Kirby Smart close to leading Georgia to national title? Kirk Herbstreit thinks so
By Jake Rill
Published:
Could Kirby Smart and his Georgia football team soon be hoisting the national championship trophy? ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit seems to think it’s a possibility.
Herbstreit will be part of the ABC broadcast team for the No. 5 Bulldogs’ season opener against No. 3 Clemson on Saturday night in Charlotte. Before that, the longtime broadcaster held a conference call with reporters on Wednesday to discuss various topics heading into the 2021 college football season.
Among them was whether Herbstreit thought the pressure was growing for Smart to lead Georgia to a national title.
“As an outsider, as a guy who watches, I don’t feel that with Kirby,” Herbstreit said on the call (h/t Chip Towers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution). “I feel like Georgia has been close. I think it’s been more about the quarterback situation, which last year was very unusual.”
That’s because JT Daniels didn’t suit up for the Bulldogs until mid-November. Early in the 2020 season, Georgia relied on Stetson Bennett to lead its offense, and he had some struggles.
Daniels played well once he got into action, and now, he’ll be the Bulldogs’ starting QB as a redshirt junior, which should bode well for the team’s offense.
Georgia’s first test will be a huge one, though, as Clemson is a perennial College Football Playoff contender that has been a powerhouse program with Dabo Swinney at the helm. The winner of this Bulldogs-Tigers matchup is going to have a ton of early-season momentum.
“Kirby Smart has been around and he gets it,” Herbstreit said on the call. “He’s played a lot of heavyweight games early, especially when he was at Bama. So I think both these guys will do a good job of getting their teams ready. Then, it’s just a matter of their teams executing and going out and doing it.”
Georgia and Clemson are set to kick off on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC.
Jake Rill contributes to news coverage for Saturday Down South. He has covered the SEC since 2016.
