Kirby Smart shares how Georgia will bounce back from emotional Peach Bowl victory
The College Football Playoff offers plenty of emotions, but with a quick turnaround in between games, it is important to keep those emotions in check so they don’t affect the game.
Kirby Smart joined the ESPN’s College GameDay on Monday to break down how the Bulldogs will respond after an emotional win against Ohio State on Saturday.
Smart said that the motivation of winning the national championship is fuel for the team as it prepares for the next week.
“Winning a ring,” Smart said. “That’s the motivation. You’ve got to get over that one quick and get on to the next one. Fortunately we have a little time in terms of we don’t have the 7-day turnaround we had coming back from Pasadena back in 2017 or 2018, whenever it was. But it’s going to be a quick turnaround because you’re used to having 28 days and now this thing slides to 7-8 days and it already feels like it’s upon us right now.”
The Bulldogs get a week to catch their breath after they won the Peach Bowl following a missed Ohio State field goal on Saturday. They take on TCU on Monday.
Another factor for the game will be injuries. The team was banged up over the course of the season and in the game on Saturday, but Smart thinks most of his guys will be good to go on Saturday.
“We’re hopeful to get pretty much all the guys back,” Smart said. “That’s the hope. We had a couple guys, Chaz Chambliss had a knee that hyperextended, we’re hopeful to get him back. We had some guys dropping there for a little bit, we were on our 2s and 3s in some spots. Some guys stepped up and played, that’s what you have to ask at the end of the year.”
TCU has been playing with a four leaf clover all season. Their luck is about to run out.
This has felt like an exhausting season. First Oregon… then SC looming. That goes well, but you have a scary game against Mizzou. Get past that and UF and KY are looming (I know, I know, but it was a different feeling at that point in the season). Then the “game of the year” against Tennessee. Then LSU is going to upset Georgia in the SEC. Then the stress-bomb that was the Peach Bowl. Georgia fans are new to this. Is defending a championship more stressful on a fan than going after one?
You may be onto something there. Last year set the level of expectation very high. Your team got one. And the closer they get to doing it again, the more you feel like there is to lose.
I think if the team is able to hit that mark of competing for the national championship for a few years, that tension levels off a bit.
Look at Alabama.
On the flip side, that sustained success can lead a fan to believe they deserve it because they are who they are.
Because now we don’t hope to win, we EXPECT to win. There’s the difference in the mindset.
Stetson has the swagger and confidence to pull it off.
14-0 is rarely accomplished. Proud of this team,
See you in LA! Anyone else going?
Take this from an Alabama fan…Yes it is.