If you're worried that, with a spot in the SEC Championship already assured, Georgia might be overlooking Saturday night’s game against Auburn—don’t be.
Sure, anything is possible. But it's difficult to image the Bulldogs as anything other than fired up to take on their arch-rival to the West. The reasons are simple.
For one thing, the Bulldogs will be playing their first home game in over a month since Oct. 6 against Vanderbilt.
Even more than that, however, Georgia still needs to keep winning and beat Alabama in the SEC Championship to make the College Football Playoff for the second straight year.
It’s the reason I fully expect the Bulldogs to come out firing and ultimately win Saturday’s game going away.
Other random thoughts:
. . . I get it. I understand why fans want to see the Bulldogs break out the black jerseys. They’re fun, it’s a different look, and many of us were around for the first “blackout” game in 2007 against these same Auburn Tigers. It was one of the more surreal environments in all the years I’ve been coming to Sanford Stadium.
It would be super-cool to have a repeat—but I also understand how Kirby Smart feels.
This is Auburn. Simply playing, the Tigers should, in themselves, be all the motivation UGA needs. If you’re as good a team as you think you are, hocus-pocus should not be required.
Personally, I don’t see the harm in breaking out the black jerseys if it generates a little more excitement for the fans. However, that should be the only reason Smart should ever allow them to be worn. The second Georgia (or any team) feels the needs to go with a different look in order to create more enthusiasm, it means there's a problem. If you do it, do it to make the fans happy; don’t do it for self-serving reasons, lest it bite you like it did Georgia against Alabama in 2008.
. . . You’re seeing a lot of bowl projections. Of course, the Bulldogs hope they’re playing in either the Cotton or the Orange Bowl. That would mean they defeated Alabama in the SEC Championship to advance to the College Football Playoff.
If not, the Sugar Bowl is looking more and more like Georgia’s New Year’s destination. The Sugar is obligated to take a representative from the SEC and match it against a representative of the Big 12, meaning we may have a Rose Bowl rematch of last year's game against Oklahoma. Or perhaps it will be a 2005 Sugar Bowl rematch, a game played at the Georgia Dome against West Virginia.
Yes, there's always a chance LSU could land in the Sugar, assuming it's able to win out. But a little birdie tells me the Sugar prefer the Bulldogs, based largely on the reputation Georgia fans have for following their team.
Of course, the Bulldogs still need to beat Auburn, UMass, and Georgia Tech to keep these projections in line. But right now, this is how Georgia’s bowl future appears to be shaping up.
. . . Don’t be surprised if defensive coordinator Mel Tucker finally gets his opportunity to be a college head coach.
You’ll recall that Tucker was a finalist for the Tennessee job that ultimately went to Jeremy Pruitt. Earlier this week there was word that the former NFL defensive coordinator was being linked to the open job at Maryland. Although it’s too early to predict if the Big Ten school could be a landing spot for the coaching veteran, more and more schools are beginning to take a serious look at Tucker. The talented defensive coordinator figures to get his opportunity to lead a team sooner rather than later.
. . . Kirby mentioned on Wednesday that running back Zamir White was doing well in his recovery from his second torn ACL. Wednesday night, a source offered a bit more detail.
Apparently, White is walking without a brace and is doing some squats. The source also said that White’s recovery has so far gone smoother than his previous one.
