ATHENS — Georgia fans, it’s time to face some cold, sobering facts.
Kirby Smart was right the first time.
After taking over the Bulldogs program last December following the ouster of Mark Richt, Smart did not ingratiate himself with some Georgia backers, particularly those that felt Richt was fired prematurely. When Smart gave his initial assessment of the program he said, paraphrasing here, that Georgia did not have the talent to be competitive in the Southeastern Conference.
After Saturday’s sad 17-16 loss to Vanderbilt, in Sanford Stadium no less, does anyone really want to keep defending Richt at this point? I’m not trying to besmirch Richt. I was a solid Richt supporter until it became apparent that it was time for a change if the Bulldogs were really serious about challenging for SEC and National titles.
Smart IS the right guy for the job. Mainly because he was the only one who truly saw the Georgia roster for what it actually was, and what is it has shown to be: average at best.
It is being born out that Richt’s last three seasons on the recruiting trail, despite whatever projections so-called recruiting experts may have given Georgia, have yielded little tangible, top-tier SEC-caliber talent. Smart knew it, stated as much, but most Georgia fans did not want to listen.
Can you hear him now?
How many upperclassmen (juniors and seniors) are truly high-level players on this 2016 team? Nick Chubb has been, Sony Michel can be, Lorenzo Carter and Isaiah McKenzie have been at times. Center Brandon Kublanow is arguably the best senior on the roster. And while the center position is certainly a key spot, if he is your best player in a class, you may have a problem.
It’s not hard to see what Smart is doing with the roster he partially inherited. (He did get to oversee the final 6 weeks of recruiting this past off-season but spent most of that time trying to retain some key targets instead of blazing his own recruiting trail.)
He is subtlely turning the roster over. Although it may become a little less subtle in the future.
During Saturday’s game, at times there were as many as five freshmen on the field. Sometimes there were five sophomores and two freshmen on the field. Five sophomores and two freshmen were in the starting lineup.
Ten more sophomores and 10 more freshmen saw action on Saturday. Smart realizes that the younger players on the roster is where the true talent lies.
Freshman tight end and former Buford High standout Isaac Nauta may be the best player on the entire roster. Jacob Eason already beat out senior Greyson Lambert and junior Brice Ramsey as the starting quarterback. True freshmen Brian Herrien, Riley Ridley, David Marshall, Julian Rochester, former Rabun County standout Charlie Woerner, Marshall Long and redshirt-freshmen Tae Crowder and Rodrigo Blankenship all have seen significant action in 2016
The sophomores have played an even bigger impact. Trenton Thompson, Terry Godwin, DaQuan Hawkins-Muckle, Michael Chigbu, Jonathan Ledbetter (just back from suspension), Juwuan Briscoe, Natrez Patrick, Roquan Smith, Lamont Gaillard, and Jayson Stanley all have logged significant minutes.
Of course, many of those youngsters saw action on the special teams, which was the key area that lost Georgia the game against Vanderbilt. But it also more than just players. The coaching must be there.
We know Smart can coach. He presided over the best defense in college football for 10 seasons at Alabama and was part of four national titles. But I’m not so sure about the assistants that he hand-picked when he took the job.
Defensive coordinator Mel Tucker, who worked alongside Smart at Alabama, has done a decent job with what he has to work with. The defense has not been the problem. Except for one fourth quarter drive, they held Vanderbilt to less than 100 yards through the first three quarters. It is a unit that is improving, mainly because of the underclassmen.
They held down a good North Carolina ground game in the opener and produced enough stops against Missouri’s fast-paced offense to give Eason and the offense a chance to win the game.
However, when the team needed a stop on Vandy’s game-winning 8-play, 75-yard touchdown drive in 4:04 in the fourth quarter, they couldn’t produce it. The killing blow was a 37-yard screen pass to Ralph Webb on 3rd-and-12 at the Georgia 48. The Georgia defense gambled with a blitz and the Commodores called the perfect play.
To me the jury is still out on offensive coordinator Jim Chaney. Touted as a guy that knows how to use multiple weapons, I’m not seeing it.
The play-calling, like the 4th-and-1 decision Saturday with 1:01 left and the game on the line, leaves a lot to be desired most of the season. A toss sweep to the smallest guy on the field? Yes, McKenzie is the speediest of all the Bulldogs. But the offensive line, made up mostly of upperclassmen, couldn’t block my old 5-to-8 year-olds flag football team, much less SEC defensive lines. I’m still trying to figure how they rushed for over 300 yards against North Carolina and nearly 300 yards against South Carolina. Oh, wait, just figured it out...
(Georgia piled up 421 yards of offense -- 346 through the air -- against Vanderbilt but spent a good part of the day facing long drives against what is a good Commodores defense. Going 6-of-17 on third down will not keep many drives alive.)
Nauta is quietly becoming a star on the offensive side leading the team in receptions two of the last three games with a pair of touchdown catches. Freshmen receivers on Saturday accounted for 11 receptions for 141 yards and one touchdown (Nauta).
Special teams coach Shane Beamer is the son of legendary Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer, who was a special teams guru. It must have skipped a generation.
The special teams have been just short of awful most of the season. The players should get half the blame. But the coaches bare the brunt of the unit’s failings on getting the right combination on the field to be successful.
Vandy’s Darrius Sims was not even touched until Reggie Davis caught him from behind at the Georgia 3 on his 95-yard kickoff return to open the game. That and a short Marshall Long punt and another good Sims return helped account for 10 points on Saturday, which was the difference in the game. The lone bright spot on special teams was Blankenship, who hit all three field goals (45, 22, and 36 yards) on the day.
Despite Blankenship’s solid day on Saturday, how many of the nearly 92,000 in Sanford Stadium -- and those watching on SEC Network -- covered their eyes every time Smart called for the field goal unit? Blankenship and redshirt-sophomore William Ham both had been, well, not good through the first six games, where they were a combined 4-for-9 on field goals. Blankenship may finally have won the job but it may take a streak of nine or 10 in a row before fans can stop watching through their fingers.
But Georgia has its own return weapon in McKenzie, or at least should. He is a threat anytime he catches the ball. He just has trouble catching the ball. He has fumbled four attempts on the season, almost one per game on average. He let several catchable punts Saturday roll past him and keep the Bulldogs offense backed up. Godwin finally got the call on Vandy’s final punt of the day but they kicked it out of bounds. That saved fans from a little more frustration.
If the special teams does not make a dramatic improvement the rest of the way, Smart’s first major change in the offseason may need to be correcting that mistake and getting rid of Beamer.
The speed difference between Georgia and the top SEC teams also is becoming apparent. Only McKenzie can be considered to have top-level, SEC-caliber speed on the entire roster. While speed isn’t everything, if you have talent AND speed, you should be on the field and be a factor. Freshman Isaac Nauta has tremendous speed for a tight end. But he won’t win any foot races against McKenzie.
Chubb, who never had McKenzie type speed anyway, looked slow for the first time Saturday. The wide receivers have a hard time getting separation. The offensive line is not quick enough to pull on sweeps and open lanes for the running backs.
If Georgia, which I think it can under Smart, wants to get to the top-tier of the SEC and challenge for an SEC title, speed will need to be a key ingredient. Smart understand that when working with Nick Saban at Alabama.
With the stench of Saturday’s debacle still fresh for most Georgia fans, it’s time to start facing the fact that this Georgia team was probably never tagged by Smart and his staff, if they were honest with each other, as an upper-tier SEC team in 2016. Smart has hinted to that all along, from his first-ever press conference.
He stated it again that the early euphoria of the North Carolina opener -- Chubbs’ return in the Georgia Dome and a national television audience watching -- was overblown. He continued to try and temper expectations even after two more nail-biting wins. He detailed the problems after the stunning Hail Mary loss to Tennessee two weeks ago.
Georgia fans just weren’t ready to believe him.
Do you believe him now?
