What remains for UGA in 2020

Coming off a postponed game last week at Missouri because of COVID issues, Georgia limps into the final month of the regular season with a disappointing 4-2 mark. After capturing three consecutive SEC East titles from 2017-2019, there very likely will be no championship opportunity for the Bulldogs in 2020—and who knows what actually remains of the campaign because of such COVID concerns.

Perhaps this prompts the question, what is really left for Georgia to play for this season?

Meeting with the media Monday afternoon, head coach Kirby Smart stressed the importance of ending the 2020 season strongly for of a number of reasons—and it all begins with the “BIG TEAM/little me" philosophy, whereby the team is always bigger/more important than the individual player.

“Every kid has individual motivations, and you should have those. But ultimately, you have to put the team above yourself,” said Smart, who added that his squad worked on future opponents during the unexpected off week, including this Saturday’s foe, Mississippi State. “The ultimate goal for the team is to finish strong.”

Because of COVID, Smart, and company do not even have complete control of “what games we get to play and don’t get to play,” according to the head coach. Still, by continuing to practice and play games to their fullest, Bulldog players can make improvements that are much needed.

“Just go hard and prove it as a player and as a team. [You] try to get better at your technique and try to push everybody to get better. So really, just doing that and no slacking,” said Malik Herring when asked how the team keeps up its intensity. The senior defensive end, who recently accepted an invitation to the Reese’s Senior Bowl, added, “We don’t want to get embarrassed on TV or anything. Nobody wants to get embarrassed.”

After hosting Mississippi State, Georgia’s remaining regular-season slate of games is at South Carolina (Nov. 28), followed by Vanderbilt at home (Dec. 5), while December 19 has been mentioned as a possible makeup game with Missouri.

Notably, Smart mentioned each player “working on development” as one of the few things that he and his staff could ultimately control.

“Whether they're coming back next year or if they are going to be a senior and may be gone, they are working on development. They are working on an opportunity to get better,” Smart said. “So many of these kids don’t realize they don’t get that opportunity [in the NFL]. They don’t coach you to get better, they don’t get reps—they essentially just go out and play games because they don’t have the ability to develop players in practice and get guys better.”

Accordingly, as far as what remains for Georgia to play for in a season already considered a letdown, there’s plenty. With one goal in mind—player development—motivated by defeating the opposition, the 2020 campaign is far from over according to Smart.

“Our guys get a chance to grow and get better. That is the goal,” Smart said. “And the motivating factor for our team is to win the game against Mississippi State.”