. But we’ve got a lot of guys who are tough, they’re physical and they like practice. They buy in to being around each other, they’re connected, they like to compete with each other.”

The Bulldogs haven’t competed so much as they’ve dominated in all facets.

Bennett’s Heisman Trophy campaign should be picking up steam this week after becoming the first player to threw for at least 250 yards and have a passing touchdown and rushing touchdown in each of his first three games since Patrick Mahomes did so to open the 2016 season.

He has completed 73.9 percent of his passes for 952 yards and five touchdowns and has been masterful leading an offense in which nine players have already found the end zone at least once.

Georgia has made 27 trips inside the opposition’s red zone and has come away with 21 touchdowns and six field goals.

The defense is allowing opponents to convert fewer than 30 percent of their third-down conversion attempts, has forced 18 punts and six turnovers and was upset when South Carolina’s second-string quarterback threw a touchdown pass with 53 seconds left.

“I took that personally, very personally,” senior outside linebacker Nolan Smith said. “That’s the entire defense’s body of work. It’s not because certain people are out there, 1s, 2s or 3s. If you’re on the field, you’re a starter for us, and you’re expected to play that way.”

Jack Podlesny had made five of six field-goal attempts and freshman punter Brett Thorson is averaging 45 yards on six punts.

Smart challenged the Bulldogs this past Saturday, a week after he criticized their maturity following a 33-0 win over Samford.

“I told them before the game right before we came out, there is a muscle we haven’t used. And the muscle we have not flexed is our composure muscle,” Smart said. “I had Branson Robinson stand up in front of the room and say this is what our composure muscle looks like. If your composure muscle looks like Branson Robinson, there’s a good chance you need to flex it.”

Robinson, a 5-foot-10, 220-pound freshman running back whose video of him deadlifting 720 pounds as a high school senior went viral last April, had six carries for 32 yards against South Carolina.

Bennett went 16-for-23 passing for 284 yards with two touchdowns and rushed for 36 yards and a score on three carries in about 2 ½ quarters. Brock Bowers had five catches for 121 yards and two touchdowns, including on on a 78-yard catch-and-run. Ladd McConkey had four catches for 52 yards and backup quarterback Carson Beck went 5-for-6 passing for 55 yards, including a 28-yard touchdown toss to freshman Oscar Delp.

“I thought we challenged our guys to come on the road and play really physical — attack from the get-go,” Smart said. “We talked about not treading water when you come in. You come in here to be the attacker and to hunt and not be hunted. I thought our kids bought into that.”