QB-0
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Just a month ago we were talking about if it should be four or five teams from the Southeastern Conference in the first edition of the 12-team College Football Playoff.
This was also when the SEC was flocking to Atlanta for the SEC Championship game that has turned into a celebration of SEC Football in the heart of the peach state at Mercedez Benz Stadium.
Now the college football world returns to the Benz, but one thing is missing…the SEC.
Monday night will be the culmination of the 2024 college football season with the College Football Playoff National Championship Game between Ohio State and Notre Dame.
While the SEC did makeup a quarter of the inaugural twelve team field with Georgia (#2 seed), Texas (#5 seed), and Tennessee (#9 seed), the premier conference in college football combined for 2 wins in the bracket (both coming from Texas).
So, what have the two teams that will battle for the top spot in college football done to overpower the SEC?
Now most may say that that is an outlandish statement, but when you look at the bracket, Notre Dame and Ohio State combined to eliminate every SEC team in this field.
There is something about both of these two teams that stands out that was a glaring issue in the Southeastern Conference all season long. High-level quarterback play.
Both the Buckeyes and Irish have used the transfer portal in a big way, but especially at the signal-caller position.
After Sam Hartman made his way as an un-drafted free agent with the Commanders, Notre Dame went out and got a graduate transfer that had burst on the scene the last few years while piloting the Duke Blue Devils in Riley Leonard.
The Fairhope, Alabama native had last season cut short because of injury with the Blue Devils (coincidentally he was injured against Notre Dame) and has grown into Irish OC Mike Denbrock’s offense as the season has gone.
The Irish began the year with an impressive 23-13 victory in College Station against Texas A&M (again as coincidence would have it, against Leonard’s former Blue Devil Head Coach Mike Elko).
The following week would prove to be the low point in the season by falling to Northern Illinois 16-14. Since then, Leonard and the Irish have rattled off 13 straight wins including CFP wins over Georgia and Penn State. Leonard has thrown for over 2,600 yards and 19 passing touchdowns and adding 16 more scores on the ground.
On the flipside of the card, Ohio State has been steady (aside from the rivalry loss to Michigan at the end of November) with a 13-2 record this year behind another graduate transfer quarterback.
Much like Notre Dame, the Buckeyes have found success with Will Howard after transferring from Kansas State. Howard isn’t as mobile as Leonard but has dazzled the Big 10 Conference to the tune of just shy of 3,800 yards through the air and 33 touchdowns to only 10 interceptions.
Through the season names of Cam Ward, Jaxson Dart, and Carson Beck have dominated the “best quarterback in college football” conversation, but you’d be hard pressed to find a quarterback that has played better than either one of these field generals in Leonard and Howard, and I truly believe that is the reason the SEC isn’t represented in the biggest game on the college football schedule (and many are disappointed in the SEC showing in the CFP).
Quarterback play hasn’t been at the level that is has in the past. Many thought that Carson Beck for the Georgia Bulldogs was going to be a first-round pick entering the season.
As the weeks would play out, he would be good at times and show flashes, but never took the game to the next level which culminates in his transfer to Miami after he had declared for the NFL draft for a week.
Don’t get me wrong, there were good quarterbacks in the league. Jaxson Dart with Ole Miss had a good season in Oxford, Brady Cook at Missouri may have proven to be one of the most important players in the SEC to their team in the Mizzou performances when he was injured, and Nico Iamaleava (Tennessee) Jalen Milroe (Alabama) and Quinn Ewers (Texas) were all good, but nobody had the breakout season that “wow’ d” everyone.
Strangely the most impressive quarterback performance of the season may have come from Gainesville and DJ Lagway coming in as a true freshman, and after an injury to incumbent starter Graham Mertz, Lagway took the reins.
Granted there were some growing pains with Lagway, but by the end of the season, may have been the most impressive quarterback in the SEC.
All of that said, as strange as it feels to not have a SEC team playing for a championship on Monday IN ATLANTA, the finale of the CFP will showcase two pretty impressive offensive commanders for the Irish and Buckeyes.
Beck’s Big Move
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Carson Beck shocked the college football world by transferring from Georgia to Miami.
Georgia is an elite program and they won back-to-back national championships in 2021 and 2022. Stetson Bennett was the quarterback of those teams but Beck took over as the starter in 2023.
Beck led the Bulldogs to a 13-1 record. The only loss was in the SEC Championship game to #8 Alabama, 27-24. I think they would have won the national championship if they were in the four team College Football Playoff.
In 2023 Beck passed for 3,941 yards, 24 touchdowns, 6 interceptions and he completed 72.4% of his passes. In 2024 he threw for 3,485 yards, 28 TD’s, 12 interceptions and his completion rate was 64.7%.
He did get hurt on the last play of the first half in the SEC Championship game against Texas. He injured his ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. He had surgery on it in December and he is expected to make a full recovery.
I can’t put all of the blame for Beck’s regression in 2024 on him. Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo took over for Todd Monken in 2023 after he left to coach the Baltimore Ravens. Bobo played quarterback at UGA and he was a college teammate of Kirby Smart. He has struggled this season with play calling though.
The 2023 team had two skill players that were drafted early in 2024; tight end Brock Bowers and wide receiver Ladd McConkey. The 2024 team did not do a good job of replacing the talent they lost.
UGA’s receivers led all Power 4 programs with 31 drops. They also had injuries on their offensive line, allowing 1.79 sacks per game (58th among FBS programs).
Cam Ward transferred to Miami from Washington State last season and he was a Heisman Trophy finalist. He passed for 4,313 yards, 39 touchdowns, 7 interceptions and completed 67.2% of his passes. Watching Ward have that success probably played a role in the decision to transfer to the Hurricanes.
Beck is also reportedly going to make $4 million from Miami’s NIL collective. It is believed the number is closer to a little over $3 million.
Ward earned $1.6 million through Miami’s collective, which is not including additional deals with Bose, Adidas and others.
I’m sure the main reason for the transfer is his girlfriend, Hanna Cavinder, who plays basketball at Miami with her twin sister, Haley.
“Nice to finally meet you in person,” Hurricanes offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson told the 6-4, 220-pound gunslinger.
“So, when are you going to start throwing?”
Like Ward, Beck is motivated to increase his draft stock in his final season.
“Watching his success and what he was able to do and the position he’s in now (with the NFL Draft) made (Miami) very attractive to me,” Beck said Saturday when he emerged from Miami’s football offices about five hours after arriving on campus.
This move should also get more talented receivers to transfer to the U. They have already added LSU transfer CJ Daniels, who started 30 games in his career.
Initially I was shocked when I heard Beck was transferring from Georgia. There are only 3 or 4 other programs on par with the Bulldogs. I do think this move makes sense for him to showcase his talent and improve his draft stock.
This reminds me of Kyle McCord when he transferred from Ohio State to Syracuse last season. I thought he was crazy for leaving the Buckeyes but he played better at Syracuse. This could be a similar situation.
$180 Million Backup
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
With the NFL Wild Card round starting for the 2024 postseason this weekend, one team that had a shot to play on into postseason, but came up short to end the regular season made some news as Atlanta Falcons GM Terry Fontenot met with the media Thursday afternoon.
Fontenot met with the media and when asked about the plan for Kirk Cousins, the Falcons GM said the Atlanta is “comfortable” with having the $180 million QB serve as the back-up moving forward.
“We are very comfortable moving forward with (Cousins) as backup,” Fontenot said Thursday.
“Kirk is a great man, and he’s been great support for Mike. We are very comfortable moving forward with him as the backup.”
After turnover issues, the Falcons made the decision to bench Cousins officially going into week 16 against the Giants and turned to Michael Penix Jr. to lead the Atlanta offense for the final three regular season game.
Coming into the season, after Atlanta signed Kirk Cousin for $180 million to pilot the Falcons just weeks before drafting Penix in the first round after his magical run with University of Washington.
The sequence of moves left a lot of Falcons fans scratching their heads. While either one set alone would be great for a Falcons team who has been thirsting for a productive quarterback ever since the front office “let” Matt Ryan go to the Colts…Still not over that. The rub came with the question of “why both?”
The Falcons plan for this marriage was, at least publicly, was for Cousins to navigate the Falcons for two seasons while mentoring Michael Penix Jr. When the turnover woes came into play, the timeline was expedited by well over a year.
Terry Fontenot also told the media that the Falcons signed Cousins expecting to see a “high-level quarterback play for two years.” The Atlanta GM would go on to say, “the plan was for Kirk to play longer and for Mike to sit longer.”
Now the question comes into play of while the Falcons are “comfortable” with Cousins continuing the mentorship part of the plan and serving as the backup quarterback, is Cousins comfortable with the new plan?
Cousins showed flashes of still being a really good quarterback in the NFL, thinking back to his record setting 509 yards passing in an overtime win against Tampa Bay.
Folks also thought this was a match made in heaven with back-to-back wins against the Cowboys and Buccaneers for a second time, but that was the pinnacle of the season for Cousins.
After that stretch, the final five starts for the former Viking turned into throwing one touchdown and nine interceptions which would tie the NFL lead for the season with sixteen picks.
Especially after the Netflix Documentary “Quarterback” a few years ago, Cousins has been a fan favorite for his personality and leadership qualities everywhere he’s been, especially in his time with Minnesota, and that’s no different in Atlanta.
While a well-established NFL quarterback very easily could have turned the relationship sour after being benched in year one, Fontenot alluded to that being far from this situation, “Kirk is a great man, and he’s been great support for Mike. We are very comfortable moving forward with him as the backup.”
This is one, I’m torn. From the Falcons perspective, it would be awesome for Cousins to be essentially a second QB coach for Atlanta and mentor Michael Penix Jr. as he begins what the Birds believe is a long and successful career.
On the flip side, I also think Cousins has a lot to give to a team and could be a crucial factor going forward.
Bye Bye Beck
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Carson Beck committed to Miami on Friday. The 6-foot-4, 220-pound QB is headed to Coral Gables for his final year of eligibility.
Beck started 13 games for Georgia in 2024. He completed 290 passes on 448 attempts — a 64.7 completion percentage — for 3,485 yards with 28 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He threw for 7,912 yards with 58 touchdowns and 20 interceptions during his time as a Bulldog.
Beck entered the 2024 season as a preseason Heisman Trophy favorite, but his play early in the year did not meet the lofty goal. Beck threw 7 total touchdowns in Georgia’s first two games before throwing for a measly 160 yards and no touchdowns in a 13-12 thriller at Kentucky.
The situation got worse at Alabama, where Beck threw 3 interceptions and fumbled in a 41-34 loss for the Bulldogs.
Beck threw 2 touchdowns against Auburn before throwing 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions against Mississippi State.
His turnover issues came into focus again on Oct. 19 against Texas, when he did not throw for a single touchdown and threw 3 picks in a 30-15 victory for the Bulldogs.
Beck explained prior to the SEC title game that the first Texas game was an eye opener in terms of what he should and should not do with the football.
“You go back and you watch that game, and there’s just some situations where maybe I was trying to force the ball when it didn’t need to and maybe trying to make plays when they weren’t there,” Beck said.
“I think that’s one thing that I’ve really improved on as we’ve gotten into this kind of later half of the season, is not trying to do too much and just playing within myself and playing within the offense. Knowing when to try to make a play and knowing when to just chalk it up and move on to the next one. There’s three downs to get a first down for a reason. You don’t have to try to get it all in one play, and I think I’ve done a better job at that in this second half of the season.”
Beck threw 3 interceptions two weeks later against Florida and from there his turnover issues subsided.
He threw 1 interception the following week at Ole Miss and zero in his final four games of the year, all of which were Georgia victories.
Beck’s season came to a close following a big hit during the SEC championship game back on Dec. 7.Beck was injured on the final play of the first half of the SEC title game against Texas.
Beck was hit by Trey Moore on a last-second Hail Mary attempt, which led to Beck falling awkwardly on his left arm. Beck stayed down on the turf momentarily and was tended to by UGA trainers before he stood up by himself and headed to the locker room.
He did not throw another pass after sustaining the injury in the conference title game, but he was not done for the day. He checked back in for what was ultimately the game’s final play after Gunner Stockton had to leave for one play due to his helmet coming off.
Beck underwent elbow surgery on Dec. 23, which means he will not resume throwing until the spring. He was present for Georgia’s 23-10 loss to Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 2.
Beck initially declared for the NFL Draft on Dec. 28. He changed his course of action on Jan. 9 and instead entered the transfer portal.
Beck joins a Hurricanes team hungry to make the College Football Playoff under alum Mari Cristobal. The Hurricanes went 10-2 in the 2024 regular season, which left them at No. 13 in the final CFP ranking.
Beck replaces Cam Ward, who, like Beck, had declared for the draft before deciding to enter the portal and land at Miami.
Ward is considered by many to be the eventual top pick in the 2025 NFL Draft after throwing for 4,313 yards with 39 touchdowns and 7 interceptions.
The rumor is Miami is forking out 4 million compared to his current deal with Georgia at 2.5 million.
Beck can now afford 2 Lamborghinis!
How To win In Today’s College Football
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
It’s been two beautiful seasons for SEC haters tired of the league’s dominance.
An SEC team hoisted the national title trophy in 13 of 17 seasons between 2006-2022.
Five different programs accounted for those titles, spreading the wealth around the conference: cementing its status as king of the sport.
Last season, the SEC was forced to endure the indignity of watching a Big Ten team (Michigan) beat a soon-to-be Big Ten team (Washington) for the national title. It was only the second time since Texas-USC in 2005 that the SEC sat on the sidelines during the national championship.
Now, as the College Football Playoff semifinals are set to begin, the SEC might find the same seat on the sidelines.
Notre Dame and Penn State faced off Thursday in Miami. A day later, Texas and a red-hot Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl.
The Longhorns, the first-year wearers of the SEC patch, the team who’s not part of the decades-long legacy, are the SEC’s last hope.
The South’s place in the sport may have slipped the past two seasons, but the league’s firm foundation is suited to handle the sport’s shifting sands better than any other conference. It will be back.
College football — especially roster construction and management — is changing. Stockpiling the quality of depth of talent that helped fuel Georgia’s back-to-back titles in 2021 and 2022 and Nick Saban’s decade of dominance at Alabama has never been harder to attain.
In the transfer portal era and with the advent of name, image and likeness (NIL), some argue building programs of that caliber is impossible.
Here’s the SEC’s cringeworthy slogan — “It just means more” — which works for most recruits because it’s true.
Michigan, Ohio State and Notre Dame have the three biggest fan bases in the sport, but none have access to highly talented high schools that SEC programs have in their backyards.
Talent wins out, especially in recruiting. The transfer portal equalizes the importance between acquiring talented athletes and keeping them at the program all four years.
Consider Michigan’s path to last season’s national title: It had just two five-star prospects on its roster. Michigan joined Auburn (2010) and Clemson (2016 and 2018) as the fourth national champion that didn’t sign a top five recruiting class in the previous four years.
It had the nation’s 14th-most talented roster, according to 247Sports’ Talent Composite, which is weighted toward recruiting rankings.
What Michigan did have was NFL talent, proving that their ranking was far from gospel.
Michigan’s roster featured 13 picks in last year’s draft — nine of whom went in the first five rounds. The Wolverines have four more major contributors on last year’s team who are top 50 prospects in this year’s draft, according to draft experts.
Michigan’s title was a monument to Jim Harbaugh’s ability to scout and develop. He built a title-worthy roster in a manner seldom seen in modern college football.
Harbaugh was one of the best coaches in the sport, and this feat may never be duplicated. It’s certainly not a sustainable, long-term plan to churn out championships.
But consider this season’s Ohio State team, now the betting favorite to win the title in Atlanta later this month. The Buckeyes famously spent $20 million assembling this roster, and although acquisitions like running back Quinshon Judkins from Ole Miss and safety Caleb Downs from Alabama made the biggest offseason headlines, the bulk of that money went to making sure players such as WR Emeka Egbuka, DE Jack Sawyer, JT Tuimoloau, DT Tyleik Williams and running back TreVeyon Henderson came back to chase a title rather than beginning their NFL careers.
Now, these investments are well-positioned to pay off after an unthinkable loss to Michigan in the regular-season finale.
That $20 million is believed to be at or near the top of the market for a roster in the sport this season, and generally, the biggest spenders in the NIL era have been the teams that haven’t won big in recent years before money became the currency of roster building in college football.
Oregon, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Texas, Ole Miss and Florida State were among the most aggressive programs in the earliest days of NIL.
The sport is changing. The blueprint for building perennial championship contenders is evolving by the year, adapters will rise.
Georgia, Alabama, Florida, LSU, and others in the SEC are always going to be committed to doing whatever it takes to build a champion — at any cost.
In the interim, that almost certainly means they will funnel more money to collectives and NIL. This will go on top of the upcoming money for revenue sharing, schools will start paying players as a result of the House v. NCAA settlement.
As the sport has changed, programs such as Ohio State and Oregon have done the best job adjusting to those changes, while programs like Alabama and Georgia have tried to adapt their old model for success into the new world of college football.
The safe bet is it won’t stay that way for long. Talent wins out.
Final Four
By: Michael Spiers
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The college football season is almost over, and that’s a tough pill to swallow.
The good news, though, is that the last three games are absolute blockbusters—the College Football Playoff semifinals and the championship.
This year’s Final Four brings together some of the biggest names in the game: Notre Dame, Penn State, Ohio State, and Texas.
Before I jump in, let’s take a second to consider that all four teams that received a first-round bye were soundly defeated in the last round. It begs the question as to whether we will see changes to the 12-team playoff format in the future, but that will be another article for another day.
Here’s what I expect as these last four heavyweights fight for the national title.
Orange Bowl: No. 6 Penn State vs. No. 7 Notre Dame: When: Thursday, January 9th, 7:30 PM EST (ESPN). Where: Miami Gardens, Florida.
Penn State has had a wild season. They cruised through the Big Ten schedule before running into an Oregon buzzsaw in the conference championship.
Still, the Nittany Lions bounced back big-time in the playoffs, crushing SMU and Boise State. Their defense is terrifying, led by star edge rusher Abdul Carter, who’s expected to play despite getting banged up last game.
On offense, Penn State is all about consistency, they don’t hit a lot of home runs—think steady singles and doubles, not grand slams.
Notre Dame’s road to the playoffs had its bumps too. They lost early to Northern Illinois (yeah, really), but since then, they’ve been locked in, rattling off 10 straight wins.
Their ground game is a powerhouse, even after losing two NFL-caliber linemen from last year.
Defensively, their secondary is a brick wall, but their run defense has had some cracks, especially with injuries piling up.
This matchup is all about defense. Both teams are loaded on that side of the ball, and neither offense has been lighting up the scoreboard lately.
Penn State’s defense feels more complete, but Notre Dame’s run game is a real wild card. It’s going to be a grind.
Expect a defensive slugfest. The over/under is set at 45.5, and it’s hard to see these teams blowing past that.
Penn State might have a slight edge thanks to their depth and defensive balance.
My Prediction: Penn State 24 Notre Dame 17
Cotton Bowl: No. 5 Texas vs. No. 8 Ohio State: When: Friday, January 10th, 7:30 PM EST (ESPN). Where: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas.
Ohio State has been on a tear, looking every bit like the best team in the country during the playoffs.
They steamrolled top-seeded Oregon, putting up 500 yards of offense while their defense shut the door.
Freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith is already playing like a superstar, and running back TreVeyon Henderson is a scoring machine. Their offensive line, once a concern, has turned into a strength at the perfect time.
Texas hasn’t had the same kind of dominance. They barely survived Arizona State in double overtime, and their defense seemed to run out of gas late in the game.
The Longhorns’ offense has had trouble finishing drives all season, and their red-zone struggles could be a problem against Ohio State, whose defense is elite at shutting teams down inside the 20.
The key here is whether Texas can keep up with Ohio State’s explosive offense. The Buckeyes are firing on all cylinders, and their defense is just as good.
Texas has a strong defensive front, but if they can’t sustain drives or put points on the board, it could be a long night.
Ohio State should have the upper hand. Their offense is rolling, their defense is suffocating, and Texas hasn’t shown they can hang with a team this good.
The Buckeyes are favored by six points, and it wouldn’t be a shock if they cover that easily.
My Prediction: Ohio State 38 Notre Dame 21.
No matter who makes it to the championship game, this year’s playoff has been a thrill ride. Injuries, endurance, and execution will decide it all.
Ohio State looks like the team to beat, but don’t sleep on Penn State’s defense or Notre Dame’s ground game. Even Texas, with their inconsistencies, could pull off a shocker if everything clicks.
The National Championship Game will be played on Monday, January 20th at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
The Fall Guy
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The NFL regular season is over and coaches are starting to get fired as a result. Let’s talk about the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Jacksonville fired head coach Doug Pederson after going 4-13. They have lost 18 of their past 23 games. He did go 9-8 in his first two seasons before the bottom fell out in 2024. His record in Jacksonville is 22-29.
“I had the difficult task this morning of informing Doug Pederson of my intention to hire a new head coach to lead the Jacksonville Jaguars,” owner Shad Khan said in a statement.
“Doug is an accomplished football man who will undoubtedly enjoy another chapter in his impressive NFL career, and I will be rooting for Doug and his wife Jeannie when that occasion arrives. As much as Doug and I both wish his experience here in Jacksonville would have ended better, I have an obligation first and foremost to serve the best interests of our team and especially our fans, who faithfully support our team and are overdue to be rewarded. In that spirit, the time to summon new leadership is now.”
The Jags have retained General Manager Trent Baalke who is entering the final year of his contract. I do raise an eyebrow when only the head coach is fired from a losing team but the GM keeps his job. I view them as a package deal because the GM assembled the subpar roster that could not win games.
Khan will be looking for his sixth head coach since he purchased the team in November 2011 and assumed control in 2012.
Currently the other teams searching for a new head coach are the New York Jets, Chicago, New England and New Orleans. Out of these openings I think Jacksonville is the fourth best job with New Orleans being last.
This next year will be very important because we may finally have to look at quarterback Trevor Lawrence to see if he is a franchise QB. He was considered a generational talent when he was drafted #1 in the 2021 draft.
The Jags were 1-15 the previous year and they hired Urban Meyer for his first NFL head coaching position. They were 2-11 under Meyer before he was fired December 16, 2021. We don’t hold Lawrence’s rookie season against him.
His best season was his second year when he passed for 4,113 yards, 25 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. He signed a five-year, $275 million contract extension, including $142 million guaranteed on June 14, 2024. That tied Joe Burrow as the highest paid player in NFL history at the time of the signing.
Lawrence has dealt with injuries this season, which include a significant AC joint sprain and a concussion so he only played in ten games. With that being said, he did not perform like Burrow in the games he did play.
Rookie wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. was great. He had 87 receptions, 1,282 yards and 10 TD’s.
The defense is ranked 31st in yards allowed per game (389.9) and last in passing yards allowed per game (257.4). On offense they were 25th in yards per game (305.8).
The top coaching candidate is Ben Johnson, the Detroit Lions offensive coordinator. They just secured the top seed in the NFC so they might make a deep playoff run.
Todd Monken, the Ravens offensive coordinator is also someone to look at.
Detroit’s defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn and Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady are two more names to consider.
It will be interesting to see who the Jags hire and if they can quickly make them a contender.
New Tricks Needed?
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The signs were always there. The Alabama game. The Ole Miss game. Even plenty of victories: Kentucky, Georgia Tech, and the SEC Championship Game.
It all left everyone, including those within the Georgia football program, questioning if this was a group that actually would keep the legacy going to another championship.
We got that answer in the College Football Playoff. It was definitive. Georgia was not the best team in the country this year and they deserved their fate.
Now it leads to the next mystery: Was this game, and rocky season a kick in the butt to the program? Was this season a message that Georgia’s not the elite it was two years ago?
Does leadership need to change goals and make moves to avoid slipping further?
Although Georgia was ultimately still the SEC champion, they lost in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals when they were down to their backup quarterback.
Kirby Smart said some curious things after the loss to Notre Dame. Let’s start with his post-mortem on the season, which he called “Easily the toughest of my tenure.” That may be a bit of recency bias.
The truth reared its ugly face at The Bulldogs, and it said: Get better as a football program. Let Kirby’s above words sit and remember people- it’s not a second-year coach trying to get his program to another level, but the ninth-year coach of a team that won two of the previous three national titles.
Maybe on some level Kirby Smart mirrors his mentor Nick Saban with the mentality of always trying to improve, even when on top. Or maybe this year’s team is a reflection that this program isn’t on top right now.
There’s no clear answer. You can argue that transfer rules and paying players have changed the game.
The Big Ten and Notre Dame having three of the four semifinalists feed into that argument. But the 2022 season wasn’t that long ago, right? It’s not like this was a crashing disappointment for the Dawgs: They’re 4-1 against teams that made the Playoffs, the only one they lost was in the Playoffs.
There was just something missing, and Smart’s job is to figure out what that was, and to what extent does this team need to change.
Now for some apparent good news: Gunner Stockton looks like a viable starter for 2025-26. His pocket presence needs to improve, but that should grow with experience.
The underrated gap between Carson Beck and Stockton, in a start of this magnitude, may have been game management and making checks at the line, which Stockton acknowledged.
But if it is Stockton, the coaches need to acquire help around them. QBs and Coaches need receivers who won’t drop the ball. Georgia was burned during this portal window by receivers unsure of the identity or throwing ability of Georgia’s quarterback next season.
Maybe Stockton’s play helps convince recruits and transfers.
Let’s be clear. There is risk in overstating what happened in this game. Georgia outgained the Irish and averaged more yards. They reached the red zone more often. It’s not like this was a domination. Georgia belonged on the same field, but Georgia should be the more mature program in the building; all evidence says they were.
Instead, Georgia committed the game’s only two turnovers, gave up a 98-yard kickoff return because of missed tackles, and coach Smart made risks that backfired.
Looking back, much of Georgia’s problem was being outplayed by Notre Dame, especially in the second half, when UGA approached the cusp of another epic comeback and failed: The defense made a big fourth-down stop, handing the offense the ball at midfield. A 10-point game, plenty of time left, momentum at Georgia’s back. But the Bulldogs couldn’t capitalize, with go-nowhere plays on third-and-3 and fourth-and-2.
That was yet another mystery about this team. Stockton, whose arm was the question coming in, passed for 234 yards and looked pretty good for a new starter. Georgia just couldn’t run the ball, despite Notre Dame being without its best defensive player, lineman Rylie Mills. The Dawgs also did not protect well, yielding four sacks.
The offense will remain the focus. The defense can reload by retaining the talented youngsters who understudied this year. This Bulldog team will still be young, and this year’s inconsistent play showed that Georgia doesn’t have a birthright to elite defenses in today’s College Football Landscape.
Georgia isn’t automatically elite just because of rings in 2021 and 2022. They aren’t automatically elite as long as Smart is coach, he is starting to lose.
Although optimism still reigned in a losing locker room, do they deserve optimism with this result?
What did this loss mean for the program? Was it a hit to the ego?
Bugs In The System
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Just into the change of the calendar from 2024 to 2025, the first 12-team College Football Playoff has completed the first two rounds of the bracket.
Not that it surprises many folks, but the playoff format is already drawing grumblings from college football coaches, media, and fans alike.
Now that we’ve seen the first round, on-campus sites, and the quarterfinals round in four of the New Years Six Games, what have we learned and where should this go in the future?
To find out what we’ve learned, we must look back and see how we got here. The birth of the College Football Playoff began for the 2014 season and was formed as a four-team playoff for the National Championship until this season (2024) when the expansion to 12-teams took effect.
The expansion talks have been just that since the inception of the CFP but took some weight when an internal working group of ADs, Commissioners and former coaches/players was put into place in June of 2021.
That group was tasked with exploring what a format of an expanded playoff would look like in the future.
Fast forward a year and a half to December of 2022, the CFP Board of Managers unanimously agrees to implement the 12-team playoff beginning in the 2024 and 2025 seasons.
The part that severely went unnoticed in the expediency of the format change is that the working group was given a target date of beginning the format in the 2025 season.
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey, who was in that working group, has publicly said that when the start date was moved up a full year, they knew there were going to be some bugs that needed to be worked out.
So, what are those bugs that have reared their ugly head so far through eight games in the CFP?
Going into the first round, outside of fans in Tuscaloosa and an SEC Head Coach that calls Oxford, Mississippi home, the majority of fans and media do not have many bones to pick with the 12-teams that are in the playoff, but questions have been raised about the selection process after the opening round.
Getting through the first round of on-campus hosted games felt like a chore with only one game ending within ten points. No matter the format, no matter the number of teams, and even with a flawless system there are always going to be conversations of “snubs” or “non-deserving” teams, so that’s not the elephant in the room.
The biggest issue we have with the current 12-team format is the seeding.
One of the cornerstones of this format was the emphasis on Conference Champions that would have the five highest rated conference champions in the final CFP rankings would automatically earn a spot in the field, and the four highest would earn a top four seed.
This year that plays out as the Big 10 Champion Oregon receiving the #1 seed, SEC Champion Georgia earning the #2 Seed, the Mountain West Champ Boise State as the #3 seed as the group of five representative, and Big 12 Winner Arizona State rounding out the group with first round byes as the #4 seed. The ACC champion Clemson was the 5th highest ranked conference champ and rounded out the field as the #12 seed.
The big rub has been the seeding of the conference champions with Boise State and Arizona State, while being deserving of being in the field due to winning their conference, a first round bye (which turns out didn’t fair so well for any of the four that earned it this year) shouldn’t have been in the cards for the Broncos or Sun Devils.
Discussions have already started at the top (SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey seems to always have that kind of pull) in order to not only change the seeding but also begin developing a system to re-seed after each round.
I suspect that even possibly as early as next year, we see the five highest ranked conference champions receive a slot in the 12-team playoff but are not guaranteed a top 4 seed and first round bye.
After this first cycle of the playoff that runs with the contract that runs out after the 2025 season playoffs, do not be surprised to see re-seeding come into play after each round similar to the NFL playoffs. This would put the highest remaining seed after each round facing the lowest remaining seed and so on.
At the end of the day, this process was rushed to get it online and while it is turned into a couple enticing games and fantastic environments for the first ever on-campus playoff games, there are still changes to be made to get it where it needs to be.
My biggest concern in the process is the impatience of folks forcing the hand to expand to 16 or beyond before the kinks are fully worked out with the 12-team format. Only time will tell.
Playoffs!
By: Michael Spiers
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
With college football bowl season in full swing, and the college football playoffs going on, it’s understandable that current focus is squarely on the collegiate gridiron.
But with just one week left in the 2024-25 NFL regular season, the pro league is offering its share of excitement.
There are still plenty spots and seeding up in the air in both the AFC and NFC playoff races. While some teams have locked in their spots, Week 18 is shaping up to be a high-stakes showdown for division titles, seeding, and those last few playoff berths. Here’s how things look after Week 17 officially ended following Detroit’s win on Monday night.
NFC Playoff Picture: The NFC race is heating up, especially in the North and South divisions.
The Detroit Lions are back on top after a wild 40-34 win over the 49ers. They’ll face the Minnesota Vikings in Week 18, a winner-takes-all battle for the NFC North crown and the conference’s No. 1 seed. Both teams are 14-2, but Detroit has the edge because of their Week 7 victory over Minnesota. In that game, Jahmyr Gibbs went off, racking up 160 total yards and a touchdown.
It’s simple: if the Lions win or tie, they clinch the division and the top seed. If the Vikings win, they take over the North. Either way, this primetime matchup is going to be must-watch football.
Down South, the Buccaneers are clinging to a one-game lead over the Falcons.
Tampa Bay just needs a win or a tie against my hometown New Orleans Saints in Week 18 to lock up the division.
The Falcons, though, have a tougher road. They need to beat the Panthers and hope the Saints upset the Bucs.
Meanwhile, the Eagles are cruising into the playoffs with the No. 2 seed locked up. The Rams, Commanders, and Packers round out the current NFC playoff teams.
AFC Playoff Picture: Over in the AFC, things are a little clearer, but there’s still plenty of drama.
The Chiefs have been dominant all season, clinching the No. 1 seed, so they’ll probably rest their starters in Week 18.
The Bills have locked in the No. 2 spot after crushing the Jets 40-14.
But the AFC North is still up for grabs. The Ravens and Steelers both have a shot at the division title and the No. 3 seed.
The Ravens will face the Browns, while the Steelers take on the Bengals. Both teams are already in the playoffs, but Week 18 will decide who comes out on top.
The Texans secured the AFC South a couple of weeks ago, and the Chargers clinched their spot last week with a win over the Patriots.
That leaves one wild card spot up for grabs, and the Broncos are sitting in the driver’s seat. They’re 9-7 and control their destiny, but the Dolphins and Bengals (both 8-8) are right behind them.
For Miami to sneak in, they need a win and a Broncos loss.
The Bengals need even more help, with both the Broncos and Dolphins needing to lose on top of their own win. On a side note: wouldn’t it be fun to watch former LSU great Joe Burrow, or Joe Shiesty as they call him in the ‘League’, take a 9-8 Bengals team that started the season at 0-3 all the way to a Lombardi Trophy?!
Week 18 Games to Watch: Here’s what’s on tap for the final week of the regular season:
NFC North Showdown: Lions vs. Vikings – The division and top seed are on the line. Winner takes all.
NFC South Fight: Buccaneers vs. Saints and Falcons vs. Panthers – Can Tampa Bay hold off Atlanta’s late push?
AFC North Battle: Ravens vs. Browns and Steelers vs. Bengals – The division title is still anyone’s game.
Wild Card Chase: Broncos, Dolphins, and Bengals – Denver controls the last spot, but Miami and Cincinnati aren’t out of it yet.
With so much on the line, Week 18 is going to be an absolute thriller. Whether it’s division titles or wild-card spots, every game has something riding on it.
Get ready for some fireworks as the regular season comes to an epic close!
