It’s not me; it’s them.

'We have players who were up to the challenge. Some players weren't up to the challenge,' Billy Napier said of those who signed with #Gators 2024 class.

— Edgar Thompson (@osgators) December 20, 2023

I haven’t seen such a bizarre use of the word “challenge” since Georgia players tried to defend Coach Fabris’ infatuation with directional kicking.

Youth will be served.

An amazing stat:

Coach Smart said he expects to have 23 of his signees to come in as mid-years…8-9 are already here. Coach said approximately 60 percent of next year's roster will be made up of first and second year players.https://t.co/etA2L0zPrP https://t.co/cin0OCAl0k

— Anthony Dasher (@AnthonyDasher1) December 20, 2023

Georgia will be one of the youngest teams in contention for a national title next season.  Think about that — and what it means for the seasons after that.

TFW two out of three ain’t good enough

Stewart Mandel ($$):

That could absolutely happen, especially in the SEC, where the two teams that reach the championship game in a division-less format will almost certainly both be national championship contenders. Next season, for example, Georgia plays at Alabama in Week 4. Let’s say the Tide win that one. They meet again in Atlanta, neither team having lost since then, and Alabama wins again. The undefeated Tide get the No. 1 seed in the Playoff, the 11-2 Dawgs get the No. 8 seed. They meet again in the quarterfinals, only this time Georgia wins and goes on to take home the natty.

What people need to realize is that in moving to an “NFL-style” playoff, you’re going to have all the same quirks that come with every other sport’s postseason. Teams may face each other two or three times in the same season, perhaps even in back-to-back weeks…

I thought that’s what got us out of the BCS and into the CFP in the first place.  So much for fixing the issue.

These things are foreign concepts to college football, and I have no doubt will feel jarring the first time they happen. But the majority of the college football public has been yearning for a bigger playoff for years, if not decades. You can’t switch to a radically different postseason format and expect everything else to remain exactly the same.

Thanks for those comforting words.  And people still want to argue with me that an expanded playoff doesn’t dilute the meaning of the regular season.

Doing the right thing

This is a pretty cool little story about Bolden’s recruitment.

Bolden credited Brown with helping him ultimately pick Georgia. After Brown became the Syracuse head coach, Bolden took a visit to Syracuse. When speaking with reporters, Bolden credited Brown for helping show him Georgia was the place for him.

@KirbySmartUGA & @CoachWMuschamp taught me Big homey moves, their knowledge is priceless! Gotta have fun with it now!
👊🏾🙏 #@CuseFootball

— Fran Brown (@FranBrownCuse) December 20, 2023

Coach Brown is a class act, to say the least.  Can’t help but root for him to kick ass in his new gig.

“Gentlemen, this is Coach Sinclair.”

Shot.

Georgia's offensive line signees:

6-foot-8, 353 pounds
6-foot-8, 335 pounds
6-foot-8, 325 pounds
6-foot-7, 315 pounds
6-foot-6, 330 pounds
6-foot-6, 295 poundshttps://t.co/r26aIwG6vq

— Radi Nabulsi (@RadiNabulsi) December 20, 2023

Chaser.

Kirby on these super sized offensive linemen in the recruiting class: "How many 350-plus offensive linemen have started at Georgia? I can't think of one." Will be some weight dropping.

— Marc Weiszer (@marcweiszer) December 20, 2023