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Paul Finebaum says Kirby Smart has ‘looked past reality’ with Mike Bobo, blasts costly call
By Andrew Olson
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Paul Finebaum is joining the fan and media criticism of Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo, particularly for a costly call in UGA’s College Football Playoff loss to Notre Dame.
Bobo being a target of criticism is nothing new. But it’s as loud as ever after UGA saw its season come to an end with a 23-10 loss to Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl.
In a game in which both teams ran 61 total plays, the Dawgs finished with more total yards than the Irish (296-244), but were 0-for-2 in the red zone and lost the turnover battle 2-0.
“They will not be blaming Kirby Smart, they will be blaming Mike Bobo, who is the offensive coordinator,” Finebaum said on Friday’s Get Up. “He came in and took over for (Todd) Monken who went to the NFL. And quite frankly, nobody is very happy with him.
“He’s Kirby Smart’s best friend, they were roommates. And many believe that Kirby Smart has looked past reality and simply respected and honored a friend who used to work for Mark Richt at Georgia and then moved on and failed as a head coach.”
With less than 1 minute remaining in the half, Georgia trailed Notre Dame 6-3. On a dropback pass, Gunner Stockton fumbled the ball. Notre Dame recovered the fumble at the UGA 13-yard line, setting up a 1-play scoring drive to make it a 13-3 game.
“It was just a terrible call in every respect, and I think Kirby Smart even admitted that at halftime,” Finebaum said. “It’s easy to say after the fact, but when you have a quarterback who is struggling – he’s made some good plays, but you’re not that confident in him – don’t put the game in his hands when you’re only 3 points behind. Everyone in America saw what happened after that mistake.”
We tried to be aggressive in 2-minute and probably regret it — go to the half 6-3,” Smart told ESPN’s Laura Rutledge at halftime. “We wanted to show confidence in our quarterback and let him go play. We didn’t get the block we needed to get and they made a good play.
Stockton, making the first start of his career in place of the injured Carson Beck, finished 20-of-32 passing for 234 yards with 1 touchdown and no interceptions. The Irish recorded 4 sacks, bringing Stockton’s ground numbers to 10 rushes for -23 yards.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
