Here’s what Kirby Smart knows about his Georgia team after two easy wins

ATHENS — Kirby Smart was asked about the difference in this 2026 Georgia offense through two games.

With Gunner Stockton under center, the Bulldogs have yet to punt. Stockton himself has twice as many touchdowns, eight, as incompletions, four.

The Georgia coach opted not to give some flowery answer about the differences with this team. His answer was simple.

“Our opponents,” Smart said bluntly.

Through two weeks, the Bulldogs have won games by 60 points and 50 points. Georgia scored touchdowns on its first seven possessions on Saturday, racing out to a 49-6 lead. Eventually, the Bulldogs came away with a 70-20 victory over Western Kentucky.

Georgia has yet to play a Power 4 opponent. It beat FCS Tennessee State in Week 1 before pummeling a Western Kentucky team that was coming off a five-touchdown loss to Nevada last week.

While there are legitimate reasons for optimism, Smart instead elected to focus on the sloppiness he saw at the end of the game.

“We don’t want to anoint anybody right now because they recover fumbles or catch touchdowns. When you score 70, you’re gonna have a lot of fluffy stats,” Smart said. “I don’t care about stats. I really do not care. The one that you guys are chasing, you guys will reward them. You will say we scored 70 and 60.”

In theory, Georgia will see a step up in competition next week when it goes on the road for its SEC opener. Arkansas, though, did not win an SEC game last season and will be coming off a road trip to No. 12 Utah.

Georgia’s first game against a ranked foe would appear to be Oklahoma, which lost on the road to Michigan on Saturday.

Smart’s program has rarely compared itself to those around it. The Bulldogs are often worried about running their own race and not against their competitors.

“I’ve learned that we prepare every week the same way,” outside linebacker Quintavius Johnson said. “I mean, we’re preparing to beat everybody and not just the opponent that week.”

To that point, it’s hard not to come away impressed with what the Georgia offense has been able to do. The Bulldogs have found some explosive runs while spreading the football around. Stockton’s eight touchdown passes have gone to seven different players.

Only Talyn Taylor has caught multiple scores from Stockton to this point.

Defensively, the Bulldogs did come away with four turnovers. Two of those came in the first half, before the rain created slippery conditions. Demello Jones picked off a pass, while freshman Khamari Brooks fell on a botched handoff.

Georgia’s third turnover of the game came when a Western Kentucky pass deflected off linebacker Terrell Foster and into the hands of freshman Blake Stewart. While trying to score, Stewart lost the ball, only for freshman Tyriq Green to jump on the ball for a touchdown.

It has been just that kind of start to the season for Georgia.

“I think we’ve gotten out there and we’ve shown our physicality, our explosiveness, all our abilities,” linebacker Chris Cole said. “These games are great because we’ve seen all the things we still need to work on and improve (on) because we’ve got a long season ahead, some good games coming up. So I think it’s just good self-reflection on us.”

While players were in a jovial mood after the big win, Smart was less so. Some of that could be chalked up to the late-game injury suffered by Green, who had his leg rolled up on during a kickoff return with just under two minutes to go in the game.

But there were other things that perturbed Smart.

“If you don’t get off the field on third down six consecutive times, you’re not ready to play for Georgia’s defense,” Smart said. “If you can’t possess the ball on offense, then you can’t play. If you can’t crack block off a guy that is lined up inside you and hold your block and pin him, then you’re probably not ready. If your front five offensive linemen can’t move Western Kentucky’s defensive line, you’re gonna really struggle on the road when you play in the SEC.”

Georgia’s schedule is going to get tougher in the weeks to come. Going on the road for the first time will provide some intel into the mental toughness of this team.

With the starting units, it’s hard to imagine a better start to the season.