Nice start

Georgia has started 6-0 for the fifth time since the Bulldogs began playing as many as six games a year in 1894.

The other seasons Georgia won its first six games — 1980, 1982, 2002 and 2005 — the Bulldogs won the SEC championship.

Nick Saban wasn’t Alabama’s coach in any of those seasons, but it’s understandable why Georgia fans are excited about their team and its No. 4 national ranking.

It’s also not surprising that Georgia Coach Kirby Smart — a former defensive coordinator for Saban at Alabama — is downplaying the Bulldogs’ impressive start.

“We don’t talk about what we’re ranked,” Smart said.

Senior linebacker Roquan Smith told reporters that the Bulldogs don’t pay attention to being 30-point favorites over Missouri this week or the team being ranked in the top five nationally.

“You see those things running across your news feed, but that’s not going to change anything we do here,” Smith said. “It’s nice when people think very highly of you.

“But at the end of the day that stuff can go away just like that. So you just have to keep going level-headed and stay the course.”

Smart used a track analogy for the Bulldogs’ first goal of winning the SEC East.

“All we talk about is a race,” Smart said. “The race is at the 50-meter mark. I don’t know one person that ever talked about [Justin] Gatlin being ahead of [Usain] Bolt at the 50-meter mark.

“Nobody cared. They only care about where you finish, and they only care about what you do next. That’s our objective — to do what’s next.”

Not sure whether Smart knows Gatlin ran for Tennessee, but his point is well made.