Well, this last year of college football as we know it is going to end sooner than we – or at least I – had hoped. The 2023 Season for the Georgia Bulldogs football team will end on December 30th in Miami at the Orange Bowl. It will not extend into a playoff berth nor a chance to earn a third consecutive national championship.
First, a few thoughts about this season and this team before we get into the weighty matters of college athletics, playoffs, money, and the state of “amateur” athletics. UGA fielded a great team, and the coaching staff remains elite and among the best in sports. They’re too often compared to an idealized version those who immediately preceded them, and not on their own merits and efforts, which have been substantial.
The critics of this team within UGA’s own fan base are few, but have made up for their numbers with volume. They wanted the quarterback who ended up as a finalist for the Manning Award benched because he didn’t perform in his first game as a starter the same as if he already had the experience of his predecessor.
It should be noted that many of these “experts” were sure UGA’s hopes at a title were finished when Stetson Bennett was named starting quarterback. Many of them even doubled down, expressing frustration that Bennett decided to come back for another year – certain it would rob UGA of a chance to win back-to-back titles.
These same voices – always unaccountable for their ridiculous demands – wanted the Offensive Coordinator fired because “we should be winning by more”. It’s almost as if they haven’t yet realized there aren’t two sides on every play, and that both offense and defense had a lot of growing up to do this year to fill the cleats of those now playing on Sundays.
These folks also never want to hear about injuries. UGA dealt with more injuries this season than any prior Smart coached team, and by a lot. Still, the coaches and players adapted…
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