Yes, there's still plenty for Georgia to play for this season
With no practice or team activities Friday through Sunday, Georgia running back James Cook spent some rare in-season time with his family in Miami.
“Obviously, I don’t get a lot of time to just relax with them,” Cook said.
But there will be no relaxing when Mississippi State visits the No. 13 Bulldogs on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET. And while a coveted SEC championship is no longer in sight, there’s still plenty for UGA to play for.
Yes, even after the Nov. 7 disappointment of Florida tearing away Georgia’s SEC East control. Yes, even with the threat of players slacking on COVID-19 protocols with one of their primary objectives at least temporarily off the table. Yes, even with little to no hope of making the College Football Playoff.
Teams whose seasons go south in 2020 have two options: mail it in, go have fun and throw this free year of eligibility to the wind. Or look inside.
There’s valuable development that can still happen. Character is part of that, by the way.
There’s also pride. For guys who grew up dominating their peers, that shouldn’t be overlooked.
“Just go hard and prove it as a player and as a team,” defensive lineman Malik Herring said. “[You] try to get better at your technique and try to push everybody to get better, really just doing that and no slacking. We don’t want to get embarrassed on TV or anything. Nobody wants to get embarrassed.”
Georgia came into the season with lofty expectations, sure. Herring is a key piece on a defense expected to be one of the nation’s best, and with LSU and Alabama replacing world-beating quarterbacks, plus all the wild cards of the pandemic, this looked like it could’ve been the Bulldogs’ year.
This is a fan base used to disappointment. The Alabama loss was eye-opening. The Cocktail Party debacle was deflating.
But look ahead, 9 months from now. Assuming the U.S. can get this darned virus under control, UGA stands to bring a lot of that defensive talent.
And if it plays its cards right, it’ll have a proven quarterback to go with it.
“Every kid has individual motivations, and you should have those,” coach Kirby Smart said. “Ultimately, you have to put the team above yourself. The ultimate goal for the team is to finish strong. We only control how we play. We do not control other teams. We somewhat don’t get to control what games we get to play and what games we don’t get to play. All we control is how we practice today, what we are working on, our developments, each player’s development regardless of whether they are coming back next year or if they are going to be a senior and may be gone. They are working on development.”
That starts at quarterback. Might we see J.T. Daniels for the first time Saturday? Smart says Stetson Bennett is continuing to recover after being injured against Florida.
But even before that, Bennett had his ups and downs. D’Wan Mathis is talented but unproven in game situations.
Why not consider the rest of this season an extended competition for 2021?
That goes for most positions. Every college team is going to deal with a roster numbers crunch after the NCAA decided not to count the 2020 season against a player’s eligibility. But the plus side is a host of experienced players — those who don’t go to the NFL.
And when your roster is stacked with 4- and 5-star prospects, there’s plenty of ammo for putting talent on tape for professional scouts, too.
“So many of these kids don’t realize they don’t get that opportunity at the next level,” Smart said. “They don’t coach you to get better, they don’t get reps — they essentially just go out and play games because they don’t have the ability to develop players in practice and get guys better. They are not allowed reps to do that, so we are. Our guys get a chance to grow and get better.”
That goes beyond the gridiron, too. For the majority of players who go on to a career outside the NFL, imagine what kind of fortitude they’ll have developed if they stay engaged during this year of all years.
There’s something to be said for doing the right thing for the sake of doing the right thing. Everyone in America has learned that this year.
Georgia knows it firsthand after last week’s game against Missouri was shelved thanks to COVID.
“You really just have to make it about ourselves, doing everything that we need to do to prepare ourselves regardless of what team we’re playing, where we’re playing,” guard Ben Cleveland said. “You really just have to approach it with the mindset of doing this to make our team better, make myself better. Everybody kind of has their own individual goals for each week, so that’s one thing we really strive to accomplish regardless.”
And that’s where personal accountability comes in.
“We don’t control our destiny, certainly, but we do control our attitude, our effort, the way we approach things, the positive attitude with which we take the practice field every day, and making sure that my point is to help my teammate,” Smart said. “It’s bigger than me, and that’s the focus within that.”
UGA probably won’t play for the SEC Championship and make a CFP bowl – it’s a disappointing season.
The standard had been raised – love it!
The standard chump
44-28
Marshgator89 53–44–2
Yep, Congrats to the Gators for this year’s win. Well deserved.
This is prime time for the quarterback position to be have in-game competition. Give Beck some in game reps, give Mathis in game reps.
Then let’s hope next year Brock is so good they can’t keep him off the field.
I watched Vandergrif in person earlier in the season. He’s the real deal – great arm and cat like quickness. Much bigger in person than what the pics and video project.
However, the 1A Private region competition isn’t that great, as illustrated in the Rabun Co vs Prince Ave game.
He has a big adjust coming, hopefully he does so quickly.
I suspect UGA is putting the hard sell on the Rabun County QB now too. At least I hope so!
I think both guys, Vandergrif and Stockton, are great players who will do well at the next level. I don’t think UGA would go wrong with either one and getting both would be huge. I don’t see both signing with the same team unless Vandergrif proved to be a bust in his first year of college.
Currently I favor Vandergrif. He’s a couple of inches taller which before this season I wouldn’t have thought much about. Vandergrif is a coach’s son, his father is a successful HC. As I mentioned before, I have seen Vandergrif play in person, in addition to watching on TV. The young man is the real deal – a leader, read defenses like a like a kindergarten-level book, makes all the throws and is a serious threat to run and score on any play (same for Stockton.) Vandergrif has uncanny quickness, he goes from standing in the pocket to blazing fast in 1 or 2 steps. Vandergrif can use his legs for short-yardage conversions all day long. Burns defenses with the QB draw.
We also need to get some elite talent at QB asap, Vandergrif will be on campus and practicing in December/January.
When I watch Vandergrif I see a Johnny Manziel without all the baggage and personal problems, or, Baker Mayfield with about 3-4 inches of extra height and minus the prick attitude. I’d also compare Vandergrif to DeShaun Watson – very similar size, speed, throwing ability etc.
Tdow
44-28
Yes there is Something to Play for…….The “BELK BOWL” !
Don’t get cocky. The gators haven’t accomplished anything this season outside of beating UGA. Let the gators win the SEC and make the playoffs before you act like they’ve already done those things.
Enjoy the success this season, it will be fleeting.
44-28
As Dirty said above, how about Florida does something with the WLOCP victory first before you all start shooting your mouths off. Last time Florida won the SECC most all players on your roster were in elementary school. Some barely so.
Now do the same thing with both teams and winning National Titles…
Hahahaaha now Georgia fans are telling Florida fans that the head to head game where they are lucky they didn’t have 70 dropped on them doesn’t matter and winning titles does….and this is for a Georgia fan….I’ve officially heard it all lmao
Most delusional wannabe fan base ever…go gators losers
The only wannabe is the loser sporting a Bama logo but repeatedly saying “go gators”
UGA is now a team with championship aspirations. That means once that dream ends for the season, you need to start getting ready for the next one. Coaches have such a win now mentally that it’s hard for them to actually do that though
It’s been a rough follow up season for LSU no doubt but LSU will bounce back. Similar journeys in 2020 for LSU and UGA – new OC’s, new QB’s and numerous other positions, COVID sit-outs etc.
Keep playing for recruiting national championships.
Lol
And to think Kirby and UGA are curb stomping AU just like Vandy, Mizzou and the other SEC basement dwellers.
What is AU playing for, the day when they have saved enough nickels and dimes to fire Gus????
Keep playing for…literally nothing, other than beating your older brothers once every four years through black magic, or managing to eke out a squeaker over mighty powerhouses like Arkansas and Kentucky.
I don’t understand and certainly not defending Aubie108 throwing shade, especially since we lost to South Carolina of all teams. Read the room, dude. But a Georgia fan telling someone to keep playing for “literally nothing?” That’s rich coming from a fan base that is – this season – celebrating their last natty – 40 years ago.
In the here and now – AU sucks.
And, current program vs current program UGA is dominating AU.
How far back in history do you want to go? Who leads the series? Who has the most SEC Champs? Who has the most NC’s?
It was a stupid comment by a stupid person, why would you add to the stupidity?
Auburn has averaged about 8 wins per season under Gus? Your comment is “rich” coming from a fanbase that caught lightning in a bottle with Cam and has done precious little else this century.
we may suck, but you do too. and it’s obvious.
by the way, dawgs always come in a pack…
UGA sucks? Nope. Has it been a disappointing season? Yes, but most people expected this season to be a down year. Does Auburn suck? Absolutely. No further context required.
No UGA and their fake quarterback suck. Yeah, Auburn does too. Most teams do suck this year. But yes, Georgia sucks.
You have to stretch/modify the definition of “sucks” for that to be true. Not all disappointing teams are the same. Vandy =/= Auburn.
And prior to 2010, Auburn hadn’t won one since the Korean War…
Has Auburn ever had a 45 game streak as a top 10 team? You may rag on UGA for never winning the big one, but you’re out of contention for even playing for the big one by midseason the majority of the years.
It’s funny how rival fanbases both invented the concept of “recruiting national championships” and somehow manage to keep the idea alive as a jab against UGA. So, what does Auburn have to play for then? An Iron Bowl victory followed by another Gus extension?
lol y’all get too offended too easily
Says the person trolling on an article about a UGA commit. And if you think my comment is me being “offended” you might want to work on that reading comprehension.
I wasn’t trying to pitch a 98 mph ball of troll at you guys lol. It was more like a slow underhand troll.
Yeah, that’s pretty clear. UrbanLiar and some other losers are the type to throw the 98 mph ball of troll. Slow underhand or not, expect trolling comments to be met in kind. Don’t get me wrong though, I realize this is all in good fun.
The way the QB position played out with Daniels knee and Newman deciding to bail, doomed the season, and even if that had worked out better losing LeCounte, Jordon Davis and so many others to injury was likely too big a hit to overcome as far as it being a championship type season.
Georgia has pride and next year to play for. Every game is another chance to develop and build depth for the future. They’ll be losing some important players after this season. Hopefully with no championship opportunity to lose, it’ll make it easier to give more of the younger players extra game reps.
Tim Rupert. Go gators
Hii
This idea that it is all or nothing is ridiculous. 8-2 and a NYD Bowl game is a hell of a good year.
All things considered, you are very correct
HAHAAHAHHA GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GATORS!!!!
hahahaha go gators losers!!!
What are you clowns worse at? Football or elections?
Talk about missing your window…. Kirby Dumb is Richt 2.0…. oh yeah, GO GATORS LOSERS!!!!!
Troll
and a really bad one at that
I bet a dollar to a doughnut it is cojones, he has been busted several times using accounts.
It’s the same mentally challenged vernacular, think Forest Gump
Lol then WTF are you? TDOW you have been a UGA troll for a long time. Boxster is a great poster and someone I actually enjoy on this site but you have no room to talk about trolling