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Third-and-long never looked so good for Georgia football
System
Posts: 10,489 admin
Third-and-long never looked so good for Georgia football
ATHENS — Third-and-11 has suddenly gotten a whole lot more favorable for Georgia football.
Comments
" Georgia can’t win any championships until it wins games on the football field and shows it can finish against Alabama. "
Amen, Mike, Amen...
The whole "now or never" thing is HOPEFULLY just journalistic rhetoric and doesn't represent the majority of fans. To even imply that Smart isn't doing an unbelievable job would be absolutely foolish, especially as he casually grabs 2 former 5-stars.
Just as a reminder for last year:
Things are looking quite good now and there's no reason to be negative. Smart just keeps grabbing the best players out there with ease.
I don't know of many folks who are saying "now or never". However, going into Kirby's 6th season there is definitely mounting pressure on him to produce better results considering the elite recruiting classes he is picking up every single year. Last year was a wierd year for most teams and we certainly had our share of ups and many downs. Georgia's 2022 recruiting class is currently ranked #1, so the talent is continuing to follow Kirby and the Dawgs. So I don't see the expectation level that most people have for the Dawgs this season AND going forward as being out of line or unusual. I also feel that most fans and writers are pretty darn positive (not negative) and excited for the Dawgs. I see much more positive than negative, but the pressure is definitely on.
When the Dawgs landed - unexpectedly - in the 2017 playoffs we lost to Bama in the final game. And remember, those players were mostly Richt's recruits. We have now gone 0-3 against Bama, and as Mike notes we were leading at halftime in all of those games. In 2017, we landed in the playoffs having beat Auburn - not Alabama - since Auburn took care of Bama during the regular season. My question is this: Would the Dawgs have even made it to the playoffs that one year if we had played Bama in the SEC Championship game?? I doubt it. So, bottom line is Kirby has got some work to do in order to prove he CAN win the games he needs to win to make it to the playoffs and YES, win a National Championship. And making the playoffs is going to mean figuring out how to beat Alabama. 2021 presents the best opportunity Kirby has ever had to make a run at the playoffs considering how weak our SEC schedule is and how strong our team looks. And this will be a 100% Kirby Smart team.
"To even imply that Smart isn't doing an unbelievable job would be absolutely foolish, "
Smart is doing an unbelievable job at recruiting. He lost, as was written, three times to BAMA when he had a half-time lead. That's not "unbelievable" coaching. I don't think he's done anything "unbelievable" at coaching, yet. The question for the discerning mind is at what point does he translate his fantastic recruiting accomplishments into a Natty? This year? I like our chances as much as any team's. Will I be disappointed if we don't make the playoffs? Darn tootin. Anything less than a playoff berth will be a huge let down to the fan base. Be hard IMO to argue for anything positive if we don't make the playoffs.
Could we legitimately hope the 22 campaign with an inexperienced QB will produce a Natty? Realistically no. So then, we have to set our sights on the 2023 season. We will have, by that point, a QB who has at least experienced one year of the ruggers of an SEC season and competition. But the question is will there be any gaps to fill at the other position groups? Who knows? Maybe, maybe not. Two years from now may look good on paper but it's honestly too far down the road to place any serious hopes or dreams on at this point for a Natty.
What we have to hope in, is this year, not next, and not the one after that one. We have the talent for one this year. Kirby has gotten us this far, now let's stop kicking the can down the road! Not, "now or never", just now or maybe, possibly, a few years from now, who knows?
Steve Spurrier led South Carolina to three 11-2 seasons in a row without UGA type recruiting. How'd he do that? He coached them up.
Kirby is doing a fine job recruiting. I am not anti-Kirby, please don't take this that way, but didn't we fire CMR to bring in the guy who would lead us to a NC? At least that's my recollection, A "great guy, mentor", most said about CMR, but just can't coach up the top recruiting classes he pulled in to a NC. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
.Spurrier used to poke fun at CMR for having all those top recruits when he beat UGA. I sincerely hope that same thing won't be said of Kirby one day. Yeh, he knew how to get the best players, but.... it never translated to anything other than a good win-loss record.
If the hope is in now or later, I choose now!
Actually it was Ray Goff that Spurrier originally said that about.
"Actually it was Ray Goff that Spurrier originally said that about."
OK cool , but could have said it about UGA as he did mention at one point at SC he had beaten UGA 4 out of 5 years.