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What Kirby Smart said as Georgia corrects issues from Kentucky, moves on to Alabama
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What Kirby Smart said as Georgia corrects issues from Kentucky, moves on to Alabama
Georgia coach Kirby Smart updates the status of his team as the Bulldogs move on to Alabama.
Comments
I am going to go out on a limb here, and everyone that has seen my screen name and read my posts over the years know I am a diehard Dawgs all the way-so this isn’t easy for me to post.
I believe the Kentucky game was not a one-off. I believe Coach Smart knew his team was vulnerable on the offensive side of the ball, called by his BFF, Bobo. Coach Smart lost too many offensive weapons to the draft, and didn’t do a great enough job to his standard of replacing them with the 2024 draft class or the 2023 class.
Our Dawgs will go 6-3 the rest of the way-NO WAY I have faith this team will defeat Alabama at their house AT NIGHT the Saturday after next-Jalen Milroe will embarrass us as will our own offense with Bobo’s play calling and lack of imagination and ability to overcome the overall lack of talent AND experience at the skill positions-Carson Beck is not Stetson Bennett or Aaron Murray-at least he hasn’t proven to me that he is.
Furthermore, if the other 2 losses are to Texas at their house and then to UT at home- Georgia will also be left out of the 12 team playoff.
If they are able to defeat Ole Miss on the road, I still do not see a pathway for them as the #3 or #4 team from the SEC.
So a 9-3 season will wrap it up-some will blame injuries or make other excuses-but it won’t matter. The reality will be what it is and there will be no denying it-We are what our record says we are.
And the million dollar question will be this: Who is going to lead Georgia in 2025 at the QB position, and will they even be considered a top 5 preseason team?
You cannot win perennially in today’s game with just having an elite defense. You must have an established QB and weapons at his disposal to go with a good to great defense.
missing out on Manning was one thing-but to have Raiola flip away as well-hurts. As much as we do not want to admit that, it is true.
That is my prediction, remember it here and now, so you can make me eat crow after the Alabama game! I will gladly put on a bib and munch down with no hot sauce.
Go Dawgs!
I hope you're wrong.
I also know both you and Kirby hope you're wrong.
(My guess is you're partially right.)
The team we had Saturday in Kentucky can grow enormously by the Alabama game assuming injuries and the lack of horses are not the fundamental problem. I've said since I first laid eyes on the roster that our three deep has an inordinate number of true freshmen. Kirby's system depends on true depth, and we may not have that.
On the other hand, other teams have similar problems. NIL and more especially the portal have fundamentally transformed our depth situation.
We could lose a lot of games this season. We could maybe also improve hugely by next Saturday night, but it's a tall order based on all that was wrong last Saturday night.
Our defense was soft up the middle. Our offensive line was underwhelming and overwhelmed. Our tight ends were ineffective. We didn't block well. All that and more was on full display.
If anybody can fix it, Kirby's the man.
Go, Dawgs!
@Gibroni88...honestly, I was thinking the same thing but holding out hope to see how we perform against Bama before making any judgement. The team just looks and feels a little "off". I don’t see the leadership and team gelling that I have seen in the past few years. Maybe ultimately that synchronicity doesn't matter, but I think it does. The team looked shell-shocked during the game when the Wildcats were punching us in the face. And we just don't have the same playmakers we've had before. Like Pollack said, he sees a lot of very good players on this GA team, but not a lot of great. Does that matter? I also do not think Carson has got the playmaking ability that Stetson had when he's in a hole. And hoping we get BOTH Williams and Brinson back for Bama to help improve the defense.
I'm not ready to say the sky is falling, but I am a bit concerned. I just hope that we both are dead wrong.
Good points by all. I think the QB situation in '25 is a problem. Can Stockton be as good as he was in High School? What could've been with Raiola, Manning , or the kid from Carrollton? You must have a Gamer at QB in this day and time—thank you Stetson!!
I'm not excessively concerned at this point, because (as I mentioned in an earlier article) Bama does this all the time. Last year, they beat ARKANSAS by 3 points AT HOME. That team wound up 4-8. They beat Auburn by 3 points who went 6-7. In 2022, beat a 6-7 Texas A&M team by 4 pts, etc. Great teams do that all the time.
Now, we will find out soon enough as to how things really are against Bama. It should be a completely different Georgia team and I'm expecting to see a great performance. If we get destroyed by Bama, then yeah, we're likely "done" for the year. I'm still not convinced that Bobo has what it takes to adapt "on the fly". I wasn't happy with the Defense, but then again when you let the defense have the ball for nearly 60% of the time with them rushing for 45 attempts (vs our 30) that will wear out your Defense pretty quickly. This was a OFFENSIVE failure and blame can pretty much be spread across all elements there. Beck is out of the Heisman race now and it was a sloppy, sloppy game.
Michigan beat BAMA because their defense had a core group of Juniors/Seniors who came back instead of turning pro; Those guys were grizzled vets. Much like we did a few years ago with Jordan Daviis and Devontae Wyatt. Not to leave out a 3rd or 4th year QB who got drafted in the 1st round and a stellar RB. Yet it was still a very tight game. Sometimes the stars have to align themselves and so far it doesn't appear they are aligning for us. Injuries and then that schedule! Holy moly!
If we somehow pull it off beating the likes of everyone we have to play, it will be the greatest season ever! Bar none.
Whoever can stay the healthiest may be the winner by default. Think where Texas would be right now with Ewers hurt, but oh yeh, they just happen to have an even better QB waiting in the wings. They have Manning and we have Stockton. At some point, (should have already happened ) we need to start winning the 5star QB battles with these other schools.
Stetson Bennett was perhaps a once in a lifetime story of walk-on to winning 2 NC's. Heck the coaches even told him he wasn't starter material. So yes, it can happen, not out of the range of possiblity,. However, Texas gets Arch Manning for the next 2-3 years and we have Gunner Stockton. Not saying he's chopped liver but just look at it for what it is. A 1st pick in the draft for them and we have a guy that in all likelyhood would be a late round choice if he's chosen at all.
Could Stockton lead the team to a NC, it's not out of the range of possiblity, that's already been proven. But the sars would have to align themselves just right. Unfortunately for UGA they seem to be aligning perfectly over the Lone Star State.
If indeed the Kentucky game was NOT a one-off, as some have suggested, then that means that the Clemson game WAS a one-off. Deep in my heart, I believe that Clemson is better than Kentucky. Not much better, but better. Kentucky played the game of its life Saturday and STILL managed to lose to us when we didn't play at all except for a few noteworthy plays. As @kirkhilles pointed out, every year a top team squeaks by an inferior opponent, only to go on to greater end-of-year glory. I'm hoping that's us this year, although like many of you, I do have some concerns. Go Dawgs!
All this angst about next year's QB……Note to all, GS is not guaranteed to start….Rashada and Pugs will press hard and IMHO, Pugs will win out…..either way if GS wins he will have benefited from an intense and grueling competition…. BTW, don't lose sight of Jackson Muschamp.