By Brant Daughtry
Buckle Up
Georgia is the epitome of the Final Boss. Multiple top classes in a row in recruiting, a steady increase in success, and have won back-to-back national championships with a walk-on quarterback. What Kirby Smart has built at Georgia is the blueprint. Recruit as good as anyone in the country, coach the kids well, and win.
Kirby learned from the best, spending several years as the DC under Nick Saban at Alabama before returning to Georgia in 2016, where he also spent his college career as a safety. He’s built a similar machine to the ones at Alabama in the early Saban years, and it’s possible he could surpass what we saw Saban do if he keeps going at this rate.
Georgia hangs its hat on defense. In 2021, when they won their first title in over 40 years, the Dawgs sent nine defensive players to the NFL by way of the draft. Somehow, it didn’t matter. Arguably the best defense since the turn of the century lost nine major contributors, and somehow the pieces left over where good enough to dominate the next year. That is how well Kirby has recruited and coached his defense.
Offensively, they are less impressive, but that hasn’t mattered much. Gone is Stetson Bennett, the 6th-year walk-on, and he’s been replaced by Carson Beck, a significantly younger player. Beck was a four-star out of high school, and a top 10 QB in his class. He’s got a lot of weapons too, because Georgia doesn’t just recruit well on defense. So why have they seemed so pedestrian? Well, like most defensive coaches, Kirby knows what kind of offense he wants to run and hires offensive coordinators, not to run revolutionary offenses that put up incredible numbers, but for ball control. Hold the ball, run the clock, and score efficiently, rather than frequently. It works for them.
For this purpose, Smart has hired Mike Bobo, a guy who has made a ton of money being hated as a play-caller at both Georgia in a previous stint, and Auburn in Bryan Harsin’s first year. He’s nothing special, but he’s been doing it for a long time. Bobo is a safe choice, and with Kirby Smart as head coach, that’s really all you need.
Players to Watch For:
Tight End Brock Bowers, #19- This one is pretty easy. Bowers is the best tight end in the country, and he could very well be the best player in the country. He won the Mackey Award last season as the nation’s top tight end, and he’s looking for a repeat. He led Georgia in receiving last year with over 900 yards, and is leading them again early in the season. This guy will be the best player on the field Saturday, and Auburn must know where he is at all times.
Linebacker Smael Mondon Jr, #2- Mondon was the leader on UGA’s defense, and he’s back trying to win a few more rings. He led Georgia in tackles last season with 76, and has had a hot start this year making 14 through four games. He’s an athletic freak with sideline-to-sideline speed, and he’s beyond physical, like everyone else on Georgia’s defense. In a defensive room full of killers, he’s the guy you have to watch out for.
A lot has been made of the talent gap at Auburn. A lot of it justified. But a lot of the excuse-making by Hugh Freeze is extremely troubling. The talent gap is very real, and I didn’t expect Auburn to go into College Station last week and win, much less dominate. But the way the offense looked beyond terrible is concerning for a few reasons. Last season against Texas A&M’s defense. Auburn had a poor performance on offense, only putting up 13 points and 330 yards.
Enter Hugh Freeze, talking about how the roster just isn’t good enough and making these sweeping proclamations about recruiting and all this hype about how great his offenses have been at Ole Miss and Liberty. Then, the work in the portal began. Overall, Auburn’s offense started seven guys that weren’t at Auburn last year, guys that, because of poor recruiting by the previous staffs, were better than the offense that only scored 13 against A&M last season. From a talent stand point, Auburn’s offense is better than it was last year according to this staff. And this group only managed three points and 200 total yards.
What’s more embarrassing for the offensive staff is how it looks when compared to the defense. Auburn’s defensive lineup is worse than it was last year from a talent perspective. The best four players in the front seven, Owen Pappoe, Colby Wooden, Eku Leota, and Derrick Hall, are all gone. And yet the defense is showing signs of life. It won the game for Auburn against Cal, and gave a decent chance deep into the game against A&M. While things aren’t perfect by any means, Ron Roberts has proven he knows how to get the best out his limited players.
Hugh Freeze and Phillip Montgomery have proven no such thing. Despite an offensive coach carrying the billing of “genius,” an offensive coordinator who had some success several years ago, and SEVEN new starters from the portal, this offense has been worse than the showing that Cadillac Williams put on the field at the end of last season.
Some of the blame with, justifiably, fall on Payton Thorne. He played maybe the worst game of his college career on Saturday. But if he’s the only reason, why didn’t they pull him? Robby Ashford is an extremely limited quarterback, but he is the QB who beat A&M last season.
Then came the weird comments about Georgia and Kirby Smart and how good the team he inherited was, preaching patience to Auburn fans and boosters. While Georgia was in a better spot than Auburn is currently, that was not a loaded UGA roster. In Smart’s first season, 2016, Georgia went 7-5. One of those five losses was to Hugh Freeze’s final team at Ole Miss by the way, a team that finished 5-7. Georgia had been recruiting better than Auburn had, sure. But Georgia was not a championship roster in Kirby’s first year.
I’m not calling for Hugh Freeze’s job yet, I think it’s way too early after four games to call for any coach to be fired on their merits as a coach. But the decision making has been baffling at the very least. Fairness and patience are essential during a rebuild, but so is accountability, in equal measure. At this point in his career, Hugh Freeze should know how important accountability is.
