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- 3/17/19 UPDATE -- We've updated the permissions for our "Football" and "Commit to the G" recruiting message boards. We aim to be the best free board out there and that has not changed. We do now ask that all of you good people register as a member of our forum in order to see the sugar that is falling from our skies, so to speak.
Comments
@MikeGriffith Great article Mike on a very disappointing subject. You called it all right in my view. Including coaching. No the Dawgs players were far from perfect. But they played their hearts out and were failed by coaching and play calling. I Do want to say this though. The Dawgs didn’t go 11-1 accidentally. Only loss being to Bama very early in the season and by only 3 points. Won the SEC crown. At least got to the playoffs. There are Allot of good teams out there that can’t say the same.
And what if Ole Miss goes on to win the Ntl. Title which wouldn’t shock me at all ? Then the Dawgs would be able to say they lost to the eventual Ntl. Title winner by a close score. Even though the official records and the scoreboard reflects it the Safety was a desperation last gasp type thing that I think even Ole Miss fans would concede. They didn’t really force that safety Dawgs did that to themselves trying to do something, anything to pull off a miracle.
Dawgs simply lost to the better team. Ole Miss only loss was to the Dawgs regular season. They were and are a very, very good team.
What really saddens me is so many Dawgs fans talking like this is the end of the Dawgs football program enjoying any more future glory. That Really hurts.
It’s not realistic to think we will a Ntl. Title every year or even every other year in this new age of NIL and the TP. What IS more realistic is winning it every few years and being in the hunt, knocking on the door. Dawgs didn’t reach the goals hoped for by them and the fans. But this was Not a bad year !! In fact it was actually a very good year. Now regroup and get back in the hunt !! USE this pain as a motivator !! Go Dawgs !! P.S. Always enjoy your thoughtful, reasonable, and insightful articles Mike. And that you always have the comments section open !! Might ask a certain compadre to do the same Lol !! Best wishes to You and family for a great New Year !! And same to all my fellow Dawgs fans !!
The layoff had to hurt, we ****. Kirby and his refusal to pay for elite DL or QB is our undoing in any round of playoffs.
Total mismanagement of game clock by GA coaches, especially Mike Bobo. They have 3rd and goal on the 5, down by 3 points, Ole Miss has used up all their time outs, 58 seconds left, and GA throws an incomplete pass??????? If they run the ball, they have a chance of going in for the 4 point lead, or at worst they let the clock run down, and kick the game tying field goal, leaving only a few seconds on the clock, and surely go to overtime. Instead, they give the ball back with about a minute left, to the kid who has carved them up the whole second half, who then only has to go about 35 yards to get it in position for the kid who has already kicked 2 field goals over 50 yards to win the game with seconds left. I would fire Mike Bobo today.... This is a recurring nightmare. End of first half time management poor as well, but there is no way this game should not have gone into overtime at MINIMUM.
play calling was the downfall both on offense and defense. They knew he was going to throw long and still gave up a 40 yd pass at the end. So much for KS being a defensive mind. Why they didn’t try to stick it in on the goal line is beyond me and the running the punt team on and off finally caught up with the dawgs coaching staff. Georgia could have still won this game but the coaching staff was the difference. Georgia needs a OC! Kirby doesn’t have that fire he once had since the 2 nattys. Just listen to his press conferences. $13 mill a year changes people. Lane K needs to send KS a thank you note for the big bonus he got for his old team beating Georgia. No wonder these home state recruits go elsewhere, there is no fire and passion at Georgia anymore.
"But the most notable matchup was at quarterback, where Chambliss outplayed Stockton, taking advantage of his team having a more talented and explosive receiving corps than the Georgia quarterback."
Now @MikeGriffith we have absolutely no idea whether Talyn Taylor, CJ Wiley and the other WRs in this recruiting class were capable of producing more. It is amazing how Georgia is able to get defensive players and offensive linemen on the field quickly under Kirby Smart, but WRs can only get on the field after they have learned all 3 positions AND how to run block. No other big time program in the country requires that of their big time WR talent. And it is unique to the WR position. Smart is willing to play true freshmen at DB, LB, DL, OL and even QB. It is only WR where guys have to wait their turn behind 4th and 5th year players with 800 career receiving yards.
Yes, George Pickens got on the field as a true freshman but let's face it: the WR depth chart was a total mess in 2019 and there were no other viable options. Otherwise, even if UGA had the next Julio Jones or Jeremiah Williams we would never know it. And that fact is precisely what makes the next Julio Jones or Jeremiah Williams much less likely to come to Athens.
Further, it isn't unique to this team. UGA being outgunned at WR in big games is a consistent theme with Smart. It happened in the 2017 title game loss to Bama. The 2018 SEC title game loss to Bama. The 2019 SEC title game loss to LSU. The 2020 losses to Bama and Florida. The 2023 title game loss to Bama (because UGA's only good pass catchers, Bowers and McConkey, were hurt.) The 2024 playoff game to ND where apparently the trio of Arian Smith, Dom Lovett and Dillon Bell were … oh never mind. And now 2025 where only Branch and Young averaged more than 2 catches a game, and that was at 10 and 9.9 yards per catch.
Even if the freshmen weren't able to outplay the veterans there was no excuse for not trying because Smart already knew from how the 2023 and 2024 seasons ended that the veterans weren't good enough. Face it: Smart doesn't take the effort required for UGA to be as good as it can possibly be at the WR position because Smart doesn't think that the passing game, and in particular a passing game that can reliably make big plays down the field against defenses with future NFL players at every level, is important. Smart has been the head coach at UGA for 10 years and if he thought it was important he would have done something about it. Instead, Smart hasn't recruited, either out of high school or the portal, a single 1st round pick at WR. And even his second round picks? Mecole Hardman was classified as an "athlete" - teams were looking at him at DB and RB - not a WR. George Pickens came to UGA only because Clemson and Bama backed off due to grades. Ladd McConkey was the #1147 recruit in the country.
Every year the media extols how Georgia is a "no star team" and how the guys who go elsewhere are selfish and only care about stats, NIL and draft status. Fine, except that the only year that UGA won a national title was when they very much had a star in Brock Bowers. Smart needs to start finding stars at WR, RB, TE etc. like every other team has.
so true. He made a comment in his press conference that he didn’t work for the fans so basically their opinions don’t matter. As long as he wins and finishes the season decent they will never fire him and he surely not going to part with his OC or DC. People always say in Kirby we trust, well you may want change that thinking. I don’t see another natty in the future with a coach who doesn’t want to change
Great article Mike. Personally I think the coaching staff needs a raise. Hey Kirby got one for Lane Kiffen and he didn’t even coach last night.
@SufferinginAtlanta Funny thing: Chambliss wasn't even supposed to win the starting job. Ole Miss brought him in this year out of the portal for depth. Chambliss was the backup for the first two games. It was well into the season before Lane Kiffin begrudgingly conceded that he was a good SEC starting QB.
@Tswood1959 it isn't the OC it is the players. If you can name an OC who can create a more productive offense with the players that UGA has at WR, go ahead. Even Zachariah Branch, who set the UGA single season receptions mark, would have been the 4th option on offense for a 9-4 USC team. Which is why he is in Athens instead of still at USC in the first place.
Kirby Smart doesn't think that a big play passing game is important. Never has. Because of this, the best QBs and WRs go elsewhere. UGA fans call them prima donnas who are only interested in stats and their NFL futures - and lately have added NIL money to that - but never consider that it isn't necessarily in the best interests of a top 100 WR or QB to come play for a coach who considers the downfield pass a trick play.
Remember when Kirby Smart threw Carson Beck under the bus halftime at the SEC CG, blaming Beck for his own injury that threatened his NFL career, instead of admitting that the WRs that he recruited simply weren't getting open? Remember how Smart chose to allow the media and the blogs to blame Beck's being an NIL prima donna for all the issues that the UGA offense had in 2024 instead of admitting that just maybe you need more at WR than Arian Smith, Dom Lovett and Dillon Bell catching the ball to win a title? How's that looking now?
When your approach to the passing game is Smart's then you are going to need a combination of a generational defense, a generational TE and the opposing team's best WRs to get hurt at the worst possible time to win a title. Without the Philadelphia Eagles defense, Brock Bowers, Jameson Williams and John Metchie shredding their knees in back-to-back games and Marvin Harrington Jr. getting a concussion it does not happen.
I have been saying for weeks that UGA is going to need a downfield passing game to beat playoff defenses. Yes, the final score against Ole Miss was 39-34 but only because the defense scored a TD. Instead, it was yet another game for UGA where no RB or WR had 100 yards and only 2 guys - Branch and Frazier - had more than 50.
Cash Jones was UGA's 3rd most productive guy on offense. Think about it.
Sad to see many of our "fans" on this & other sites beginning to rival Alabama & Ohio State as the most entitled & insufferable crowd on the interwebs…
Captain, I happen to believe that fans who support a coach, who is paid 13 MM a year, have a right to complain and vent their frustrations. Many of the comments on here have been discussed for over a year. A wise king has many advisors, and KS would do well to at least listen to some of these voices.
Good critique, don’t disagree with any points. Edited, one sentence synopsis…
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Finally, and perhaps most importantly,the Rebels won at the line of scrimmage."IMO, all other factors resulted from the staff and players doing the best they could to overcome the glaring gap on both sides of the LOS.
I think most can agree that the coach’s dedication to his staff has cost games and maybe even championships . Constant change produces winners in sports and in business . You stay the same you get left behind . Do you think Kirby ever pulls Jalen Hurts for Tua and vice versa when Saban did ? Even at Saban’s age he saw the need for change and regardless of who’s feelings were hurt it’s all about winning . That’s how you win championships and stay on top . How many assistants has Kirby let go ? I know you never really fire them but they go on to better jobs to advance their careers . I cannot think of one that was shown the door . I thought there was a few but guess not since they are back ! Like the saying goes . A mind is a terrible thing to waste . Talent is a terrible thing to waste . Look at the Braves in the 90’s . Let’s not become and Its only my opinion but what I saw as underachievers .