The principal explanation for why the Georgia Bulldogs will be well-positioned to compete for the national championship in 2024.
The college football playoff semifinals were played on Monday night. The winners, Michigan Wolverines and Washington Huskies, will compete for the national title the following week. Even though those two football teams play extremely different styles, they do share one element that many other national title teams had in their respective seasons.seasoned quarterbacking performance.
While JJ McCarthy is in his third season as a collegiate football player and Michael Penix is in his sixth, he is the Wolverines’ second full-time starter this year. The prior champions support the idea that having an older, more seasoned quarterback is practically a need these days in order to contend for a national championship.
It was Stetson Benett for the Bulldogs in 2021 and 2022, his fourth and fifth seasons as a college quarterback. When Mac Jones and Alabama won the championship in 2020, he was a redshirt junior. Joe Burrow, in his fifth season of college, was playing for LSU the year prior.
Indeed, since the college football playoffs began, the number of quarterbacks who have won national titles who were either freshmen or sophomores is limited to only three. Cardale Jones, Tua Tagovailoa, and Trevor Lawrence. All three of those quarterbacks had, however, begun the season as backups to more seasoned passers.
Georgia now enters the picture. Prior to the Orange Bowl, Carson Beck made it known that he will be joining the Bulldogs for his fifth season in college football in 2024. He is now unquestionably regarded as a veteran of the game, having started every one of Georgia’s 14 games in his debut season.
Even if a quarterback isn’t the only key component of a team that hopes to win a national championship—especially with the expanded playoffs kicking in next year—having one is undoubtedly essential, and a longer season just makes it more crucial. Despite their 2023 disappointment, the Bulldogs’ optimistic early roster for 2024 should put them in a strong position to try again.