Could this be Georgia's year? It's worth at least asking the question
New Year’s Day, 1981.
The Atlanta metro population is roughly 2.2 million, about 1/3 of what it will be 40 years later. Most players on the 2020 Georgia football roster won’t be born for another two decades. Kirby Smart is a 5-year-old growing up in Bainbridge, Georgia, 40 miles north of Tallahassee. Future Bulldogs defensive coordinator Dan Lanning isn’t even born yet. The east end of Sanford Stadium is still a wide-open cavity, so fans gather by the railroad tracks and take in games for free.
Not one of them has ever heard the word “COVID-19.”
But fans and foes of Georgia know this day best as the last time the team from Athens reached the top of the college football heap. Both the older generation who lived it and the youngsters who read about it and watch old clips on YouTube lament the fact. Fans of other SEC programs know the date just as well — it’s often their first piece of ammo when it comes to smack talk.
But the Dawgs have embraced it, right down to their new Nike uniforms honoring that 1980 team. The one that featured Herschel Walker, Buck Belue, Vince Dooley and the vocal cords of Larry Munson and ended with a national championship-clinching Sugar Bowl victory over Notre Dame.
So much has changed since then. And so much hasn’t.
But while they might not admit it out loud, the Dawg dreamers — both inside and outside Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall — have to at least entertain the question.
Could this finally be the year?
Any chance at dominance will be predicated upon defense
It’s a wide-open SEC, even more than normal. Alabama is most prognosticators’ favorite, and a coronavirus-impacted Cocktail Party on Nov. 7 will likely decide who faces the Crimson Tide in the conference title game.
That’s assuming we get that far. Any college football season is a statistician’s sandbox, fraught with variables and unexpected turns that happen when you ask 11 18-22-year-old young men to pull in a common direction. Throw in a worldwide pandemic that cuts down crowd sizes, rocks campuses and requires stringent medical protocols just to field a team, and you’ve got a prediction job so fluid it’d make even a meteorologist nervous.
Not to mention a creature of habit like a Division I coach.
“Composure’s always a very key ingredient,” Smart told reporters. “It’s always a concern of mine. … Usually composure is a little bit mimicked by maturity. There more mature you are, the better composure you can keep.”
It’ll take both to get through this all-SEC slate. It’ll also take depth, which Georgia has in droves — especially on the defensive side of the ball. Leading tackler Monty Rice and cornerbacks D.J. Daniel and Eric Stokes highlight a group that returns the bulk of its talent after leading FBS in scoring defense last year.
However:
“We don’t need anybody … to start feeling themselves based off last year,” Rice said this week. “Y’all like to psych us up on Twitter and all that because we did so great last year, but (Week 1 opponent) Arkansas and that group over there, they don’t care about what happened last year. Neither do we.”
Stalwart stopping power is table stakes against the likes of Bama, Kyle-Trask led Florida and — if a Playoff appearance comes to pass — Clemson.
Could the Dawgs make it that far? They’d likely at least need to go undefeated before the SEC Championship Game, or win it if they come in with a loss. The Big Ten’s recent return-to-play announcement adds Ohio State or perhaps another challenger to the 4-team mix.
But we’ve seen staunch defenses carry teams through the SEC gauntlet and to a national crown before. The 2012 Alabama team — with a defense coached by Smart — comes to mind.
It’s even more important considering the Bulldogs don’t even know who their starting quarterback is yet. But whether it’s JT Daniels or D’Wan Mathis, the skill around them and offensive line in front of them is fraught with potential.
‘It’s time to make a statement’
Potential is a cruel mistress, though. It can make your heart skip a beat one week and see it ripped out the next.
That’s a sensation Georgia fans from Helen to Tybee Island know all too well. The 2017 National Championship Game is the most extreme of seemingly countless examples covering the past 40 years.
The next test comes Saturday at Arkansas. A total of 16,000-17,000 fans will be in attendance. Smart will square off against former Dawgs offensive line coach Sam Pittman.
It also comes against the backdrop of COVID-19 and a year of political and social unrest. While football might pale in comparison to the issues that have arisen in the world this year, it does have a way of healing while helping.
It’s hard to imagine a group of players from different backgrounds gathering to speak out against racism like the Bulldogs did Sept. 2, with full support of their head coach, and not coming out of it tighter.
“We believe in education and action,” Smart said. “We want to educate our players every way possible in the proper ways for them to take action and the ways they can bring about change.”
And with the season hanging in the balance all summer, the latest opportunity to restore glory in the Peach State isn’t taken for granted.
Who knows how far it could go?
“I was not very confident that we were going to play this year, especially after the other conferences shut it down,” Rice said. “We here for a reason, so let’s play.”
Said receiver Kearis Jackson: “It’s time to make a statement. I believe everybody (on our team) has the ability to do that. … Everybody you put into that game, they gonna ball regardless.”
Could it be our year? Sure, but it could be the year of any team in the top 10. If any of them can string together the right 3 game streak at the end of the season, they can win it all. It’s the same way every year. But I’m not holding out for a natty. I think Clemson and Ohio State are both superior teams. I think Alabama still has an edge of UGA. If one of the candidates for starting QB turns out to be a star, then things could improve significantly, but I think the Kirby doesn’t want a star QB as much as he wants a system QB.
I understand that UGA will have a great Defense, but to think this Offense which has really regressed since losing Chaney is going to be world beaters just doesn’t make sense. I get they have talent, but UGA and LSU will lose 3 games this year. Talent can’t make up for experience, not this year anyways.
Its really not. They’re not replacing as much as everyone thinks. QB and one OT position is really the only places with inexperience. Every where else they have guys that have started before and the OC can’t be any worse than Coley was last season.
As long as Spurrier leads the SEC deep state..UGA will never win it all.He is powerful!
Literally every year (at least for the past 3 or 4) there’s Vol fans confidently predicting UGA will lose 3 games in the coming season. However, this year, given the 10-game SEC schedule along with all the other unknowns, it’s more possible than in previous years. I think 1-2 losses is more likely, but who knows. The offense did regress last year, but the OC was a large part of that and has been replaced. Talen can’t always make up for experience, but it absolutely helps mitigate the absence of experience. And if teams struggle to score more than 17 points per game against UGA, the offense wont be asked to do much to still win.
I think 1 loss is likely, 2 is certainly possible but I just don’t see us losing 3 unless the wheels really fall off on offense.
This was a weird, vague article that tried to link defensive composure and social justice efforts to a team’s chance for a national championship, when said team has to replace 9 offensive starters, the OC, and the OL coach.
Probably not.
Yes, it could be the year. But as we’ve seen, a lot of things have to come together/break your way for a championship season to happen. Our offense is full of question marks- from signal caller, WR, TE, and OL. Not a great place to start your season but we have the guys to step in at each position group. At this point our odds seem worse than recent years dating back to 2017. Who would have thought last year LSU would churn out a generational offense?
Maybe UGA is that team this year or perhaps it’s someone else. Or maybe it’s an “ugly” season with lots of parity and there is no clear cut #1? As of now I’ll take the latter.
They need a good game changing QB. Kirby needs to realize the days of game manager Qb types died 4-5 years ago. Until he realizes that I dont know how far UGA will go.
D’wan has the potential to be dynamic. It’s just a matter on how well he protects the ball. I’m excited to see how he does.
Mac Jones, who people say is a game manager, and Nick Saban may disagree.
Based on Jones play to end the season last year he is not a “game manage”..
Yep. Game managers don’t throw that many interceptions against their biggest rival.
loti
They also don’t throw for 662 yards and 7 TDs with a 65% completion rate and an average yards per pass attempt of 10.85 against two top 20 defenses. Mac is the real deal and will continue to prove it this season.
I think Mac Jones will do really well. But, I don’t see him putting the team on his back and carrying them such as Tua, T-law or Burrow did many times.
Maybe he will.
JTF I agree that he wont have to put the team on his back like Tua mostly because he wont be asked to. The run game will be more of a focus this year, as it should, but Mac can certainly sling it for 300 yards and 3 TDs if he needs to to win a game.
I feel like Jones will do really well, and Saban would be making a mistake if he started Young. Jones is a safe, but scary player.
“Yep. Game managers don’t throw that many interceptions against their biggest rival.”
Nope, they lose to sub 500 teams like SC at home..
JTF.. I don’t think jones will have to carry Bama either but that doesn’t make him a game manager.. Bama has a wealth of riches on Offense and the years of the Bama QB never hitting 300 yards passing a game is gone..
Corch is always making stupid comments. Throwing shade at Mac Jones and Bama when Bama absolutely owns UGA and will again in Week 4. With his comments, you’d think it was the other way around. 1980. 2nd&26. 26-23. 35-28.
Mac Jones isn’t Tua, but he won’t have to be. I honestly think that Alabama wasn’t as good with Tua because he was so good that the rest of the team almost felt as though they didn’t have to play at their best because he’d make up for it. With QBs like McElroy and McCarron, they could focus on ball control, controlling the line of scrimmage, and playing stout defense. With Tua they were almost scoring too fast, which forced their defense to be on the field for 80+ plays against other really good teams. And I think Saban would prefer to play the older ground-and-pound style they played the first half of his tenure at Alabama, so that’s what I expect to see from them this year. If that’s the case, it’ll be interesting to see if they’re defense gets back to where it was from 08-14.
it would be classic UGA to win it all in the asterisk year.
And emphasis on “classic” given we would need some of that 40 year anniversary magic.
I’ve thought this too. Many fans of other teams have said “the asterisk wouldn’t matter”. I guarantee you if UGA somehow wins it, it will matter again.
It could be anyone’s year if cards fall right. Can anyone confirm the red pants for me? I don’t think they had a stripe in 1980 but can’t find any images.
Yeah the 1980 pants had a thick white stripe with thin black stripes on both sides. The ones we’re wearing are almost identical
I wish you could post links…
Thanks.
Beat us, then I’m a real believer. Mathis seems to be a scary good QB. The defense looks good. Pickens looks good. White looks good. The O-line, not so much. I’m confident that Newman would’ve done worse than Mathis and Daniels. That’s why when he opted out, I felt more nervous. Just my opinion.
I’m actually worried less about the O line than I am say the TE position or the running backs. There is a lot of talent on that O line and from all reports Matt Luke has done a good job with that group.
I agree. QB, RB and WR are my biggest concern. There are so many unknowns. I know we lost a lot of “starters” on the O-line but those that remain have had significant playing time. Ben Cleveland…it’s now or never for him to live up to the hype.
I wouldn’t worry about RB. Georgia is the new RBU. Whoever y’all have at RB will be All-SEC I’m sure. Georgia’s only real problem last year from what I saw was WR. Fromm struggled because his young receivers couldn’t consistently get open.
The 2020 Georgia team reminds me of the 2012 Florida Gators team, which had an all-world defense but finished the regular season 11-1 because the offense couldn’t score more than 17 points against Georgia.
That year UGA also had an all world defense that came up clutch when Jordan Reed tried to make it a little too interesting.
Yup. That play was crushing from the other perspective.
I just think the absence of fans will negate a lot of the homefield advantage many SEC teams are used to.
Home field advantage won’t exist this year. It’s going to take time to get used to. But we have our chances this year and I’m happy we do.
You must be on drugs! Poodles year…you will be crushed like maggots by Sabins Bama and crushed by Mullans Gators. In all honesty you should concentrate on Razorbacks…then think twice about surviving the vols. It wasn’t your year when you had those grandiose opportunities, it is not going to be your year and it will never be your year. You are a crashing airplane…you will realize that very soon.
Whoever you’re a fan of I’m sorry UGA beats you so badly.
Sadly, I just don’t see it. The offense has to be better than the dismal performance in 2019, but will it be good enough? Not concerned at all about the O-Line, WR or RBs but can Mathis or Daniels be the guy? I like Mathis personally and the kid has up side, but can he step in. I’m expecting 1-2 losses overall, but a return to Atlanta, because I think this defense and depth can carry us that far. As usual nearly impossible to beat Bama twice, and Clemson or OSU or both in the playoff. Both of the latter have it too easy not to make it, so pencil them in. As usual, the SEC combatant will be bruised and beat up.
“Wait til next year.”