The best shot at a fair shot

Another reason to love Kirby Smart:  he overcame Cam Newton to sign Justin Fields.

Fields had played in Newton’s seven-on-seven league after his junior season at Harrison, and the Carolina Panthers QB had offered some advice to the hot-shot recruit.

Newton’s career began at Florida, where he rode the bench behind a legend named Tim Tebow. Thing is though, Newton thought he was better than Tebow, and he wasn’t alone. The problem, however, was Tebow was ensconced, a fan favorite, a guy they ended up building a statue of at Florida. The way Newton saw it, that’s all that mattered to Florida’s coaches.

“I’m a Tebow fan, so I can’t say definitively Cam was better,” Pablo Fields said, “but that was a quote from Cam to Justin.”

Newton ended up transferring to Auburn, winning a Heisman and a national championship and being selected first overall in the 2011 NFL draft, but the end result wasn’t the point. Newton told Fields to be sure that, wherever he landed, they were willing to give him a fair shot from day one.

That all seemed reasonable enough last October and November. But then Georgia won the SEC, won the Rose Bowl, came within one defensive snap of winning the whole darn thing. Would the Bulldogs really bench Fromm, the guy who took them to the brink of a national championship, in favor of a true freshman?

“That’s a roll of the dice,” Pablo Fields said.

In the end, Smart convinced the family Justin would get a fair shot, and it’s a sentiment that, however far-fetched it still seems, has been repeated by Georgia’s staff this month.

Maybe stealing that laptop was part of a plan.

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“Really, the only question is whether Georgia is a title contender again or merely awesome.”

Bill Connelly’s Georgia preview has everything you could want.  This, for example, is as succinct a summary of the transition as you could write:

Richt always recruited well, but Smart’s been otherworldly. And while Richt got within a play of the title game, Smart got to within a play of the title. He’s already further along.

I’d urge you to read the whole thing, but I doubt you need my urging.

Wednesday morning buffet

One thing about August — it gets easier to fill the chafing dishes.

• Based on yesterday’s scrimmage notes, it sounds like Sam Pittman is indulging his inner mad scientist a bit.
• Damn it, Andy, you didn’t have to go there:  “Evans was fired as Georgia’s athletic director in 2010 following an arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence.  That case involved a woman who wasn’t Evans’s wife and a pair of red panties.”
• And while we’re on the subject of Damon Evans and Maryland, this seems like a relevant question.
• Bruce Feldman ($$) plans to watch how the new NCAA blocking rules may impact Georgia Tech’s offense.
• FSU’s cut a deal to conduct some of its preseason work at IMG.  I bet Jim Harbaugh disapproves.
• It sounds like Arkansas’ offensive line situation is a mess.
• I’ll take obvious answers to duh questions for $200, Alex.
• The guys at And The Valley Shook! rank the SEC’s defensive backfields and the top two look right to me.
• “Contracts for Texas A&M’s assistant football coaches contain a clause that specifically names failing to report a Title IX offense to the proper channels as a fireable offence.”  Probably need that in the AD’s contract, too.
• Football Study Hall asks, “What makes the optimal college football offense in today’s game?”

He comin’.

I said it before and I’ll say it again — keep an eye on Tyson Campbell.

The Skinny: That’s right, we’re predicting a freshman starter here because, why not? Campbell is having a great camp and he’s only going to get better. He has elite size, speed, and quickness. His maturity level is also advanced for a freshman.

If not by the opener, well before the season’s end is my prediction.  He’s too good a fit for what Smart and Tucker want in a cornerback to stay off the field.

We’ll always have Damon.

You know an article with a line like “Even if an athlete dies, it is unusual to put staffers on leave, and so Maryland was not outside the norm for not immediately doing so with Durkin…” isn’t going to be flattering, but, jeez, man, is it really necessary to drag Georgia into it?

Maryland’s athletics director, Damon Evans, is also relatively new in his position — and was a controversial pick. Before he left his job as athletics director at University of Georgia in 2010, he was arrested for drunk driving and told police, “I am not trying to bribe you, but I am the athletic director of the University of Georgia.”

The coaches at Maryland were likely pressured to win because of the institution’s fairly recent entry into the Big Ten, Smith College’s Zimbalist said. While theoretically the Big Ten’s TV contracts would yield Maryland more money, if the football team constantly loses games to powerhouses in the conference such as Ohio State University and the University of Michigan, fans and donors would be turned off, he said.

Creating a credible team would ensure the coaches stayed longer, and eventually likely lead to a better offer from another institution, Zimbalist said.

“Overwhelmingly, there are incentives to win,” he said. “I think that’s what’s going on.”

Gah.

Okay, okay, so they’ll be missed a little…

Quite the legacy Chubb and Michel leave at UGA —

Top 25 performances for @FootballUGA running backs over the last 13 years when looking at yards gained in a season. Chubb and Michel account for 8 of the 25 (32%). #UGA #Dawgs pic.twitter.com/kdD7BVuTdF

— SportSourceAnalytics (@SportSourceA) August 14, 2018

But note that Swift, in a back-up role to the two, has already made the list.

Scenes from a scrimmage

Sure, it’s edited for highlights.

Bring the juice.#ATD #GeorgiaFootball pic.twitter.com/ykOr0YvyHi

— Georgia Football (@FootballUGA) August 12, 2018

That doesn’t mean it isn’t fun to watch, though.  Anything in particular catch your eye?