Kirby Smart said his pitch to UGA players for this year's game will be about becoming Sugar Bowl champions. "You've got to take the guys that are engaged and excited about playing because that matters a whole lot more than how good they are." https://t.co/dKTP7DxmWe
— Marc Weiszer (@marcweiszer) December 9, 2019
- Bloviation for the Dawgnation
-
Quote Of The Day
-
“We remember the Sugar Bowl, I think it my junior year of high school, we let Alabama beat us twice,” Brinson said of a team that also lost to the Crimson Tide in the SEC Championship game. “We’re not letting Alabama beat us twice. In the Sugar Bowl in 2018, they… thought they should have been in the playoffs and lost to Texas.” -- AB-H, 12/27/23
Search
Categories
Archives
Blogroll (ND)
- 82 Sluggo Win
- And The Valley Shook
- Banner Society
- Black Heart Gold Pants
- Black Shoe Diaries
- Blatant Homerism
- Braves & Birds
- Brophy Football
- College Football Talk
- EDSBS
- Eleven Warriors
- Lost Angeles
- MGoBlog
- RazorBloggers Network
- Rock M Nation
- Rocky Top Talk
- Saturday Down South
- Saturday Tradition
- Shakin The Southland
- Smart Football
- Team Speed Kills
- The National Championship Issue
- The Wizard of Odds
- Tide Bits
Dawg Blogs
Dawg Links
Media Links
Stats/Info Links
- All-Time Division 1-A CFB Standings
- American College Football
- American College Football – Rankings
- cfbstats.com
- College Football at Sports-Reference.com
- College Football by the Numbers
- College Football Data Warehouse
- College Football Recruiting Map
- College Nicknames
- Football Outsiders – College
- Football Study Hall
- GBE College Football Ratings
- MapGameDay.com
- NCAA Division I Football Statistics
- SEC Statistics
- Statistically Speaking
- Strangestbrew's College Football Schedulizer
- The Helmet Project
- Varsity Numbers
Useful Links
Time, time…
GATA
Blog Stats
- 73,815,944 hits
Get The Picture · Bloviation for the Dawgnation
Get The Picture 
These scenarios test the motivational acumen of any coach and I’m not sure there’s a theme out there to fire up a beat up and distracted team.
LikeLike
IDK. We seem to forget that these kids love to play the game. Otherwise they wouldn’t be at the level they are. Playing a different team in front of a different crowd? The chance to show off? Travel to a cool city? A good coach ought to be able to sell that.
Kirby and Co. Have a nice long break to get everyone’s head back in the program. I would Identify right now who’s with me and focus on those guys, no hard feelings to the others.
Then: study the film, come up with plans A&B, and go hit Baylor in the mouth. See what they got ….
LikeLike
Take Baylor and the points.
LikeLike
I’m sure you will.
LikeLike
I’m sure I will too.
LikeLike
I hope people who are Georgia fans who bet against the Dawgs (other than a big point spread) lose their money.
LikeLike
Why bet on it at all? Anything of value anyway…
Ee, I’ll bet you a sixer of choice that Georgia covers the spread. I’ll dead drop it at Bluto’s tailgate next season. What say you?
LikeLike
I think they cover as well.
LikeLike
Fuck you asshole.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Maybe he should have told Baker, Fields and others not to come to New Orleans last year.
I wonder if he’s going to tell Swift, Thomas and others who decide to sit out if healthy that they aren’t going to be a part of team activities. I don’t know what the right answer is on that.
LikeLike
If someone decides not to play they decided they are not part of the team. They don’t participate in any team activities in Athens or New Orleans. Let them use the weight room and facilities when the team is not around to prepare for the draft.
LikeLike
Kirby recruits kids who want to play in the NFL. His pitch of UGA being the best path to NFL millions won’t hold up well if he turns around and penalizes kids who actually have a good shot at those millions for opting to go for it.
If Kirby wants kids who live and breathe UGA and would never dream of putting their own well being above that of the team, the intramural fields are full of potential recruits.
Kids transferring and sitting out bowl games isn’t a UGA thing. It’s a college football thing. The powers that be have monetized everything they can think to monetize except for the players. If you want players to act like playing is their job, then you need to pay them. Otherwise, you need to accept that the players are participating in unpaid internships preparing themselves for their actual jobs in the NFL.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Too bad we can’t pay student athletes a bonus for winning sugar bowls like we do for coaches
100% serious btw.
Also, Napoleon, you are 100% spot on
LikeLike
“unpaid internships”
4 year room/board/tuition: $105000 minimum. without loan interest.
Platform to showcase your ability for the NFL: varies
LikeLike
All that and $2 will get you a copy of coffee.
LikeLike
The right answer is to give them time to prepare for the next phase of their lives. If it includes showing out on the field in New Orleans, take them. If not, give them their due and send them off at the gala.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The gala was last night. Kirby moved it up, so he can focus on that last weekend of official visits before the dead period starts on Sunday night.
LikeLike
Separates the student from the student athlete….
LikeLike
I welcome them to go if they want. They’ve busted their asses with and for me for 3-4 years… get on the bus if you wanna go, that’s the least they’re owed.
LikeLike
That’s where I lean as well. The flip side of it is if they’re a distraction (cough, cough … Justin Fields … cough, cough) during preparations, tell them to stay home.
LikeLike
Yeah, I know that kid left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth but, I’d take him, too. The coach needs to be the adult and the kids will be kids.
LikeLike
Never in a million years did I expect the offense to look like it did this year. Hard to believe this is basically the same team that led the SEC in rushing in ’17 and ’18…..and then we come out and what, rush for about 60 yards against LSU??
What is more confounding to me, was that we tried to get in a scoring fight with LSU thru the air. The game plan was evidently to target our receivers, our weakest part of our team.
Dread the Sugar Bowl, would think the players do too. Rather them sit at home and get their collective shit together and avoid the embarrassment.
Don’t look for an improvement on offense next year at all, not until Kirby quits meddling….and I don’t see that happening.
LikeLike
Did you notice we used Swift as a decoy? It was because he was injured.
THe other painful reality is that Cook, Herrien and Zeus aren’t the players we hoped they’d be.
LikeLike
” It was because he was injured.”
Yep, Kirby said he was fine….Swift said he wasn’t. Go figure…
LikeLike
Swift said he wasn’t 100%.
Usually when I’m less than 100% I say “I’m fine.”
LikeLike
Greg, maybe you should read Kirby’s comments a little more carefully (and maybe a little less literally). It’s pretty clear he didn’t want to talk about Swift’s injury.
Let me help you:
“D’Andre Swift’s real status was he practiced all week,” Smart said. “He did everything we asked him to do. He said he was going to be able to play and thought he would be able to compete. He felt good in warmups, and he played. There was no — I mean, as far as I know, he was fine […] he seemed fine to me.”
Translation: He was hurt but he tried to go. I don’t want to discuss any specifics about his injury.
How can you not see that he’s beating around a bush here? Go watch Swift’s post-game comments. He doesn’t want to talk about it either. That’s their business.
I’m amazed by how much y’all freak out about these little statements to the media.
LikeLike
Swift is milking that “injury.’ That guy was finished after his second fumble in the Fech game. IMO, he’s not hurt.
LikeLike
bull shit. The guy was near tears when the carted him off
Cute name tho, it’s nice to have visitors from other schools shit posting
LikeLike
Sorry Mike. I’m a Dawg through and through. I just call a spade a spade, even when it’s not popular. Swift is going to the NFL, and he knows the offense is incompetent. He’s not risking a real injury for this inept squad. He fumbled twice in the Tech game, and he doesn’t want that on his tape for the scouts.
LikeLike
Yet Herrien started and DAndre didn’t have a carry until the second half when it was clearly designed (!) to go outside…. Maybe the reporter should have asked a better follow-up, like “Did D’Andre’s agent tell you not to get him injured???”
LikeLiked by 1 person
A little presumptuous, aren’t we??
It’s funny how you can read what I posted and Kirby’s statement and know exactly what we are saying or thinking….or if it even if Kirby got quoted correctly.
I read what he said and also heard what he said. There was room for some speculation, not 100% clear.
Facts are, you don’t know for sure and neither do I….but I bet they do. Thank you for your offer though, I don’t need your help for clarification.
Kinda reminds me of Auburn game when he said he didn’t go to a zone defense and stayed in man to man coverage…and no, I don’t know that for sure either without going back and looking at the game again.
But I sure you can explain it to me…..
LikeLike
Sorry for the snarky tone. Civil tone on the internet is difficult and most of us need to do better.
Parsing press conference comments is bound to annoy all involved, I suppose, especially after bad losses. Second, I’m not sure what the project of contradicting either Swift or Smart (with a comment from the other) would accomplish, even if successful. Third, and most on point, in my reading/listening of the statement, Kirby did NOT say Swift is fine. Yes, literally, sure, the word “fine” was spoken twice. But there is some heavy hedging going on in that statement, as I’m sure you can see. I definitely did not take that to mean Swift was fine, but I won’t elaborate on all the hedging/details.
As an amusing and non-relevant side note, there is a whole area of internet culture devoted to situations in which the word “fine” does not mean fine.
As far as the Auburn thing. You’re about to hate me even more… but, technically, no — Kirby said NOTHING about zone versus man. Those words were not uttered. We’re making shit up if we say he did. He DID say they didn’t go conservative, and they kept calling the same calls, but how you interpret that could go in a variety of directions.
I think the take away here is I’ll leave people who want to be outraged about press conference comments to their own devices. Sorry, again.
LikeLike
LikeLike
Maybe, and this is a big maybe, the injury is significant and he does not want to risk losing draft stock because of rumors that it could be an ongoing issue?
I am sure Kirby would be delighted to have another RB go in the 1st round/early 2nd round for recruiting.
LikeLike
Right. The injury is Swift’s business and they clearly don’t want to talk about it. That’s all the statements by Kirby and Swift say to me.
LikeLike
Ding. Ding. Ding. Kirby is savvy about the draft position and will not cause speculation that could hurt Swift’s draft position.
LikeLike
“Hard to believe this is basically the same team that led the SEC in rushing in ’17 and ’18…” It’s hard to believe because it’s not true.
LikeLiked by 1 person
So, this is wrong??
http://www.cfbstats.com/2018/leader/911/team/offense/split01/category01/sort01.html
LikeLike
THE SAME TEAM???? Really.
LikeLike
key word….“basically”.
But you saw that, right??
Something was very wrong with our rushing offense this year, my friend….and it wasn’t ALLon the WR/receivers.
LikeLike
It all starts with Trey Hill. I really hope the starting center position is open during practice this month. He has been extremely disappointing.
LikeLike
He’s had a tough year at center. I feel that he is better suited at guard, but he was probably the best we had at the time. I look for Webb and Erickson to fight it out next year at center…maybe Hill to guard.
LikeLike
I think this is the situation as well. Center is a very difficult position and Hill gave it his best effort, which I appreciate. I have also heard several say Hill’s best position is Guard, the off season is the right time to make those adjustments. Both Erickson and Webb have had some time this fall to show what they can do at center, let’s hope one of them takes that step forward. The position is too critical to put anyone but our very best in the spot and keep them there. I am not saying Hill wasn’t our best available in 2019, just that one of the others may be better suited and Hill may be an upgrade at Guard, win-win.
LikeLike
^^This.
LikeLike
Basically, Sony and Nick are in a different zip code.
LikeLike
Greg, I think your idea is on the mark and pretty much sums up the truth that this team fell short of it’s goals because the offense was a sub-par version of the former two years. The defense was, maybe, the best we’ve seen at UGA. The STs were ho-hum…but the offense was a drag on the team’s performance.
(The team was built to run. But as it turned out, the O line wasn’t that great at road grading..but they were super at pass protection…but without receivers and with JF struggling..we couldn’t take advantage of it. So both running and passing suffered).
One can nit-pic your statement, but it’s the bottom line.
Now how does it get fixed? We have to go back and see what was different.
1. The regression of JF was huge.
With unbelievable pass protection and all day to throw the ball, why? Up tempo was great. We rarely used it, though and when we did, defenses cheated by having a player take a dive.
2. The lack of elite receivers that could get open and catch the ball. This is closely tied to one (above). Dismissals from team, injuries and kids not living up to their reputation (HS)..killed all hope ..or most of it.
3. The reluctance to throw to the TEs. Heads-scratcher.
The reluctance to perfect and use the PA pass. Head-scratcher.
When we did use the play fake against LSU, it was on third and long and fooled no one. Which brings us to
4. Predictable play calling. I guess this is debatable. I think it was ridiculously predictable. I think it did great harm. Maddening.
5. The road grading dept. just not being very effective.
This one was a surprise, but it may boil down to using an old Woody Hayes tactic against modern and quick SEC defenses. Hell, it worked in the 50’s.
Almost all of these can be corrected or improved. The misfortune of injuries will always be around. And kids that are superstar receivers in HS because they are fast enough to get twenty yards open and can wait on a rainbow from the QB will find out that being barely open or having to fight for a pass against SEC d backs is a little more difficult. Double team them in practice every day and never throw to them in practice when it’s an easy catch…make them struggle and fight for every ball.
How to straighten Jake’s head? I would have bought in Stetson for a whole series or two. It really couldn’t have hurt. Something needed to be done Kirby is to cautious to do this..he was burned by Fields and it left a scar on his psyche) SOS would have done it in a heartbeat..and we may not like him but he was pretty savvy concerning such things
no’s 3,and 4 are game-day planning and coaching. Debatable as to how we feel about it..but it could surely be better.
5…fixing the passing game will make road grading easier because it will pressure the D. to back off.
LikeLike
Will be interesting to see what he does.
It’s either keep Coley, hire an OL coach and possibly a new RB coach.
Continue with Kirby trying to manage both sides of the ball…….
Or, hire an OC, let him bring his own people in and let him run the show with control (within reason).
My hope is, he hires someone to run the show. No problem with his philosophy, but it is possible to have a good/great offense and defense at the same time.
The skill positions on the recruiting side is really getting scary, it has been for a while….thinks that is because of the way the offense is performing.
Kirby is a helluva recruiter, a great DC and good coach, He works his ass off and loves Georgia . But he needs some help, he can’t do it all himself.
Needs to hire someone he can trust and let them do their job. Just not sure if he is capable of doing it, letting some of the control go. I can only hope.
He is at a crossroad imo.
LikeLike
I got an email last night saying I could get as many as 10 tickets to the Sugar Bowl. I replied, “are you crazy.” There is no way, I would waste my hard earned money on going to that game.
LikeLike
Swift was definitely more hurt than Kirby was willing to admit. Additionally, i still think they are hiding an injury to Jake. You don’t go from one of the most accurate qbs to <50% completion for no reason. Yes receivers dropped passes. Too many were overthrown or underthrown . That is not on the receiver corp
LikeLike
It could all be true, but all of this falls on Kirby. We are very THIN at the skill positions. Next year could be worse (performance).
LikeLike
It is a hilarious insult to Jake. I’ll give you that.
“There’s no way you play that bad unless something is terribly wrong.!”
Someone list for me all the big games Jake has had in his career where the other team loaded the box and stuffed the run OR where we fell behind and he led us back with his arm OR where we abandoned the run and threw it all over the park to victory.
The truth is that he’s a great augmentation for a functioning offense. He is NOT a centerpiece. At least he never has been for a full game. He’s had a couple of halves that were tremendous from him, 2018 seccg being the most impressive, but not a full game.
LikeLiked by 1 person
In the post-game press conference, shortly after Kirby lied about DAndre’s injury, someone asked Jake if he had been injured – since I was listening rather than watching, I could not tell if he looked over to Kirby to get the secret sign to answer, but he said he didn’t have an injury either….
PS – it was awfully convenient they somehow couldn’t reach Chuck in the locker room post-game… I wonder if, right next to the clause in Kirby’s contract where it says “no live calls on the coach’s show”, it also says “no live locker room interviews after we lay an egg on the big stage….”
LikeLike
Bowl games mean nothing.Time to have a 32 team playoff. After an eleven game season then begin the fun. The Champion Game would be the 14th game as it is now.
LikeLike
If these guys don’t feel like they have something to prove after the beatdown they took in Atlanta, they aren’t football players. This is nothing like last year’s scenario where we lost a playoff spot by the skin of our teeth. I won’t be surprised if Swift sits out because he’s banged up anyway, but the guys that do play should be playing their butts off. If we have another showing like last year’s Texas game, I’m not watching this team play another game until they’ve proven that watching their offense is more enjoyable than a root canal from an unlicensed dentist.
LikeLiked by 2 people
If anyone on this team… this year… after what just happened in the Benz… thinks they’re too good for a Sugar Bowl, then we’ve got major problems.
LikeLiked by 2 people
It would be nice to hear Kirby say who his next OL coach is gonna be. Everyone else is making moves. Meanwhile, we might be losing Tate Ratlidge and others.
LikeLike
He’s supposed to hire an offensive line coach in less than 12 hours? Step away from the ledge.
I heard this morning from Rusty Mansell on 680 that Kirby had already contacted every one of the offensive line commitments.
LikeLiked by 1 person
He’s had nearly 14 hours!! What’s the hold up??
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m telling you, he ain’t werking hard enough.
Bobo, Luke and McClendon to Georgia…..
LikeLike
You’re right. Just lost the #1 recruiter in the nation and a top OL coach. No big deal.
LikeLike
Some of y’all have done lost your freaking minds.
LikeLiked by 3 people
What are the chances Derek Dooley arrives in Athens now that Mizzuo changed HC.
Chaney at UT, and Pittman at Arkansas. Does Chaney become the OC for the Hogs?
USPS has a special employee to handle their change of addresses.
Guess who I would have gone after to be the HC at Arkansas if I was the AD.
Yep, that young, talented passing game coordinator at LSU.
If Im Smart Im asking the UGA AD how much money do we have to hire him away from LSU.
The 2020 season has really started now!
LikeLike
0
We’ve seen and heard this before from Smart.
Is it the 5*s?
Or is it the “E&E” players?
Sugar Bowl. Which ones will show up to play? Guess? 2 losses, both brutal and ugly.
Better yet, which coaches are going to show up excited and engaged?
LikeLike
In an alternative universe, LSU to the Sugar Bowl to play Baylor, tOSU in the Rose to play Oregon, Clemson in the Orange to play Wisconsin, and OU in the Cotton to play UGA. Best 3 teams avoid each other. No clear NC whether or not favorites win or there are upsets. Is this better or worse for fans? Players? Or the makings of an 8 team playoff? Could a committee pick just two of the winners from these bowls for the MNC game in the Fiesta?
LikeLike
agents ain’t buying that. Good luck.
LikeLike