Will Georgia have a Sugar Bowl letdown after tough Alabama loss? Kirby Smart weighs in
By SDS Staff
Published:
College football needs more heavyweight bowl games like Georgia vs. Texas in the Sugar Bowl.
One of the Big 12’s powers against the SEC’s second biggest power is sure to grab headlines and eyeballs.
There’s little doubt that Georgia has the edge in just pure talent when compared to Texas, but earlier this week, Tim Tebow told 247Sports that he was concerned about Georgia’s motivation, or lack thereof, after such an excruciating loss to Alabama in the SEC Championship Game.
“Going into the Sugar Bowl there’s so little for them to play for,” Tebow said. “They thought they had beat Alabama. That was (an) SEC Championship Game they let slip through their fingers. College Football Playoff? Slipped through their fingers. Now for the time leading up to the game, where’s your motivation? Where is your edge? Where is that fire?
“That is something that the leaders of Georgia really have to lock in and say, ‘Hey you know what? We’re playing for pride. We’re playing a big program in Texas.’ But a lot of these guys are going to say, ‘Listen, we don’t care about Texas. We care about Bama. We let that one get away. Now we’re going to play the 15th-ranked team in the country?’
“It’s like the motivation isn’t there, so I’m a little bit nervous about this game.”
DawgNation.com asked Kirby Smart about a potential letdown, which coincided with Tebow’s comments, particularly about how 2008 Alabama lost the Sugar Bowl to Utah, which Smart was a part of. He made sure to note that 2018 Georgia and 2008 Alabama were different. He explained how.
“This is a much younger team than any of those Bama teams,” Smart said. “A lot of those kids, this will be their first or second time in a big-time bowl environment, which we’re still getting accustomed to that. So, these guys aren’t quite as experienced at that kind of bowl environment as maybe those Alabama teams that didn’t play as well as we probably should have.”
Smart figures the lack of Georgia’s veteran players will help guard against a letdown, and that’s a theory that we can certainly buy at this point. Besides, it’s Texas. Who doesn’t love beating Texas? One of the biggest villains in college football.
Interestingly, if you like bold predictions, here’s one: Georgia’s and Texas’ Sugar Bowl matchup may be a preview for the 2019 College Football Playoff semifinal game. Yeah, you heard it here first.
Saturday Down South reports and comments on the news around the Southeastern Conference as well as larger college football topics.
