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Kirk Herbstreit points to what Stetson Bennett, Kirby Smart need to do to quiet the critics
By Keith Farner
Published:
Kirk Herbstreit remembers first seeing Stetson Bennett when he came in during the Arkansas game last year, and the ESPN commentator didn’t know who Bennett was at that point.
Herbstreit explained on a media Zoom call on Monday that people have doubted Bennett as long as he’s been at Georgia, and Herbstreit was asked what Bennett and Kirby Smart need to do to quiet the critics.
“It’s provided this chip that we now have learned to love about his game,” Herbstreit said. “Even with everything he’s done, there’s still people that cover the team, and especially the fans that are like, ‘Where’s JT Daniels?’ For example, in the Michigan game, if he throws a pick, you can just feel the energy. ‘When’s JT Daniels going to be in there, what the hell are they doing, kind of thing. Yet this guy has been incredible. I think his mobility has been critical to just keeping plays alive.”
Herbstreit said Bennett’s mobility is a good complement to what Georgia does in the running game with Zamir White and James Cook.
“How do you get over that hump? You beat Michigan, you play in the national championship, you play well, and you beat Alabama. Other than that, I don’t know of anything that’s going to allow this perception, by the way, I don’t agree with it. But how do you change that narrative, that’s what you do. You don’t turn the ball over, you don’t have to be Bryce Young, you don’t have to be Joe Burrow throwing for 525 the other day against the Ravens. But you do have to go out there and make some plays and put the ball on the money and not turn it over, and win. And then you go to Indianapolis. You do it over again, you avenge a loss, the only loss of the year. That would make the narrative completely go away. Anything short of that, I think you’ll find people that’ll be questioning whether they made the right call going with him all year.”
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
