Georgia football: Dawgs having fun in Miami, but know the real fun comes Friday night
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MIAMI — The Georgia Bulldogs would love nothing more than to prove that the 41-24 loss to Alabama early this month in the SEC Championship Game was nothing more than just a bump in the road en route to a national title.
That road runs through Miami where the Bulldogs meet B1G champion Michigan in the second Playoff semifinal game on Friday, after Alabama and Cincinnati decide the other national championship qualifier.
The Dawgs arrived in Miami on Sunday for final preparations with one big storyline hanging over their collective heads like an albatross.
COVID remains a major concern
The elephant in the room. No, we’re not talking about Alabama’s red elephant — that will hopefully be in play as we ring in the New Year. No, the latest surge in COVID cases is fresh in everyone’s mind. The latest outbreak has already forced the cancellation of some bowl games and altered others.
The Bulldogs must defeat that opponent first by remaining healthy before they can take the field to face the opposition in maize and blue.
Coach Kirby Smart won’t address the issue publicly other than to praise the Orange Bowl staff for keeping his team as safe as possible throughout all the activities this week.
“We really don’t address COVID,” Smart said. “It’s kind of been our rule all along that we have. But when it comes to COVID, the players have been able to do the outings. CFP has made it very safe for them to do that.
“I think probably the worst thing you could do would be to have these kids come to a hotel and just be in the hotel for four days and not move and not do anything. So, they’ve made it safe for our players to be able to function. As a matter of fact, being outside probably helps them more than anything else, as long as they’re in a safe environment and not around crowds of people they don’t know.”
Smart added that for the most part, the team has followed the rules and taken all precautions.
“To be honest with you, the Orange Bowl staff has made it seamless,” he said. “We’ve had a tremendous time so far and spent a lot of our time preparing and locked in and focused. That’s the most important thing is how are we preparing for Michigan, and are our guys building to a point of being ready to play at 7:30 (Friday).”
Georgia All-American defensive lineman Jordan Davis probably put it best.
“Definitely we’re excited to be in Miami and everything, but as we all know, it’s a hotspot for COVID,” Davis said. “We just have to make sure that we protect ourselves and wear our masks and just enjoy the moment.”
You know we're eatin' ???? in paradise ?#GoDawgs | #CFBPlayoff pic.twitter.com/3CrNGK36V5
— Georgia Football (@GeorgiaFootball) December 30, 2021
Still, the virus is what everyone is talking about, you can’t get away from it.
“I think just across the country as a whole, it’s obviously — you turn on the national news, it’s the lead-in story,” Smart said. “You look across the country and the impact it’s had on other games, whether that be NBA, NFL, the bowl games that it’s impacted. It’s certainly had an impact across the country. We had a little bout the last couple weeks that we lost some guys, and we’ve gotten most of those guys back, and really that’s the biggest thing is being at full strength when you have to be, and that’s what we’re aiming towards.”
Just making it to kickoff Friday would be a small accomplishment given what has happened during bowl season, including the cancellation by UCLA just hours before kickoff of its Holiday Bowl game against NC State.
“Yeah, as far as the UCLA thing, I think it was crazy,” offensive lineman Jamaree Salyer said. “It was kind of one of those things that happens that puts everybody on notice, OK, you’ve got to be careful because people are losing the opportunity to play. So definitely being careful.
“But we trust the plan that coach Smart has in place, that our training staff has in place. They do a great job protecting us. Of course, we had that conversation in house just within our players, just telling everybody to be safe, be careful, no matter what you do, where you go, if coach Smart gives us the freedom to go out and do things, make sure you have your mask on, make sure you are respecting the social distancing, because we don’t need to lose anybody.
“It’s really close to the game, and we’ve got to be careful. Being careful is the most important thing, being healthy is the most important thing. We need all hands on deck.”
Georgia backup quarterback JT Daniels and WR George Pickens were late arrivals to Miami after reportedly testing positive for COVID-19. They joined the team following the CDC amending its quarantine and isolation policies, reducing the number of days suggested to be in isolation from 10 to 5 days.
Defensive back Lewis Cine confirmed that, “probably 98 or 99% of the team is vaccinated.”
Tight end John Fitzpatrick further described the behavioral changes that typify today’s climate.
“Yeah, I was able to go home (over the holidays) and see my family,” Fitzpatrick said. “Not my extended family. We stayed in Atlanta. But I hung out with my four sisters, mom and dad and my brother-in-law, my little niece, and yeah, we had a great Christmas and everything.
“Some of my family is coming down to Miami, I think, in the next day or so. I know Shannon, my brother-in-law Joey and my little niece Mary are staying home in Alpharetta. They’ll be watching on TV.”
• LB Nakobe Dean: “We’re trying to stay safe from this new variant out here. So, for the most part, we’re just staying around each other in the player lounge and just chilling on our free time.”
• DL Travon Walker: “So far we haven’t had anybody not go to any team event. The Orange Bowl committee, they have made it safe for us to do all the activities that we have taken place in, and just the COVID aspect it’s affecting everybody in the world, and we’re just being smart with it, wearing our masks, being around the people that we’re always around, and social distancing.”
• OL Jamaree Salyer: “I mean, COVID is affecting everything. COVID is affecting everybody, and my heart goes out to all the families affected by it. We’ve got to be safe, got to make sure you’re taking the necessary precautions to protect yourself, protect your loved ones, and that goes well outside this team into well beyond this country. Yeah, it’s been tough, but we’re managing pretty well.”
The Orange Bowl Media Day, where members of the media are given the opportunity to get up close and rub elbows with players and coaches, was scrapped. All interviews by the media are done by Zoom. The Orange Bowl committee is taking no chances, nor should they, in seeing this game to fruition.
Christopher Smith updates injured knee
“My knee is doing pretty well,” Georgia’s defensive back said. “I’ve been working with the training staff a lot to be able to get back going on the field and stuff like that. I definitely had a great opportunity to be able to play in the last game, and I’m doing everything I can to play in this game.
“The training staff is working with me so much, and I appreciate them for that. I’m putting in a lot of work to be able to get my knee back right, and everything is going to be good … I’m doing everything I can to be able to play.”
Homecoming for James Cook
Running back James Cook grew up in Miami with his older brother Dalvin Cook of the NFL Minnesota Vikings and former All-American running back at Florida State. He isn’t sure how many tickets he’ll need for family and friends. He’s going to let someone else concern themselves with that while he concentrates on football.
“I know my mom is going to come to the game, and I really don’t worry about the tickets and everything. She does,” Cook said. “It’s always good to play at home. I mean, (Dalvin) really didn’t give me advice, but all I ever knew was just play football. There’s no advice he could give me other than that.
“It’s going to be a good one. I know it’s going to be great playing at Sun Life Stadium in front of my friends and family.”
Photo of Nakobe Dean at practice in Miami via Twitter @GeorgiaFootball.
Glenn Sattell is an award-winning freelance writer for Saturday Down South.
