First and 10: Forget the explanation. Kirby Smart owes Georgia fans an apology
1. I don’t want to get on a soapbox, but …
This Georgia football season, the one with so much hope and so many grand championship designs, will be remembered for 3 plays against Mississippi State.
JT Daniels threw a go-ahead 30-yard touchdown pass in the 4th quarter that was dropped.
Two plays later, he threw another 30-yard touchdown pass. This one was negated by a holding call.
A play later, he threw a 40-yard touchdown pass on 3rd-and-20 — in the face of a heavy rush – and it finally stuck.
There’s one quarterback on the Georgia roster who can make each of those throws. Who has the arm talent to make those throws. Who has the – how can I say this, onions — to make those throws.
And Week 9 was the first time Georgia coach Kirby Smart decided to play him.
Of course, when the idiot media dared to question Smart about what in the wide world of sports he was watching in practice when he made the decision to not play Daniels, Smart responded with a convoluted answer about he has been coaching for more than 20 years and how the entire offensive staff makes the decision about who plays quarterback and who gives Georgia the best chance to win.
If that wasn’t bad enough, Smart decided to explain why we’re idiots and he’s brilliant.
“The men in that room who are making those decisions,” Smart said, “they’ve got a lot of experience doing it.”
Well, let me be blunt: They’re terrible doing it.
Up to this point in his coaching career at his alma mater, Smart’s missteps have all be overshadowed by Georgia’s ability to win big games (with the exception of games vs. Alabama).
— The bizarre game-day acumen, complete with strange calls and poor clock management.
— The hiring of his friend James Coley in 2018 to coach quarterbacks (and co-coordinate the offense), when he needed an experienced teacher and developer of talent (not a like mind) to help him choose between Jake Fromm and Justin Fields.
But when you win the SEC and come within an eyelash of winning it all, when you win a College Football Playoff game and multiple major bowls, when you beat bitter rival Florida 3 straight seasons, it’s easy to call those missteps growing pains instead of what they are: red flags.
Now, for the first time since he returned to Georgia in 2016, there are serious questions about Smart’s handling of the most important position on the field. In this offense-fueled age, there is no more important recruiting and development position than the quarterback spot.
Everything revolves around it. The team, the locker room chemistry, the culture – all the way down to the hiring and firing of the head coach. Miss on a quarterback – or fail to develop a quarterback — and it can cost you your job (see: Will Muschamp, Les Miles, Jim McElwain, Butch Jones, etc.).
Smart missed on Justin Fields. He nearly missed on Daniels.
The story with Fields is so strange because of who Smart is, and the core of his coaching philosophy. Much like his mentor Nick Saban, Smart doesn’t make personnel decisions based on seniority.
He plays the best player, and everyone on the roster (coaches included) realize the program is based on meritocracy. He was infatuated with Fromm and his freshman run in 2017 to the National Championship Game, and that season clouded his judgment with Fields.
Fields is a unique talent, a rare player who comes along every 2 or 3 decades. Fromm was a poor man’s Aaron Murray (who had a great Georgia career). By Fromm’s junior season, it was clear Smart made the wrong decision – and not just because Fields was crushing it at Ohio State.
Fromm had a ceiling, and he reached it in the national title game. He never significantly improved from that freshman season.
Fields was more talented as a thrower and runner, and had a much higher ceiling. But Fromm was thisclose to winning it all, and Smart could taste it. Hence, don’t rock the boat.
But that decision flies in the face of everything Smart believes. Remember, meritocracy.
And that’s what makes the unfolding of this now nightmare of a decision with Daniels – because that’s what it is (more on that later) – so incredibly confounding.
With Daniels, Georgia can beat Alabama and Florida. Without him, they get blown out.
But if we don’t learn from history, we’re bound to repeat it.
Smart got infatuated with former walk-on Stetson Bennett and his gutty, gritty play, and knew he could win with a game manager just like Saban did with John Parker Wilson and Greg McElroy and AJ McCarron.
Yet here’s the problem with that idea: McElroy played in the NFL and McCarron still plays in the NFL. Bennett? Beat bad or average teams, lost to 2 good teams.
Again, let’s go on the assumption that we’re idiots and Smart is brilliant (like I wrote a couple of weeks ago). He and his staff – who he conveniently pulled into the “decision making” of who plays quarterback at the opportune time – were at practice every day and watched D’Wan Mathis, Bennett and Daniels compete for the job.
Every day. Every repetition. Every good throw, every bad throw. Every game management situation.
And still came away with this pecking order: Bennett, Mathis, Daniels.
I know we’re all idiots, OK? I get that. But you’ve got to be kidding me.
Bennett’s arm is average at best, and the offense is limited in what it can do in the passing game with him playing. Mathis has a cannon, yet doesn’t know where it’s going half the time.
It took one throw – one measly throw – for me (again, the idiot in this scenario) to see that Daniels was the best quarterback on the roster.
Late in the first quarter, Daniels rolled right on a bootleg and threw a dart to wideout George Pickens, who had broken off a route and moved toward the out of bounds line in the end zone. Daniels threw Pickens open in the end zone, throwing it down and away where only where Pickens could get it. Touchdown.
Early in the fourth quarter, despite zero help from the Georgia running game, Daniels was doing what he wanted against a solid SEC defense (and a Mississippi State offense that kept pressure on Daniels to make plays).
With the score tied at 24, an NFL scout texted me and said, “(Daniels) could throw a pick-6 and lose the game, and he’s still miles ahead of the other guys on that roster.”
The scout, apparently, is an idiot, too.
2. The mystery behind the man
For weeks there was this nebulous idea that Daniels wasn’t healthy enough to play.
The ACL surgery from an injury in the first game of last season at USC wasn’t an issue, but a subsequent “clean up” surgery in December had slowed his rehab.
Mathis was named starter in Week 1 and was benched at halftime, and Bennett took over from there. Prior to Week 2, Smart said that Daniels had been medically cleared to play, but wasn’t “ready” to play.
That soon became the idea – based on Smart’s comments – that just because you’re medically cleared to play, doesn’t mean you’re ready to play. For the next month, the debate was about “ready.” Did it mean he wasn’t good enough, or was he not medically ready?
Meanwhile, the Georgia offense struggled. It began in an easy win over Tennessee when it was clear Bennett didn’t have the arm strength to beat teams that can cover and pressure.
Then came blowout losses to Alabama and Florida, eliminating those grand championship hopes, and frankly, wasting an elite defense.
Before the Florida game, Smart said Daniels would compete for the job just like he does every week. He chose Bennett instead, and played Mathis after Bennett was injured.
When asked after the game about Daniels and if he was medically ready to play, Smart said he has been ready, and that “he has been down there on the scout team doing a good job for us.”
Before we get into any conspiracy theories, let’s let Daniels clear things up. When asked after the Mississippi State game why he didn’t play earlier, as soon as after the season opener against Arkansas, Daniels said, “It was a coaching decision.”
That’s about as damning as it gets.
Daniels threw for 401 yards and 4 TDS with no INTs against Mississippi State and completed 74% of his passes. Bennett and Mathis have combined to throw 9 TDs and 9 INTs, and completed 53% of their passes.
Daniels averaged 10.6 yards per attempt, and Bennett/Mathis averaged 6.8. There are 3 Power 5 quarterbacks with a better QB rating than Daniels’ 197.1 – the 3 leading Heisman Trophy candidates (Mac Jones, Kyle Trask, Fields).
Mississippi State isn’t an elite defense, but the Bulldogs are among the top half of the SEC in most defensive categories, including No.4 in total defense and No. 6 in scoring defense.
And Week 9 was the first time Smart – wait, the entire offensive staff – decided it was time to play Daniels.
3. Another bad decision, The Epilogue
Look, every coach makes mistakes. Some just refuse to admit it.
Years ago when Bob Stoops was defensive coordinator at Florida, the Gators’ 1997 regular season had just ended and they failed to make the SEC Championship Game for the first time in the early years of the game.
A young safety had played well when pressed into action in an upset of Florida State, and I asked Stoops why the player didn’t play sooner.
“Because we blew it as coaches,” Stoops said.
But you have to recognize you blew it to learn from it. Smart still believes he made the right decision with Fromm and Fields (and from talking to Fields prior to last year’s CFP semifinal, he’s still not happy about it).
That’s probably why it was easy for Smart to stick with Bennett, and when Bennett didn’t work, he went back to Mathis – his original starter in Week 1. It makes no sense because Smart truly is one of the game’s best young coaches.
Only Saban recruits better Smart. No one in college football develops defenses like Smart.
He’s young and charismatic, and players love him. He’s everything Saban is, only 25 years younger. But if he doesn’t fix this fatal flaw, this blind spot at the most important position on the field that he clearly cannot see, he’ll never do the one thing he desperately wants: bring a national title to his alma mater.
Even an idiot can see that.
4. Common deficiencies
Let’s make something very clear: Smart isn’t the only coach who makes blatantly obvious mistakes that only he can’t see.
Another game came and went for Tennessee, and quarterback Jarrett Guarantano threw another pick-6 that derailed any hope of the Vols winning on the road against Auburn.
By the time 4-star freshman Harrison Bailey entered in the 4th quarter, the game was over. He completed 7-of-10 passes for 86 yards and continues to play as well or better than Guarantano over the last 3 weeks.
He’s a freshman playing the toughest position on the field. He will make mistakes. But at this point, with all that has transpired with Guarantano since the Vols began the season 2-0, what’s the harm?
Tennessee has lost 5 straight, and since the second half of the Georgia game in Week 3 (where the Vols led 21-17), the Vols have scored 6 touchdowns and their opponents have scored 5 defensive touchdowns. Three were pick-6s off Guarantano, and another was a fumbled returned for a touchdown.
After the game, Pruitt said Guarantano gives Tennessee the best chance to win (hello, Kirby), and even blamed himself for Tennessee’s problems, adding that Guarantano “didn’t miss two field goals, he didn’t blow a coverage.”
But he did throw his 3rd pick-6 with the game on the line. The Vols haven’t won since the first week of October, and are staring at a potential 8-game losing streak to finish the season.
If you don’t play Bailey this week against Vanderbilt – where the Vols have lost 3 of the last 4 in the series – to give him the experience of starting and finishing a game, you may as well go with Guarantano the rest of the way.
Throwing Bailey in the fire against Florida and/or Texas A&M to finish the season without legitimate snaps as the starter, is a horrifying prospect for a young quarterback.
5. The Weekly Five
Five picks against the spread.
- Kentucky at Florida (-20.5)
- Auburn at Alabama (-23.5)
- LSU at Texas A&M (-14)
- Mississippi State at Ole Miss (-12)
- Tennessee at Vanderbilt (+11)
Last week: 3-1 (1 postponement)
Season: 23-16.
6. Your tape is your résumé
An NFL scout breaks down a draft-eligible SEC player. This week: Alabama LB Dylan Moses.
“Two years ago, he was one of those rare top-10 linebacker picks. A beast. A 240-pound athlete who could run with a nasty streak. The perfect Mike backer. The knee injury changed everything. He’s a different player right now. You watch him play, and he’s still the instinctual guy you saw 2 years ago. He sees things on the field, he just can’t get there like he used to. The twitch isn’t there all the time. The fluidity isn’t, either. There are moments where you’re like, yeah, that’s the guy I know from 2 years ago.
“Some guys take longer to return from an ACL (surgery). A few things will be big for him: a full season of game tape, and then a month of rest for the knee, and then getting in the best shape of his career for the Combine.”
7. Powered Up
This week’s Power Poll – and one big thing.
1. Alabama: Yeah, Mac Jones remembers those turnovers from last year’s Iron Bowl. That’s bad news for Auburn – especially with Jones coming off his worst performance of the season.
2. Florida: The Gators are 7 games into the season, and Gators still are finding young players (LBs Ty’Ron Hopper, Khris Bogle) on defense playing better than starters. That’s good (better production) and bad (see: Kirby Smart).
3. Texas A&M: By the time Aggies take the field in College Station, will be 21 days since they last played. They were hot when the pandemic derailed 2 games; can they return at the same level of play?
4. Georgia: In a perfect world, Daniels plays well, UGA wins out and a handful of key underclassmen ignore the NFL and return for 2021. Then you’ve got a national title favorite.
5. Auburn: Even with a blowout loss in the Iron Bowl (that’s happening, folks), Tigers can still win 7 games in a brutal season – and then get a bowl win, too.
6. Missouri: Tigers will be favored in 3 of their final 4 games, and 6 wins would be a huge first season for Eliah Drinkwitz. MU has its quarterback of the future.
7. LSU: QB TJ Finley played smarter, and with poise and the offense looked solid on the road against a strong Arkansas defense. Can it translate to another road game (Texas A&M) against another stout defense?
8. Arkansas: Feleipe Franks last 4 games: 9 TDs, 1 INT, 1,043 yards, completing 73% of passes. The problem: Hogs have given up 145 points in those games, 3 of which were losses.
9. Ole Miss: All the offense and social media fun and games is eye candy. Time for Lane Kiffin to earn his keep in the Egg Bowl, the most underrated, bitter rivalry in all of college football.
10. Kentucky: UK’s plan was to run the ball and use clock vs. Alabama — and it lost by 60. Same game plan this week vs. a Florida team that hasn’t exactly been stout vs. the run this season (141.7 ypg.).
11. Tennessee: Yet another reason to start Harrison Bailey this week vs. Vanderbilt: The Commodores have an SEC-worst 1 interception this season, are giving up 280 passing yards a game, and opposing quarterbacks have completed 73% of their passes.
12. South Carolina: It’s fun to say the Gamecocks may have found a quarterback in freshman Luke Doty, but that’s a long way down the line. It also, more than likely, won’t help this week vs. Georgia.
13. Mississippi State: Bulldogs can’t play a majority of man coverage against Ole Miss like they did against Georgia. Ole Miss QB Matt Corral might get 500 yards if they do.
14. Vanderbilt: Derek Mason may not be around to enjoy it, but the Commodores have something in freshman QB Ken Seals. Tough player, can make every throw and is accurate. What more can you ask for?
8. Ask and you shall receive
Matt: I’ve just about had enough of Todd Grantham with my Gators. Why is it we never look prepared on defense? Our guys aren’t even set when the ball is snapped! I don’t know if I can take another season of this.
Caron Simpson
Atlanta
Caron: Grantham is well-respected in the coaching fraternity, both in the NFL and college football. But he’s also a nomad of sorts, and it typically begins to turn in the 3rd or 4th season.
He has had 10 jobs since 1990, his last 4 in college football: 4 years at Georgia, 3 years at Louisville, 1 year at Mississippi State, 3 years at Florida. The last 4 years are with Dan Mullen at Mississippi State and Florida, and Grantham had opportunities in the NFL after last season.
If Grantham is your DC, you take everything that comes with it – including the legendary (and infamous) “Third and Grantham” moniker. Because he loves pressure, 3rd downs under Grantham are the ultimate risk vs. reward.
The Gators have pulled back on exotic pressure and combination coverages on many “Third and Granthams,” but there are still problems. Florida is giving up 43% of 3rd-down conversions, including 7-of-15 (47%) last week to Vanderbilt.
If Florida does move on from Grantham at the end of this season, it will cost $1.8 million (the value of the one season remaining on his contract).
9. Numbers: 60.2 and 32.3
Texas A&M and Tennessee began the season as teams having turned the corner in Year 2 under coaches Jimbo Fisher and Jeremy Pruitt, respectively.
One team (Texas A&M) has CFP hopes; the other (Tennessee) is in danger of losing 8 straight to finish the season.
In this era of all-offense all the time, here’s a critical reason: The Aggies are converting 60.2% on 3rd down (best in the SEC), and the Vols are converting nearly half that (32.3, last in the SEC).
10. Quote to note
Alabama coach Nick Saban, on Kentucky possessing the ball to play keep away: “The last time I checked, you get nothing for time of possession.”
You act as if all of Georgia’s problems would’ve been solved had Daniels been the starter to begin with. Remember he was playing against a horrible Mississippi State defense. Against Florida and Bama, no way he turns it around. Better then Bennett? Yes. But he wasn’t gonna beat Bama or Florida either.
Kirby is right, the vast majority of the media are idiots.
I agree with “NotSo” Smart, most are… but with him it’s a bit of “the pot calling the kettle”.
When Bennet took over HE was the answer. Now its Danials. I agree that he looked good against a really bad team. Made worse by Georgia’s elite defense letting State keep it close.
Elite Defense that got destroyed by Bama and Florida,,, no elite and neither is the in-game coaching by Kirby… Daniels gives Dawgs much more with his talent and arm strength moving forward… Not sure they beat Bama or Gators,,, but the up-grade is obvious with Daniels and putting the program in championship mode each season is always the goal of every program!!!
It was elite against Pruitt however, wasn’t it?
That’s not saying much and doesn’t prove a point. But since you brought it up. G has 6 td passes this year, 2 of them were against georgia. We also scored 21 all the while producing and epic implosion of a 2nd half. Yeah, uga won. They are the better team, but G sucks and threw a third of his total pass TD’s against your defense.
Nobody said Bennett was the answer you dumba$$. He was a stop gap because Mathis was a disaster and Daniels wasn’t ready yet. Daniels father said he wasn’t ready, Kirby gave him plenty of time in preseason scrimmages and saw that he wasn’t ready. But you a$$clown UGA haters and the UF grads that write for this amateur website just want to talk Kirby down even if it’s complete bull$hit. Get a life.
You are right, Kirby is very smart, can do no wrong and every one else that recognizes the obvious is plain stupid
In 2019 the QB Whisperer started Franks over Trask until Franks had a season ending injury. What was he whispering to Franks? “You can tongue kiss my wife if you throw a TD”. LMAO. Darth Vader obviously is a poor judge of QB talent. And even with Trask playing our “incompetent” offense of 2019 still beat the gator’s a$$.
Seems I remember SDS saying Bennett was going to be the reason GA would beat Bama. And remember that there is a reason Daniels isn’t at USC anymore. He couldn’t cut it in the Pac10 so do you really think he is going to in the SEC?
Stop gap between what and what? You act like you know you have something better coming up. You don’t. If any fan should know that stars don’t mean shiate at qb position it should be Georgia fans. I think everybody here thats not wearing a G on their hat knows who the dumba$$e$ are here.
Dumb UGAgrad keeps bringing Mullen into this discussion not realizing it only makes Kirby look worse in comparison. “Poor judge of QB talent”, ask anyone outside of Athens who that is dummy. I won’t mention his name but we all know
Well, Kirby did make a mistake with Fields, and everyone knows it.
Agreeing with an Auburn fan this week just feels wrong but you’re right. But I expected this. I expected the media and Georgia fans to overreact to this game. State is decimated. They had less than 50 scholarship players (Leach has bigger-how can I say this, onions-than Ed O) in that game. Does Daniels have a higher ceiling than the other two QBs? Yes. Would they have beat Bama and Florida? Doubtful. Let’s remember that Daniels came from USC, the most talented team in the PAC 12. He still only threw 14 TDs to 10 INTs at 7.4ypp with a 59.5 completion percentage. Again, that’s against PAC 12 defenses while playing on a team with more talent than its opponents. So let’s pump the brakes and see how he does against a legit, fully healthy & available SEC team (which I don’t see happening this season with what’s left on their schedule). Or, Georgia fans can once again buy into all the hype, be preseason NCs, and crown Daniels the Heisman frontrunner only to have their hearts broken like every other season. It doesn’t matter how many times Lucy pulls the football away, does it Dawgs?
Well the SDS writers have already set the bait claiming that if Daniels plays this way for the rest of the season and everyone comes back next year then UGA will be the NC favorites yet again
Since when is Mississippi State’s defense horrible? They have been a top 5 SEC defense all season.
I wonder how many players MSU is missing off their team? I mean that’s the reason UGA fans give for their defense not being good now….
You are right NovaVol, MSU defense held Jones to 290 and a QBR of 77.9, they aren’t horrible by any stretch. As for how many MSU defensive players were missing I do know that of the 14 players with stats against UGA all 14 of them played against Bama, seems the depth was hurt but not the quality. 22 MSU defenders had stats against Bama, of course with Najee running wild on them I’m sure there were many more defensive stats to be had…
LeghumperU, Bama blanked MSU 41-0.
I hear you but final score aside it doesn’t change the FACT that Mac Jones lowest rated QBR game was, and still is against CowBellHellU…which btw I posted incorrectly above, Jones raw QBR was 69.2 and adjusted QBR was 77.2 against MSU. His rating was in the mid 90’s for all the other victories, just saying…the only other team he had less yards against was game 1 against Mizz, but his QPR was much higher…
State has a good defense with hard working players, like Mizzuo and Arkansas you can’t play defense for 60 minutes. 2 & 3-stars need love too.
@Aubie108, what Daniels did that the other QB’s didn’t do is hit open receivers on deep balls. That would have changed the game against Florida but it doesn’t automatically mean we would have won. Bama was down late in the 3rd quarter with Bennett as the QB and the game didn’t turn until he threw two INT’s that were more bad passes than great defensive plays. (relax Bama fans, you’re still the class of the SEC and as a Dawg fan, I don’t hate you. I’m waiting for our day to come which is what you probably said between Gene Stallings and Nick Saban) I have no idea why so many are saying Miss State’s defense was horrible. Coming into this game they were in the top half of defenses in the SEC and they were depleted based on the number of scholarship players available but how many of the missing players were starters? Look back over the NFL draft and one thing they have done consistently is put defensive players in the league every year and many starters.(three first rounders in 2019) They shut down our running game because they are usually stout on defense going back to the Mullen years. At the end of the day, we won, and the point spread and style points don’t matter.
You have no idea why people say MsU defense was horrible? You don’t think it might have something to do with missing half their team due to covid, opt outs and injuries?
You don’t remember all the talk prior to the game about All the issues?
A lot of their first liners were there, the depth seemed to be hurt more than the quality just looking at who played for them…that being said, we got 400 passing yards because they took the LSU playbook and used it against us, stack the run, 8 in the box…
Kirby doesn’t owe anyone anything. JT was injured. Why do you continue to ignore that?
He’s a gator. Take him and all his anonymous sources with a grain of salt.
It appears that he did attend Florida, but there’s no way that idiot ever played a down of football.
JT Daniels posted on Twitter that he had been healthy since the second game of the season. Of course a player’s definition of healthy and ready to go can be different than a coach’s.
Bingo Matt. Daniels father watched a late August scrimmage and stated his son was off. He praised Kirby for not playing JT until he was fully ready.
The injury was over a year ago and the follow up procedure was 10 months before the start of the season. Georgia never addressed why he was not cleared medically so long after the injury. Its not like the swelling needs to go down after so long. He is either healthy or not.
He wasn’t healthy enough to start 2 weeks ago. He is now. He still isn’t 100%, but he’s healthy enough to start. Satisfied?
And you know this how? Because that’s what you think? That’s what Kirby said?
The reporting from various sources has consistently been that JT was technically cleared by UGA’s doctors but not by his own. Additional sources also reported that JT wasn’t very mobile before or after being cleared. I’m going to rely on that more than anonymous SDS commentors and “journalists” incredulously wondering why Daniels hasn’t played and using their own internal reasoning and assumptions for what “really” happened.
Who reported that? I haven’t seen that actually confirmed anywhere. I see it discussed on blogs and even referred to as a “rumor” in different articles….
a) Multiple insider reports on sites FAR more reliable than SDS.
b) His own father telling media literally this weekend that he was thankful to Kirby for “putting his health first” and “not rushing him out there too soon”.
You people act like JT was 100% fully ready to go but that Kirby was somehow obstinately benching him to prove a point to a bunch of talking coneheads.
People are so desperate to hate on Smart that they are substituting their lack of knowledge with their own internally-reasoned series of events. In the absence of knowledge they are choosing to create their own reality. And then use that created reality as the basis of pushing back against anything that conflicts.
Yes, it’s all agenda driven.
Who reported Daniels wasn’t cleared, Bamatime? I remember hearing it on Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC. I read it in the NY Times and Wall St. Journal. Finally, Oprah did an emotional story on it and I think they’re making Daniels’ injury into an Afterschool Special. Satisfied now?
So name one of those far more credible sites? I wouldn’t mind taking a look…
247sports.com/college/georgia/Article/JT-Daniels-Georgia-Football-father-UGA-staff-played-QB-with-best-chance-to-win-155299642/
“He was not cleared for Georgia’s season opener at Arkansas, although he traveled with the team for the game. Redshirt freshman D’Wan Mathis would get the start against the Razorbacks but was pulled for junior Stetson Bennett IV in the second quarter. Kirby Smart would announce Daniels was medically cleared the following Monday as the team prepared to face Auburn, but Daniels would not see the field in the next five games. “
So that article doesn’t mention a personal doctor and it states basically the same thing everyone that’s not a UGA fan has said…
It has JT’s dad explaining why Kirby hasn’t played him until now, noting how he was putting JT’s health first and foremost. Just because you’re medically cleared doesn’t mean you’re healthy enough to play.
JoeF – It is what it is. Kirby was not going to risk JT until he was absolutely ready and healthy. JT’s father was interviewed and states his son was not ready and looked off in a scrimmage right before the season started. He did not have accuracy and his velocity was way off. He’s just now rounding up.
@Reurn of the G, until I read what Daniels’s Father said, I was skeptical about Smart’s handling of Daniels also. Even with his Father’s statement which was based on a scrimmage in August, I still don’t understand how he can be medically cleared for the past month and running the scout team but not ready to play in the games before now.
Maybe he could play scout team with a no-contact jersey, but wasn’t ready for real game action and contact.
Much as I hope We have finally found a decent QB, I think it’s way too early to coronate JT Daniels. Mississippi State’s game plan from the start was load the box, stop the run and make Georgia throw against man coverage. So JT had the perfect defense to throw against. He had the good fortune of playing against a defense geared to stop Stetson Bennett and D’wan Mathis. Let’s see how he does against more balanced defenses, now that everyone knows downfield throws are back inGeorgias arsenal.
No man you need to start the Daniels for Heisman campaign right away. Why wait
Mullen got one good full year out of Trask. The QB whisperer wasted 2 years of a probable Heisman winner. Hell the gaturds would have probably beaten UGA last year if Trask had been the starter from the beginning of the season. Mullen… The QB whisperer. LMAO.
What a stupid comment. Burrow wasn’t ready for a Heisman campaign his first season, neither was Trask. The only thing you got right is that Mullen is a QB whisperer and your coach is obviously not
Stupid or not there’s a lot of truth potential in that, if (I hate that word) but IF Trask had been more seasoned by the time he played against the humpers last year it certainly could have mattered, y’all only lost by 7
Trask had his worse game against UGA last season. It happens, QB have off games, see Matt Corral’s 6 INT game.
Starting the first 3 games of last season would not have made much of a difference. Now if he had gone through the preseason taking all the first team snaps then that would have been different.
Still UGAgrad is a dumba$$ and keeps posting stupid sheet and you have a habit of siding with the Morons on your side of the aisle. Told you before, be careful with that habit less you be mistaken for a Moron yourself
WTH does it have to do with siding with anyone? It’s an opinion, if Mullet had recognized that Franks was a loser earlier last year Trask would have been about 4 more starts seasoned. You say it wouldn’t have made much difference…well duh, 7 points isn’t much difference. As for your siding with morons snide remark, I don’t see your fellow rational gatorbaitor fans siding with you very often, what does that mean in the CO chronological moron scale rating? To me it don’t mean squat. Lighten up, opinions don’t need to equal insults…cheers mate
You guys, Georgia and Florida fans, really need to get a room. You are going way too far with this stuff. Just from an outsiders view. No offense. We have to trust Georgia’s coaching staff with the decision – they are at practice every day, and know things the public doesn’t. Let’s move on.
This is a stupid article. MSU’s game plan was to sell out against the run and make Daniels win with his arm. Which he did. Against a more talented, non-depleted defense employing a game plan to protect against deep/intermediate passes (and not cover 0), let’s see how Daniels does before convulsing with the melodramatic takes this article is loaded with. Matt Hayes, I think you took what CKS said way too personally and Smart doesn’t owe the fans an apology; which is, frankly, one of the dumbest possible takes from Saturday’s game.
“…non-depleted defense….”? The MSU Bulldogs suited up 49 scholarship players. I think ‘near-depleted’ might be a more appropriate observation, unless you’re looking through those silver, black, and red glasses.
You completely misread my comment.
I wasn’t calling MSU’s defense “non-depleted”. I was saying that against some other non-MSU defense, that also happens to be “non-depleted”, would be a better test of Daniels’ abilities. Through referencing a future defense as “non-depleted” I was thereby calling MSU’s defense “depleted”.
I remember when Miss St. opened the season with some eye-popping numbers and everyone warned about the Air Raid demolishing SEC defenses and KJ Costello getting all kinds of praise.
Now 6 games later and we are seeing the exact same thing happening with a single game from JT Daniels. Go figure. Although he certainly did an amazing job against Miss St, no doubt about that.
In any case, some of the reasons that may explain him sitting out previous games that weren’t listed could’ve been:
– academic problems (coach punishing players for poor attendance or grades)
– poor/slow understanding of the playbook and signals
– poor off-field and/or on-field attitude and lack of leadership
– poor or erratic practice performance
Obviously coaches don’t like highlighting these things openly, especially for quarterbacks, so they tend to skirt around those issues with the media.
It was health. Why is this so hard for everyone to accept? He was STILL limping some on Saturday night, and yet no one can accept the simple answer.
The issue with accepting that he is not ready is the amount of time. Almost a year and he is still not ready. There is a bigger issue. Most players are ready after far less time. After almost a year from a follow up procedure. Something went horribly wrong with his surgery.
I think his injury was gruesome that it would take a longer time to recover if any.
1. Kirby is about as uncharismatic a a human personality can be, especially as a football coach.
2. Proof of talent happens in full speed, real life football games. Probably half the programs in the NCAA have young quarterbacks sitting who might explode into the stats if those Head Coaches would say “well number one you are looking good but wouldn’t it be fun if I sat you down and just took a couple of games to experiment. Yes you can get some hints from practice but making that kind of move can back-fire even if you have lots of practice evidence..
3. Weird how Tennessee started the season stronger and fell off so dramatically. Is there something going on away from the actual contests. Maybe they have a Fulmur-virus.
4. Missouri started the season with Alabama, Georgia, and LSU. And the league did that to them on purpose instead of following an established rotation. Just give Missouri a good bowl game a hope we don’t stay mad muskrat.
Is LsU supposedly tough?
Mizzou is always complaining about something. The only fan base that has a gripe is Arky. Ref’s messed them over numerous times with horrendous calls. They were handed the toughest schedule and still met the challenge with no complaints.
This is why I for one respect Arky, but Mizzou no not so much.
Last year didn’t you say you Ark didn’t belong in the west much less the SEC? Mizzou isn’t complaining about nothing, you mean a couple of the fans?
I find some of these Mizzou fans on here intolerable but every fan base has those types. And wolfman has always been the worst. But the players aren’t complaining. And now Mizzou could be looking at 6 wins this season. Considering the schedule they were given and a new coaching staff coming in during this surreal off-season, it’d be pretty impressive to see Mizzou achieve that.
Mizzou hasn’t played UGA yet. Y’all opened with Bama, Tennessee, and LSU.
Games got postponed and gave Missouri a week off and flipped teams around so that Missouri only missed one week. COVID-19 did Florida a huge favored!
*Pickles taste like purple
F Matt Hayes.
There is much which could be said in response to this article. I’ll leave it here…1) Kirby doesn’t own anyone an apology. 2) Yeah, he knows more about football (generally) and his team (specifically) and J.T. Daniels (even more specifically) than the writer.
Matt, the saying goes, “You can lead a horse to water but…..”
Grantham will move on at the end of the season to the NFL. I’m hoping we promote from within to keep the recruiting in place.
“The hiring of his friend James Coley in 2018 to coach quarterbacks (and co-coordinate the offense), when he needed an experienced teacher and developer of talent (not a like mind) to help him choose between Jake Fromm and Justin Fields.”
Well for one thing, idiot, Jim Chaney was the OC that year and I can assure you he and Kirby were the ones deciding between Fromm and Fields.
It’s honestly just laughable reading this temper-tantrum by a pathetic nobody of a blog writer railing at Kirby, as if he was just sitting in his office, head in the sand, refusing to play a totally healthy and game-ready 5-star because he wanted to prove the Matt Hayes and Chris Wrights of the world wrong.
Really? The ego amongst some college football writers is simply insufferable.
Daniels went out of his way to mention how his health and ability improved substantially since the Arkansas game, and then his dad in a separate interview said Kirby put JT’s health first and foremost and “didn’t rush him out there too soon”.
However, another week goes by, and another opportunity for the writers of this toilet bowl of a site to prove their general ineptitude and desperate clinging to easy narratives, whether it’s Kirby and the QB position or some other hot topic.
If you dislike the site and the articles so much why are you here?
Because I enjoy conversing with the other fans and Neil Blackmon while craptalking Chris’s betting advice.
Excellent, KS.
Has any coach ever taken so much heat for winning a game? JT kinda showed why Kirby and that weird zombie he hired to be OC don’t trust him. In addition to the kinda smart alecky “it was a coaching decision” comment he mentioned that if either of UGA’s top two receivers is in single coverage, he will throw it to them.
Kirby wants a robot QB who will just go through the reads and follow the script, and JT clearly has a brain and will throw it to the open guy. I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up on the bench again simply because he makes good decisions instead of following the moronic script created by Monken.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up on the bench again simply because he makes good decisions instead of following the moronic script created by Monken.”
I don’t wade into the arena of personal attacks lightly, but you are easily one of the dumbest commentors on this site. And that’s saying a lot.
Amen
Well, let’s see what happens. My guess is the kid will keep doing what he wants, and the control freak coaches will punish him for it.
Smart made the right decision by starting Fromm in 2018, and anything else is revisionist history.
For the millionth time, you don’t swap out an experienced QB, who has already shown the talent and ability to win championships, for a true freshman.
Fromm was not competing with 2020 or even 2019 Justin Fields, he was competing with 2018 Fields, a true freshman.
UGA in 2018 had legit national title aspirations, that’s not the time to play a freshman QB, especially when you have a proven QB on your roster.
2018 UGA led Alabama in the 4th quarter of the SECCG, with a playoff berth on the line.
When was Smart supposed to replace Fromm with Fields? In that game? Before that game, in which a loss would end playoff hopes?
The common knowledge that Smart blew it by playing Fromm instead of Fields in 2018 is flat out WRONG.
This is entirely correct and is the exact context that people are incidentally or willfully missing when they saying Smart was wrong to stick with Fromm in 2018. Every single person saying that is using the benefit of hindsight to come to a conclusion. In 2018, Fields was not better than Fromm and Kirby was trying to immediately win a NC, not start a QB project in hopes of later success. And if the linebackers were able to contain and pressure Hurts in the 2nd half of the SECC, Smart’s plan might have worked. And then 2019 happened.
I’m sure Dabo would disagree about not swapping out an experienced QB who has already shown the talent and ability to win championships, for a true freshman. Seems he did just that in 2018 after Bryant led his team to an ACC championship and playoff appearance the year before and then started the season 4-0. The difference being, Dabo actually let Lawrence have legit reps when putting him in the game, so he knew exactly what he had.
Kelly Bryant was demonstratively bad. He won an ACC championship-sure. But he, Kelly Bryant, did not look good in those first four games before being yanked.
Jake Fromm looked fine. There’s a difference in those comparisons.
Kelly then went to Missouri and laid an egg! He was so bad and partly got Odom fired!
Even if there was a journalist who had the current football knowledge equivalent to that of a current power 5 coach, which is unlikely, that journalist would still not be in an equal position to judge player suitability for a particular game as the coach has seen that player work out every day and the journalist has likely not see him once.
The writer of this article is the epitome of the phrase “armchair quarterback.”
That would be one description.
I would classify the writer of this article as UF grad a$$hole gaturd fan with an agenda. Like many of the other writers on this site including the editor.
Kirby doesn’t owe anyone an apology.
It’s crazy how writers seem to know exactly what a fan base is feeing even when the majority opinion of the fan base is the exact opposite of what’s being reported.
1. This year UGA fans generally only had hopes for a national title in the same way all fan bases ranked in the preseason top 25 have hopes. Never thought it was realistic but would’ve been fun.
2. Generally, UGA fans are happy JT’s health was considered top priority when we’ve already seen the knee bug strike twice (with multiple players on the current roster).
3. The past games have nothing to do with being happy about JT’s performance. I’m glad he balled out, we needed that. The potential is there, I’m not ready to call him Trevor Lawrence/Mac Jones/ Kyle Trask and I would think most fans would agree.
4. Most UGA fans would agree you starting a true freshman over a qb that went to the national title game is suspect. See Fields’ game against Indiana for what happens when he gets under pressure and that is the seasoned top 10 draft prospect version of Fields. Obviously better than Fromm but hard to fault the decision except maybe the LSU game that season.
5. Players with concussions say they’re ready to play, should we go ahead and listen to players and put them in the game despite medical reasoning saying leave them out?
6. Coley was a bad call and promoting him to full time OC after Chaneys departure was bad. I think the AD probably earns some partial blame as the program tends to go for “value” more than quality with assistant coaches. Probably something Kirby could push more for but I’m sure he was a little more worried about recruiting and having some control of the offense. Early signs are pointing to him learning a lesson by hiring Monken though.
Come Hayes…its one game against arguably one of the worst teams to date in the league. Its going to take more than one game to start marching up the hill to Smart’s house with torches and pitchforks. But at any rate, is this Covid screwed up season really going to mean much? With more bowls most likely to cancel..do we really have to gauge success or failure by being one of only four teams in the CFP? If so, then the whole world of college football is really messed up. A playoff is fine, but with only four teams, I miss having games for a conference championship and a conference bowl game as the reward. Losing 2 but winning your conference should NOT be meaningless. Late into the season, even all the talking heads on ESPN talk about nothing much but their pick for the four slots. Everything else as they see it can just shut down and call it quits. Its just messed up.
Yeah pretty good point, I definitely thinks it’s a combo of Dabo, Saban, the CFP, and to a lesser extent Urban Meyer and Bob Stoops that have given way to the insane expectations.
It used to be more realistic to win one everyone once in awhile a la LSU this past year. But that’s been the exception not the rule of late. If you don’t have Dabo or Saban you have to give really good coaches a little bit of time or else you’ll be paying for multiple coaching contracts and never get the opportunity to really develop something as a program.
Daniels had a “knee cleaning out of cartilage/tissue” on the already repaired knee surgery at beginning of the year. I have said this over and over that he could not maneuver well in the pocket and step into his throws which is why he was not put in at QB. When will everyone get that!!!!????!!!! By the way, he is still not 100%.
I don’t fault Kirby one bit. To be honest, I’m surprised Kirby let him play that game.
He did it because Georgia probably would’ve gotten a loss.
I’m trying to put some kind of logic to this article.
Apparently Kirby Smart is supposed to apologize for Daniel’s not being healthy enough to start the first game. Or is it the third or fourth?
This article is complete hit job garbage.
Whoever wrote the main article at the top should be fired. Openly stating a coach should apologize for placing the health of his player over the irrelevant opinions of fans is just stupid and makes this site look bad. And his football acumen seems lacking as well. Bad call on this article, even the title is bad. Y’all would pull it if y’all had sense.
Agreed
Turd nation is hilarious (i.e. Matt Hayes)
Their stars line up and they finally get a win over UGA, and, they are still pissed at the World. Kirby and UGA living in the minds of an entire fandom rent free.
Has it been confirmed that Matt Hayes is not cojones, marsh or nash? The overlap of emotional issues and intellectual deficiencies is uncanny similar.
TDOW, has set the dumba$$ standard light years ahead of any other dumba$$. High achievers are what the puppies produce.
Yessir, tdow’s incredible emotional and intellectual talents are only something us poor Gators can aspire to even remotely simulate. Man, I hope I get that intelligence and emotional present under the tree this year. Then maybe, just maybe, I can start “Livin the Dream”, like tdow.
You shouldn’t group me with Nash and Marsh, those guys are a lot nicer and smarter. Just like you shouldn’t equate the author with Gator nation in general. I must say it is very easy to pile on Kirby and UGA this season. As usual you are all over the place with your stupid comment. No Gator fan is pissed at the world and no one, except Georgia fan, has shown emotional issues. Finally you are the poster boy for intellectual deficiencies. Stop projecting fool
NoCojones is the UF version of DawgsOfWar on this site. An idiot troll.
Actually you are a heck of a lot closer to DumbsOfWar both in stupidity and delusion than anyone outside the other members of the Moron Triumvirate
UGAGrad417
Ouch, that hurts.
For the record, conjones is a simpleton bytch, he pursues me.
This was a bit of an overreaction. Daniels was always going to be the most talented guy on the depth chart. He was a 5-star recruit that started his freshman season at USC. Smart wasn’t going to play him earlier than he needed to, and that’s what a responsible coach does. He isn’t going to put wins in a season that will forever have an asterisk next to it over the health and safety of his players. The way this article was written signals Hayes took Kirby’s comments personally.
Shouldn’t that be a cause for an apology by Hayes?
I’m just curious, if Bama wins the title will there forever be an asterisks next to it?
Lol isn’t Bama used to asterisks next to NC’s?
Lol. Isn’t Georgia used to never winning a NC? 1980 Lol.
The whole Covid season will require one.
Hayes should apologize for calling himself a writer. If nothing else, Kirby is a players coach and also parents coach. Staff took great care of Mathis and he didn’t push Daniels. Even Daniels father was glad. You can crucify Kirby for dumb calls or whatever but he doesn’t owe any apologies to anyone. The Fields stories will go on even though Justin himself had no issues. Time to move on but Hayes likes to character assassinate like rest of them.
I get the anger. Kirby has lost better QBs than he’s used. Daniels has a chance to go NFL this year and if he takes it– well, there’s your answer. His dad is not going to offer any insight except to support the coach right now. No smart parent is going to risk his NFL career. JT would be taken in the 3rd round right now just by playing one game. Doesn’t mean he’s ready but the potential is so high.
You must be kidding. There’s nobody taking Daniels in the 3rd round of the NFL draft this year based on 1 game or even if he throws for 400 yards a game for the remaining 3 games.
At the point of season now, beat Vandy. Going 2-8 would be huge setback now. Don’t think they can stop the run.
All kidding aside, UGA just seems snakebit. Richt and Smart are not bad coaches at all. They get quality players, etc. so why can they not get over the hump?
Wishing all of you and yours a healthy safe holiday season. (Cant wait for egg bowl, should be a wild one!)
Oh yes.
fields is a great runner just like tebow and has a big arm but this game vs indiana showed he lacks some consistent management
during some games at georgia he was not a great passer at times and smart thought fromm was more consistent but fromm never was able to scare the other team he was capable of keeping the ball and running for major yards which fields was and that is the reason smart lost him for not giving him more time as a running QB
fromm never recovered in 2019 and it was so obvious against teams with big time QB like burrow
i still see daniels not ready to run the ball and he was sacked a couple of times when he might and i say might have avoided this if he has the mobility of fields or burrow
the real problem with georgia football is the offensive line this year is not great and smart continues to be so stubborn running cook up the middle
zeus is good runner but not the caliber of the kid was DC or sony michel or his teammate
it seems smart does not understand that the reason bama is able to run so effectively is the defense fears the WRs on bama and is afraid to stack the box
mullen is a better strategy coach and i think he will be a florida for a long time so smart must make some decisions now for next year or there will be a repeat of the gators making georgia look bad
the only time georgia seemed to get it about short passes turning into touchdowns was with the fellow now at the chiefs turning a 4 yard throw into TDs which florida seems able to do now and into the future
smart will be a georgia for years to come since he is a great recruiter but the risk is he will be just like mark richt as the years go by——saban will be gone soon but florida will get better and what decision will smart decide to be almost great or change the strategy
georgia seems to lack the use of the tight end to stop teams stacking the box for many years now
the defense is good over last few years but this MSU game was an indication smart lacks what bama had for years before this one
georgia will always be a elite team that never gets to the top unless smart changes his idea about playing not to lose instead of never taking the foot off the gas
for dog fans at least we have no pruitt or mushchamp and usually only get embarassed once a year at bama or florida or LSU
Another idiot redneck Bama fan just proving they are 49th or 50th in everything that matters except football. Including education.
I admit I had a hard time reading Bronco post but what makes you think he is a Bama fan? BTW, an educated person would know that “redneck” is a racial slur. Probably should slam anyone else’s education when prove yours is lacking.
thanks darthA for noting we are not bama fans but we do think bama is a great team based on results and hope that georgia one day will be at same level
as to USAGrad417 my father was the editor of the red and black in 1930 and a sportswriter in those days and we certainly knew tarkenton and the head of the alumni assosiation don leebern but this only proves too many people use the internet to slander others in writing
OMG!! South Carolina checked in at #12. Woohoo!! Something to cheer for!!
I see this article has EVERYONE worked up. I’ll say this, some of you Dawg fans coming to Kirby’s defense are the same ones that were dragging him across the fire just a couple of weeks ago.
This website is officially the CNN of Sports websites. Complete BS journalism, not that you should even apply that term to what’s written and posted on this site. Just like CNN.
Man. One game and JT is Heisman bound. Remember the best QB on the team is always the one on the bench when the starter struggles. Daniels couldn’t cut it in the PacZero. Do you really believe he became great because he was injured? Or because he transferred?
And an elite defense? Come on. LSU is loaded with 4 and 5 star defenders. We should be elite too but we stink. Star ratings don’t equate to elite.
Players play. Coaches coach. Sports writers write about what they couldn’t do.
JT Daniels was injured, which t h is article ignores, and is very likely why he wasn’t playing. I really don’t get the point.