Kirby Smart
Natty Or Bust?
By: Joe Delaney
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Well, spring is here and one of the most beautiful places in the state is Athens. With a temperature in the 70’s and the azaleas busting out everywhere, Athens is hard to beat.
Throw in a couple tickets I had to see the Tennis Dawgs take out South Carolina on a Friday night and the Baseball Dawgs do the same the next day to those Florida Gators and well, it’s just special.
At that same time, we got glimpses of the 2026 Football Dawgs as they were hard into spring practice.
The general consensus was that the football Dawgs could be very special this year. VERY special.
The next week was the spring game and after seeing it, I can see why. These Dawgs are tight. They have leadership, athleticism, depth, and a hunger to go back to the top.
From Kirby on down, these guys want all the marbles in 2026. The great Georgia guru Rusty Mansell put it out there. Georgia has “a roster built to play for a national championship”.
Are they as loaded as the back-to-back National Champions of a couple years back? Maybe not, but they might be just as good. Let’s take a look.
It starts with the top. Georgia has Kirby. The Dawgs also have one of the best overall staffs in the country. Throw in an administration and athletic director that are all on the same page and few programs in the country can match the Red and Black.
On the field it all starts with the QB, and Georgia has a good one in Gunner Stockton. While he might not be as flashy as some, he has that something that his teammates love; grit, determination, and a will to win.
With his experience running this offense, he is one of the top returning signal callers in the country. Behind him are 4 others with Ryan Puglisi currently number 2. Watch out for upcoming Ryan Montgomery who is pushing up the depth chart. The key to these guys is keeping Gunner healthy.
The backs will be very good, led by Nate Frazier. Throw in Chauncey Bowens, the electric Dwight Phillips and a couple of highly touted youngsters and Georgia will run the ball. And look out for Dante Dowdell, a transfer with speed, size and experience. His 20 something yard run while hurdling a defender was one of the spring game highlights.
Next are the wide receivers and tight ends. The wideouts will be bolstered by transfer Isiah Canion, and have talent all over with returners Landon Humphreys, C J Wiley, Talyn Taylor and newcomer Kaiden Prothro a 6’ 6” 230 lb 5-star freshman who starred in the spring game.
This group should be solid especially when paired with the best tight end group in the country. Between Lawson Luckie, Elyiss Williams, Ethan Barbour, and Jaden Reddell, the only problem will be how to get them all on the field.
Reddell showed out in the spring game and there are 2 or 3 others behind these guys. Like I said, this is the best TE group in the country. Look for the Dawgs to run some 3 or 4 TE sets with 1 running back.
None of the above means a thing if the O-line can’t do its thing but Georgia should be deep and very good on the line.
Drew Bobo will anchor the O-line at center. Add in returning starters Dontrell Glover, Juan Gaston, Earnest Green and it will be solid. Oh, and don’t forget newcomers Zykie Helton, and Jah Jackson, all 6’10” 350 lbs of him. This offense will have a hundred different ways to score and should be lethal.
Defensively the Dawgs will be loaded with returning starters all over the place. The D-Line will be big, deep, and athletic with plenty of experience.
Josh Horton, Xzavier Mcleod, Joseph Jonah-Ajonye, Nnamdi Ogboko all return and are back along with Elijah Griffin who has All-American written all over him. There is depth there also.
What the TE’s bring to the offense the LB’s are to the Georgia defense.
Raylen Wilson, Justin Williams, Chris Cole, and Gabe Harris make this group elite and remember the Name Chase Linton. Look for him this fall. There is also depth behind these guys with Nick Abrams, Zayden Walker and others..
The DB’s should be solid with returners Ellis Robinson IV, K J Bolden, Demello Jones, Rasean Dinkins, Kyron Jones, and transfers Braylon Conley, Khalil, and Gentry Williams.
The kicking is in good hands with Peyton Woodring although the punting cannot match the loss of thunderfoot Brett Thorson.
The special teams should be very good with a host of players vying for playing time to get on the field and impress.
All and all this is a loaded football team. Big, fast, physical with depth all over.
To me the keys to a run at the Natty are things that need to be improved on from a 12-2 team in 2025.
First is rush the passer, Georgia was lacking in this last year and the injury to transfer Amaris Williams during the spring didn’t help. That’s priority number one.
Next is, keep Gunner healthy. While there is quality behind him, Gunner is the man.
And last is get a little luck. This team can beat any team in the country if they are on. But they are not the 21 or 22 outfits. They’ll need a little luck here and there. If those three keys come to fruition, I like our chances.
Driving The Wrong Road
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Two Georgia Bulldogs football players were arrested on driving-related charges recently, per the Athens-Clarke County jail log.
Junior linebacker Chris Cole, who was fourth on the team in tackles last season, was booked on one count of reckless driving and one count of speeding over the maximum limit.
Sophomore edge Darren Ikinnagbon was arrested and charged with three misdemeanors: reckless driving, speeding and following too closely.
It is unclear if the arrests are connected to the same incident. The police report both players were arrested for driving 105 mph on an Athens highway, 40 mph over the speed limit.
Both players were driving 2025 Mercedes SUVs. They were arrested and released at separate times, within an hour of each other. The bonds were $39 for Ikinnagbon and $26 for Cole
While misdemeanor traffic charges typically do not lead to additional jail time, the program’s history with driving arrests could lead to harsher internal punishment for Cole and Ikinnagbon.
There have now been 13 known instances of Georgia Bulldog players being arrested on driving charges since the January 2023 car crash that killed player Devin Willock and staffer Chandler LeCroy.
In recent history, last November reserve offensive lineman Nyjer Daniels was dismissed from the program after being charged with a felony following a traffic arrest.
Last year, receiver Nitro Tuggle and offensive lineman Marques Easley entered the transfer portal shortly after traffic arrests for which they were charged with misdemeanors.
While details of this week’s arrests are not yet public, the players are expected to remain on the team.
Coach Kirby Smart said he has taken different steps to fix the issues, saying two years ago the program would withhold name, image and likeness payments from players who had traffic arrests or even citations. Suspensions and, in some cases, dismissals have also been issued, especially in the last year.
“Each case is a case-by-case basis,” Smart said last November after dismissing Daniels. “And we’ll always evaluate things on a case-by-case basis, based on the student-athlete’s history and the particulars of the case.”
Cole and Ikinnagbon released statements of apology.
“I recognize the seriousness of this matter and the responsibility that comes with representing the University of Georgia and our football program,” Cole wrote. “I understand that there are high standards for how we conduct ourselves, and I take that responsibility very seriously. I deeply regret the impact and negative attention this has caused for my coaches, teammates and family.”
It continues to amaze me how people excuse the behavior just because they’re football players. I’ve spoken to Bulldog fans who state comments like “no one else cares why should we” or “Well it’s just speeding” or “The Athens Police are out of control”.
We call them kids. They are not kids. They are adults. Yes, young people do stupid stuff. I did. We all did. But it does not excuse or even begin to justify their behavior.
I am not saying kick them off the team or drop an atomic bomb. At the same time, we all should face consequences for our actions, and the behavior should not just be blown off because fans care about their football team’s results.
We might need some legal insight from an attorney or paralegal. Are these players getting preferential treatment with fines and the amount of the bond set?
Elite Or Not?
By: Joe Delaney
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
In 2024 the Georgia Bulldogs won the SEC Championship and went to the College Football Playoffs. They won 11 games and beat the 2025 consensus number 1 team Texas twice.
What a great year, right? Not hardly sports fans. Such are the expectations in Athens, Ga these days. It doesn’t matter that many of the 2024 starters are in NFL camps right now. And the 2025 schedule has top twenty teams all through it. The Dawgs are expected to win and win big!
This all starts with Kirby Smart. Widely acknowledged as one of if not the best college coach in America. Kirby has built a dynasty.
And while the Dawgs annually reload, this year’s edition has more young gunslingers than in the past. That means Kirby will have to be at his best. And that goes for Bobo, Schuman, and the rest of staff.
There are holes to fill and changes to be made. The talent is younger than ever. Georgia will be very good. But will they be elite? That is probably Kirby’s’ favorite phrase. With the schedule they play they had better be.
For me there are 4 critical keys for Georgia in 2025. If these end up positive then the Dawgs will be hell.
First is the offensive line. Georgia lost 4 linemen to the NFL this year. And yet they underachieved. Rushing per game was horrendous. Especially in the 3 losses.
Granted many of Georgia’s second teamers would start for many SEC schools. Well, it’s time for some young pups to get rabid.
Monroe Freeling, Micah Morris (Camden County), Drew Bobo, and Ernest Greene all have starting experience. Add in Daniel Calhoun and these guys have got to be better in the rushing game and protecting the QB.
Secondly is the defensive line. Kirby Smarts Dawg teams have regularly sent D linemen to the NFL. This year was no exception.
And while Christen Miller, Gabe Harris, Xavier McLeod and Jordan Hall have all played extensive minutes for the Red and Black. They and their cohorts will need to step it up in 2025. The linebackers and defensive backs should be solid. So how the defense plays will rest on how the line plays.
Next is Brett Thorson. What? The punter? YEAH…… Think how many times Thorson flipped the field against teams. It’s a big difference to have to drive 80 or 90 yards as opposed to 50. He was missed terribly in the Playoff loss to Notre Dame. How he returns from ACL surgery is critical for the Dawgs.
And last but not least is you guessed it……. Gunner.
Is he serviceable or is he elite? We’re about to find out. With an improved rushing game and receivers who don’t lead the nation in drops, Gunner could be very good.
They have brought in help for both of those shortcomings from last year. If he plays within himself and limits his mistakes, he could be very good.
Throw in the best tight end room in the nation and it’s there for him.
He is completely different from Carson Beck and the team loves the guy. How he held on to the ball on the run to inside the 5 against Texas I’ll never know.
The Dawgs need to run the ball and catch the ball. That’s bottom line. Do that and Gunner has a good chance to shine.
The schedule gets Alabama, Ole Miss and Texas at home.
Alabama and Texas will see Athens go completely crazy.
Road games at Tennessee and Auburn are scary.
Throw in the Gators and Jackets and the pups had better be DAWGS by the time they head to Knoxville.
The Dawgs have the talent. They also have two home games to start the season that should help them fix any issues. After that all hell will break loose one way or the other.
The New Dawgs
By: Michael Spiers
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs are absolutely rolling right now when it comes to recruiting.
June was a huge month, packed with big commitments, and Georgia now sits with the number two ranked 2026 class in the country. And they are not done yet.
In just the last month, Georgia landed 16 new commitments for the 2026 cycle, pushing their total to 26. They also picked up a couple of early pledges for the 2027 class. Out of those 26 players, seven are ranked in the top 100 nationally, and a few others are knocking on the door.
Leading the way is five-star quarterback Jared Curtis, who gives Georgia a strong foundation. But more help could be on the way very soon.
Tight end Kaiden Prothro and running back Derrek Cooper are both top tier prospects who will announce their college decisions on July twelfth. Georgia is right in the mix for both.
Prothro is especially important after the Bulldogs missed out on another top tight end, Mark Bowman. Cooper, meanwhile, has Georgia going head-to-head with Miami, Ohio State, and Texas.
The biggest name still out there for Georgia might be linebacker Tyler Atkinson. He is the top player in the state and the number one linebacker in the country. He has visited Georgia more than any other school and has been a major target for years. Oregon, Clemson, and Texas are still pushing hard, but Georgia looks like it is in a strong position.
One interesting trend in this class is how many family ties are coming into play. The Bulldogs landed Zachariah and Zion Branch, who came over from Southern California.
PJ Dean committed recently and is the younger brother of former Georgia lineman Jared Wilson.
They also added Justice Fitzpatrick, whose brother Minkah is a star in the NFL. Georgia clearly values those family connections and is using them to build chemistry and depth.
Coach Smart has always said he wants players who truly love football. It is not just about rankings or offers or money.
He made that clear again this spring when he said Georgia is focused on guys with fire, passion, and energy. That mindset is helping the Bulldogs stay strong even as college football continues to change around them.
Since Smart took over in 2016, Georgia has never finished lower than fourth in the national recruiting rankings. That consistency continues.
The Bulldogs went into Texas and grabbed defensive back Chace Calicut, then beat out in state rivals Florida and Miami for defensive lineman James Johnson. Georgia is pulling talent from everywhere.
And things are still heating up. July will bring some major decisions, and Georgia is in position to land even more top players. If they do, they could easily take over the top spot in the 2026 rankings from Southern California.
Kirby Smart understands better than anyone that great players build great programs. Even with all the new twists in the sport, Georgia is sticking to what works. Recruit hard. Build relationships. Target kids who live and breathe football. That approach has Georgia sitting near the top once again.
The message is clear. Georgia is not just keeping up in the new era of recruiting. It is setting the pace.
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?
All Bark?
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
If anyone’s wondering how important Georgia’s showdown against Tennessee is on Saturday, let me tell you.
Win, and all is OK, full steam ahead to the College Football Playoffs and perhaps even a National Championship.
Lose, this season is set, but not in a good way.
It’s not ideal for any team to lose football games, but it happens. It’s much less ideal to try to clean up two viral messes from that loss. It’s even less ideal to field a question about whether to change quarterbacks.
The first viral moment: Carson Beck, starting and beleaguered quarterback, was spotted smiling on the bench as he spoke with backup quarterback Jaden Rashada during the fourth quarter of Georgia’s 28-10 loss to Ole Miss (UGA’s largest point margin loss in five years).
The visual was seized as a symbol of what’s wrong with Beck and perhaps the entire Bulldog football team.
The optics were poor and out of context: Harlen Rashada, Jaden’s father, posted, showing the moment before, Beck not smiling, Jaden Rashada telling him something that made him laugh.
Here the internet had birthed yet another out-of-context viral moment.
Beck’s on-field play has noticeably regressed. The easy excuse is he wasn’t focused during the offseason, between his Lambo and his personal life. Beck told me in the spring he wasn’t working any less, he was taking time to enjoy life after four years of hard work, which he certainly had earned.
We have seen many young athletes enjoy their life as a college student, and still thrive on the field.
It also feels invalid to attribute the offensive troubles to Beck’s leadership. He’s never been a rah-rah quarterback, and Stetson Bennett wasn’t either.
The difference might be the leaders around Beck. Nobody appears to have filled the void left by center Sedrick Van Pran. There isn’t an obvious alpha personality on the other side of the ball the way this year’s defense has Jalen Walker.
But the defense shouldn’t be absolved of blame, either. It came up huge in the wins over Texas and Clemson but also gave up big plays at Ole Miss, started soft against Alabama and has earned a reputation of inconsistency, ranking eighth in the SEC in defensive yards per play.
It’s not like a great defense is being wasted. A ton of world-class athletes on defense aren’t playing to their potential. Luckily for them, there’s still time. There’s still time for the whole team.
In the wide scope of this season, going 10-2 with this schedule is perfectly acceptable.
The focus then moves to how Georgia performs in the Playoff, where pressure still waits, but the minimum threshold of making the dance has been hit.
Missing the Playoff, meanwhile, would in the kindest interpretation mean that Georgia was a flawed team undone by a brutal schedule.
The harsher takeaway would be that the schedule exposed a team that isn’t very good and the program has work to do this offseason to get back to status.
Even then, perspective is needed. This is a program that has won two of the past three national championships, then fell short but still went 13-1. If anyone has earned leeway to slip its Georgia.
If any coach has shown he can adapt and make needed changes, it’s Smart. Panicky fans need to touch grass.
Georgia may feel a lot better after Saturday. Through these years of winning Smart has loved to say that “humility is a week away.” Well, humility is here, and so is the chance for redemption.
The Hard Truth
By: Charlie Moon
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
I still remember the day my father saying, “Son, always tell the truth.” I was a young boy. I barely remember it, but what I do have is a vision of us riding in the car, and him saying that.
Who knows? I probably told some white lies about eating the last piece of left-over pizza, when it was earmarked for mom.
What does that have to do with the Dawgs?
Former Dawg Brock Vandagriff now quarterbacks at Kentucky. Vandagriff was out of Athens, GA’s Prince Avenue Christian in 2020 as one of the nation’s top QB recruits, he was expected to run the QB room within a couple years.
Because of some dude named “The Mailman,” and the emergence of Carson Beck, that never happened.
He’s telling a truth this season. But what truth?
It tells a hard truth of how Kirby Smart and the Dawgs take a lot of pride in its’ roster and how Kirby is simply not afraid of watching players walk out the door to the NCAA transfer portal.
Back to Vandagriff. Kirby Smart tells hard truths and he had to tell one to his former QB Vandagriff. In December of last year, Smart had his annual meetings with players to tell them where they stood for the upcoming offseason. It’s something many coaches do a version of, but often can’t tell the hard truths.
In this meeting, Kirby told Vandagriff that Carson Beck was the clear #1. In the new age of the transfer portal, this has been difficult for many coaches.
Why? Well, what do ya do? You get honest with a kid that adds depth to your team and they bolt. You lie and you become the coach with the reputation of telling players what they want to hear.
So, what did Vandagriff do? Just 5 minutes after meeting with Smart, he walked back into Smart’s office and told him he was entering the transfer portal.
This was tough for Vandagriff, and Smart as well. No one knows exactly what Smart said to Vandagriff, but judging by what Vandagriff’s dad said in a September 8 Courier Journal (Lexington, KY) column, it was a respectfully mutual conversation between Brock and Kirby.
“Kirby called me and said, ‘I don’t know if I’ve ever coached a finer kid in my life than your son.'”
Greg Vandagriff knows the deal, having been a High School Head Coach in Georgia for 28 years. He’s 97-12 at Prince Avenue with back-to-back state titles.
Let’s be real. There are many coaches that tell players what they want to hear, to keep them from the portal. Smart has never even been rumored to do that.
Even when Dylan Raiola, the 2024 #1 rated QB prospect, decided to transfer to Nebraska, Kirby did absolutely nothing to entice him to stay. He wished Raiola well.
Dawgs And Tigers To Tear It Up
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Boot meets ball and we’ve got Football in 2024!
While I know college football officially began last week with Week Zero, we have our first full weekend of football coming this weekend and the first marquee game kicks off at Noon with the Aflac Kickoff game between Clemson and Georgia.
The Bulldogs come into the match-up a consensus number 1 team while Dabo Swinney’s Tigers come in as the 14th best ranked squad.
This SEC vs ACC clash is the 65th meeting all time between the two, and a rematch of the 2021 Kickoff game in Charlotte where the Bulldogs won 10-3. That 2021 match-up was the last meeting between the two, and the only touchdown scored in the game was a pick-six by Georgia’s Chris Smith taking a (now former Tiger) DJ Uiagalelei pass back 74 yards to the house in the second quarter to start the scoring.
This game away from Memorial Stadium marks the 5th straight season that Clemson will open the year away from the friendly confines of Death Valley.
The Tigers look to build off the success they had in the back half of 2023. After starting the season 4-4, Clemson finished up the 9-4 slate by winning the final five games of the year.
On the flip side, Georgia has become accustomed to playing inside Mercedes Benz Stadium after having played at least one game inside “the Benz” each of the last eight seasons.
That being said, the Dawgs are looking to get the sour taste out of their mouths from the last contest in Atlanta with the loss in the SEC Championship game last season to Alabama 27-24. While the loss to Alabama still sticks in the crawl of Dawg fans, the loss in the SEC Title game was the only loss in the last 30 contests.
The quarterback match-up is one of experienced signal callers. Georgia’s QB1 Carson Beck ranked third in all the FBS with 3,941 passing yards and was a Manning Award finalist a year ago.
Beck is going to be protected by familiar faces with four returning starting linemen with LT Earnest Greene III, LG, Dylan Fairchild, RG Tate Ratledge and RT Xavier Truss. That combination helped lead the Georgia offense to a school record 7.26 yards per play and leading the country on third down by converting on over 55% of the time.
For the Clemson Tigers, Cade Klubnik already made a name for himself last season already ranking in the top 15 in Clemson history in career passing touchdowns and collected three contests of over 300 yards passing, which is good for 6th best in Clemson lore.
This match-up is the only meeting between two AP Top 15 teams this weekend and clashes two legendary head coaches. Dabo Swinney and Kirby Smart are two of only three active head coaches to have won an FBS National Championship (along with North Carolina’s Mack Brown).
Obviously, Georgia is the favorite in the game, and casual fans have overlooked the Clemson squad for the last year plus, I think Clemson makes this more of a game than many believe.
Clemson hasn’t utilized the transfer portal much, but honestly didn’t need to this year with fourteen returning starters from a year ago from a team that arguably had the most momentum in college football down the back stretch.
So, on Saturday, after a morning of College Game Day, it will lead you to the ABC kickoff in Atlanta for the first major matchup of the season. The Dawgs and the Tigers to kick off your Week 1!
The Favorites
By: Joe Delaney
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Well, soon we will be back watching our favorite college football teams on the gridiron.
Most everyone is picking the Georgia Bulldogs as the nation’s number one team entering the fall. There are a lot of reasons to lean that way. I’ll get into them down below.
So, the Dawgs are preseason numero uno. After 2 national championships back-to-back, the Dawgs fumbled against Alabama last year in a 3-point loss.
The result was they were #5 in a 4-team playoff if you get what I mean. Were they one of the top 4 teams at the end of last year? Oh yeah.
But Nick Saban stuck it to Georgia in the SEC Championship one last time so they got what they deserved.
What they deserved was a bowl game with a Florida State University team that pretty much said “we don’t wanna play”. Well Georgia was pissed and came to play and the result was a 63-3 shellacking. That loss to Alabama cost Georgia a chance to 3-peat. It also showed why Kirby Smart and the Dawgs are so highly thought of going into this year.
They could have had numerous players opt out of the game including Carson Beck, Tate Ratledge, Javon Bullard, Tykee Smith, Kamari Lassiter and on and on. Instead, the Dawgs opted IN.
My point is that these Dawgs are a different breed under Kirby Smart. They try to win every game no matter what. Several of the 2024 Dawgs could have moved on last year but to a man they pretty much felt and said they had unfinished business. That’s why they are #1 going into the season.
Offensively this could be the best team of the Kirby Smart era. Back are starters Carson Beck, Dominic Lovett, Dillon Bell, Earnest Green, Dylan Fairchild, Tate Ratledge, Xavier Truss and Oscar Delp.
Now add in Trevor Etienne, Ben Yurosek and Colbie Young via the portal. This offense is loaded and there is depth all around. The Georgia second string offense is as good as half of the SEC’s STARTING offenses. Look for the Dawgs to light up the scoreboard.
Defensively it’s the same story. They are loaded. This group will need to play well in order for Georgia to win another Natty. Back are Nazir Stackhouse, Mykel Williams, Chaz Chambliss, C. J. Allen, Smael Mondon, Daylen Everette, Dan Jackson, and Malaki Starks. Add in Warren Brinson, Gabe Harris, Raylen Wilson, Jalon Walker and others and the Red and Black are talented, deep and angry.
And let’s not forget the 2023 recruiting class. Another top class that is absolutely loaded on the defensive side of the ball. Many of these pups are making their marks on the practice field as I type this.
Remember the names K.J. Bolden, Nate Frazier, Ellis Robinson IV, and Justin Williams. They will all play vital minutes this fall. And some of this class may be starting by the end of the year. Like I said, these Dawgs are loaded.
Back to do the punting is the seldom used and always appreciated Brett Thorson. He has been consistent and consistent as a two-year starter. Handling the kicking will be Peyton Woodring, who grew into the role last year as a freshman and is very solid.
The return game will be handled by Dillon Bell and Anthony Evans III. Watch out for Michael Jackson III also. He is a portal addition from Southern Cal.
Finally, the schedule……… Ah yes……..The truth be told this team could lose 2 games and still win the National Championship. Alabama, Texas, Ole Miss ON THE ROAD. Add in the opener with Clemson in Atlanta, and games with Kentucky (Away) Auburn, Tennessee, Florida (Jax) and Tech. It is Brutal.
In closing, I don’t expect Georgia to go undefeated. I do expect them to win the 2024-25 National Championship. They are physical, fast, deep and well coached.
And above all these Dawgs are HUNGRY. I see them taking out either Ohio State or Texas in the big one. We’ll see.
Red Means Stop
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Georgia players are facing suspensions for driving violations, coach Kirby Smart confirmed on Tuesday. There has been another internal punishment: fines via the program’s collective, which have been happening for a while, Smart said.
“Our Classic City Collective for over a year has been substantially fining guys for those things,” Smart said. “That’s not something that’s new. That’s something that’s been ongoing outside of my jurisdiction that they decided to implement and have done for a considerable amount.”
Georgia has continued to have problems with driving-related arrests. Seven players have been arrested on driving-related charges since the January 2023 car crash that killed player Devin Willock and staff member Chandler LeCroy in which police found LeCroy had been drinking and racing with then-teammate Jalen Carter.
Safety David Daniel Sisavanh, arrested on reckless driving in February, has been dismissed from the program for what Smart only would term a ‘violation of team rules’.
There have been speeding tickets and arrests for speeding. Another player, Jamon Dumas Johnson, was arrested last year for a street racing incident that happened before Wilcock’s fatal crash.
Smart has declined to specify what the suspensions will be, only confirming them after the fact, such as last year when receiver Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint was suspended for a speeding arrest.
As this season approaches, running back Trevor Etienne (DUI) and linebacker Smael Mondo (reckless driving, racing) seem likely to face suspensions. But Smart said he would not publicize those suspensions in advance.
“I don’t necessarily think it’s right to go down to the town square and publicly shame kids when that happens,” Smart said. “They go through a lot, and there’s a lot of remorse from these young men who’ve made mistakes. But our job is to educate, continue to grow these young men.”
Still, given all the arrests, following a tragic car crash, how has an otherwise disciplined program failed to curtail this serious issue?
“It’s a great question,” Smart said. “I’d love every solution possible because we actually write down now every time we talk about it and every time we address it, and we have someone in every meeting that hears that, and before I came, it was like 162 times it’s been mentioned. But if people go say, ‘Well, it falls on deaf ears, you got to have discipline, you’ve got to discipline someone.’ Well, we have, and we will continue to do so. If the actions require that, we’ll do what’s necessary to do that. But I do think the effective way in curtailing some things is when you go to their wallet and you find them because these fines have been substantial, and it’ll make you think twice about the mistakes you make.”
Georgia has used what Smart called proactive education, such as defensive driving courses. But Smart also defended the discipline process.
“As far as I know, there’s not one team in the country that’s ever suspended a player for a traffic violation similar to what Marcus Rosemy got suspended for,” Smart said.
“I don’t know if anybody’s ever kicked somebody off the team for that. And we have that. And we’re going to continue to be proactive. Repeated poor behaviors and poor decisions. In some cases, we have repeated behaviors, and in some cases, we have guys that make mistakes, and we’re going to punish them.”
Obviously with the tragedy that happened two years ago, that’s the biggest thing, guys realizing to be intentional in the moment. … It doesn’t matter if you get there five minutes early, it’s not going to change anything. Slow down and follow the rules of the road.
