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@BigWoof31 thoughts?
In 2016, for example, he went 7-5 with losses to Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech. The Bulldogs also beat FCS team Nicholls State by 2 points and a 4-8 Missouri team by 1 point. Sure, it was his first season, but Georgia went 10-3 the season before so it wasn’t the barest of cupboards. Two years later he stuck with a wildly ineffective Jake Fromm in a 36-16 loss to LSU, alienating true freshman quarterback Justin Fields in the process. In 2019, he lost to a 4-8 South Carolina team in double overtime. Along the way, even when the Bulldogs have been at their best, there’s also generally one or two wins by an uncomfortably small margin against teams that have no business hanging around.
Eventually the roster ramped up and the Bulldogs won it all in 2021 and 2022. Fair play to him. As I said, recruiting is part of the job. I don’t punish coaches for having the best players. But even then, it wasn’t perfect. The 2021 national champion Georgia team suffered a humiliating defeat along the way, losing to Alabama 41-24 in the SEC Championship as a 6.5-point favorite. That game led to an amazing tweet from my friend Luke Johnson, who covers the New Orleans Saints for Nola.com.
Now the Bulldogs merely have a few aliens instead of a whole team of them and the cracks are starting to show again. In 2023, Georgia choked away a playoff spot with a loss to an Alabama team that was already starting to slip. In 2024, Georgia lost to an Alabama team that didn’t make the playoff. And now, in 2025, Georgia has gone and done it again, losing to an Alabama team that recently lost by two touchdowns to Florida State. That loss came one week after Georgia survived an overtime game against Tennessee team that currently doesn’t look like anything special.
Luckily for Smart, Georgia has a pretty easy road the rest of the way. Even games against Ole Miss and Texas are at home, and they’ll likely have a major crowd advantage for their game against Georgia Tech in the Georgia Dome. But it’s clear that the Bulldogs are a step down from their best, and that will bring coaching into play in more games than they’d like.
www.elevenwarriors.com
KIRBY SMART'S KRYPTONITE
This is going to sound insane, but I don’t care. If you look at Kirby Smart’s track record, there’s some dicey stuff in there when he doesn’t have by far the best roster in the country. In fairness to him, assembling the best roster in the country is part of the job, so I’m not going to ignore the fact that he has two national championships and played for a third. But if you look at years when the roster isn’t as good – which seems to be the case this year – it’s good but not great.In 2016, for example, he went 7-5 with losses to Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech. The Bulldogs also beat FCS team Nicholls State by 2 points and a 4-8 Missouri team by 1 point. Sure, it was his first season, but Georgia went 10-3 the season before so it wasn’t the barest of cupboards. Two years later he stuck with a wildly ineffective Jake Fromm in a 36-16 loss to LSU, alienating true freshman quarterback Justin Fields in the process. In 2019, he lost to a 4-8 South Carolina team in double overtime. Along the way, even when the Bulldogs have been at their best, there’s also generally one or two wins by an uncomfortably small margin against teams that have no business hanging around.
Eventually the roster ramped up and the Bulldogs won it all in 2021 and 2022. Fair play to him. As I said, recruiting is part of the job. I don’t punish coaches for having the best players. But even then, it wasn’t perfect. The 2021 national champion Georgia team suffered a humiliating defeat along the way, losing to Alabama 41-24 in the SEC Championship as a 6.5-point favorite. That game led to an amazing tweet from my friend Luke Johnson, who covers the New Orleans Saints for Nola.com.
Now the Bulldogs merely have a few aliens instead of a whole team of them and the cracks are starting to show again. In 2023, Georgia choked away a playoff spot with a loss to an Alabama team that was already starting to slip. In 2024, Georgia lost to an Alabama team that didn’t make the playoff. And now, in 2025, Georgia has gone and done it again, losing to an Alabama team that recently lost by two touchdowns to Florida State. That loss came one week after Georgia survived an overtime game against Tennessee team that currently doesn’t look like anything special.
Luckily for Smart, Georgia has a pretty easy road the rest of the way. Even games against Ole Miss and Texas are at home, and they’ll likely have a major crowd advantage for their game against Georgia Tech in the Georgia Dome. But it’s clear that the Bulldogs are a step down from their best, and that will bring coaching into play in more games than they’d like.
This Week in Our Dumb, Beautiful Sport: James Franklin Strikes Again, Lane Kiffin Trolls LSU, and the Return of Bobby Petrino
James Franklin blew it again, Lane Kiffin found his Twitter fingers, and Bobby Petrino is back. Week 5 was a wild one in our dumbest, most beautiful sport.
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BigWoof31
"Barkin' up the wrong tree"
Said this to my Dad on Sunday, with the way that college football is going, losses don't bother me as much as they used too.
1). BC you can lose a couple and still get into the playoff or win your league
2). This "feels" like a 2017 version of UGA. That version featured Nick Chubb and Sony Michel and a very young QB in Jake Fromm. It would not surprise me (and frankly, I'd advise it) if you saw Georgia really lean on their elite RB room moving forward. Try to limit Stockton's passes to 20 or less and dominate the T.O.P battle.
That year the defense was lead by LB (Roquan Smith) and had a young secondary that got progressively better over the year.
I'm not worried about everybody's opinion of Kirby Smart. Everyone talked trash until they went back to back and now they're talking trash again. That's college football - it's how it goes.
1). BC you can lose a couple and still get into the playoff or win your league
2). This "feels" like a 2017 version of UGA. That version featured Nick Chubb and Sony Michel and a very young QB in Jake Fromm. It would not surprise me (and frankly, I'd advise it) if you saw Georgia really lean on their elite RB room moving forward. Try to limit Stockton's passes to 20 or less and dominate the T.O.P battle.
That year the defense was lead by LB (Roquan Smith) and had a young secondary that got progressively better over the year.
I'm not worried about everybody's opinion of Kirby Smart. Everyone talked trash until they went back to back and now they're talking trash again. That's college football - it's how it goes.
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