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While Kirby Smart devours the doubt, Georgia football enjoys Texas

ByVanessa

Oct 20, 2024 #American, #American Football, #bennett, #Bulldogs, #College, #College Football, #College Sports, #Conference, #Content, #ESPN, #ESPN Inc, #Football, #Georgia, #Georgia Bulldogs, #Georgia Bulldogs Football, #history, #Inc., #Kirby, #Longhorns, #Mississippi, #Mississippi State University, #Modular, #Modular Story, #NCAA, #NCAA Southeastern Conference, #Negative, #News, #Nolan, #Nolan Smith, #Opinion, #Opinion Content, #Overall Negative, #Sarkisian, #SEC, #SEC South Content Sharing, #Share, #Smart, #Smith, #South, #Southeastern, #Southeastern Conference Football, #Sport, #Sports, #Sports News, #State, #Stetson, #Stetson Bennett, #Steve, #Steve Sarkisian( t)Kirby Smart, #texas, #Texas Longhorns, #Texas Longhorns Football, #Total, #University
While Kirby Smart devours the doubt, Georgia football enjoys Texas

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  • For someone who says he doesn't watch ESPN talking heads, Kirby Smart seemed to know a lot about what those talking heads were saying about Georgia.
  • Steve Sarkisian is excited about the chance for a rematch between Georgia and Texas.
  • Believe it: Georgia has restored its status as an SEC frontrunner. There should be no doubt about that after Saturday.

AUSTIN, Texas – For someone who says he doesn't watch ESPN's talking heads, Kirby Smart seemed to know a lot about what those talking heads were saying about his team this week.

Mostly, they said Smart's Georgia Bulldogs wouldn't beat No. 1 Texas.

Georgia pushed that doubt aside and turned it into fuel.

“Our entire program has been doubted,” Smart said Saturday after No. 4 Georgia’s 30-15 win that quieted critics. “I mean, did you see the show this morning?”

The show he is referring to is ESPN's “College GameDay,” and the pregame vote on that program was a unanimous 5-0 for Texas to win that game.

Smart said he was busy with morning meetings and wasn't watching “GameDay,” but he received “8,000 text messages about it.”

“Someone doubted us,” Smart said.

Many people.

And then Georgia thrives.

“Don’t shy away,” Smart said of his team. “They don’t give in.”

Georgia football thrives on doubt and enjoys Texas

Two years ago, Georgia's Nolan Smith memorably tweeted to a reporter after the Bulldogs repeated as national champions that the undefeated season proved those who thought Georgia would finish 7-5 wrong. No one knows who these people were, as Georgia opened the 2022 season ranked No. 3.

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During that season, Smart and quarterback Stetson Bennett IV also toyed with the idea that Georgia could be doubted, even though the Bulldogs were on the short list of teams expected to compete for the national championship.

Last season, it was nearly impossible for Georgia to use doubt as a lightning rod, as the Bulldogs were ranked No. 1 for three straight months before losing to Alabama in the SEC Championship.

Then Georgia opened this season at No. 1. The doubters had gone to bed, but they returned with a vengeance after Georgia lost 41-34 at Alabama last month as the slight sports betting favorite.

Georgia outlasted Kentucky and Mississippi State in disappointing fashion.

Where was the Georgia team that dominated Clemson in the season opener?

Lo and behold, the Bulldogs were decided underdogs against Texas.

“Nobody gave us a chance. Their entire network doubted us,” Smart told ESPN afterward. “Nobody believed us.”

Is it time to doubt the Texas Longhorns?

That result should renew the widespread belief that Georgia has enough talent to win a national championship — and the doubts are shifting to Texas. Are the Longhorns for real or did they benefit from a manageable game plan in the first half? None of Texas' first six opponents will be ranked next Sunday.

Texas bullied these overwhelmed opponents, but Georgia's defensive front tore apart the Longhorns' experienced, beefy offensive line.

Seven bags. Ten tackles for loss. Twelve stops on third downs. Four stops on fourth down. And a three-hour nightmare for Texas' quarterbacks.

Georgia's defense continually set its offense up for gimme putts. That came in handy and helped offset Carson Beck's three interceptions. None of Georgia's first five scoring drives traveled more than 34 yards or lasted longer than three minutes. The Bulldogs only needed 283 yards of offense to earn a clear victory.

Quinn Ewers or Arch Manning? Steve Sarkisian offers an answer

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian has dismissed the idea of ​​a quarterback controversy with both his actions and his words. He returned to Quinn Ewers after halftime after going after Arch Manning in the second quarter. Sarkisian stated after the game that Ewers remains Texas' starter.

“We have to do a better job around him,” Sarkisian.pi said

The fact is that none of the Texas quarterbacks were doing well, and it wouldn't have mattered who was the starter because of how poorly the offensive line protected them.

The Longhorns' defense kept Texas in the game and rallied after trailing 23-0 at halftime. Sarkisian seemed to relish the idea of ​​a potential rematch with Georgia in either the SEC Championship, the College Football Playoff or both.

“Hopefully we can defeat them again,” Sarkisian said.

The second sweep won't be any different than the first unless Texas finds a way to slow down Jalon Walker, who had three sacks, a fumble recovery and a swagger after ruining Manning.

When asked why Texas had trouble dealing with Georgia's defensive front, Sarkisian began counting down numbers – like the jersey numbers of Georgia's standout team.

“You don’t recruit as well as Georgia for six years and you don’t have a good defensive staff,” Sarkisian said.

True, but Texas' offensive line has been a team strength for six games. If this line is unable to handle elite defensive fronts, then one can reasonably question whether the Longhorns belong among the ranks of the elite.

“We can sit here and have a pity party for ourselves,” Sarkisian said, “but I don’t know what good that’s going to do us. How can we recalibrate?”

To help with this recalibration, take it from Georgia: A dose of doubt can do a program good.

“Maybe they didn’t doubt us,” Smart said as he continued to talk about the TV pundits he says he doesn’t watch. “They just believed in Texas more than we did.”

Believe it: Georgia has restored its status as an SEC frontrunner. There should be no doubt about that after Saturday.

Blake Toppmeyer is the national college football columnist for the USA TODAY Network. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer.

Subscribe to read all his columns.

By Vanessa

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