Losing is never a good thing. But could that be a silver lining? There are stories aplenty about championship teams that got a stern awakening in an unexpected loss. This is not to say this team will unquestionably win a national title. But if this team meets very high expectations, the Auburn game could be a turning point.
For coaches like Kirby Smart, who like to simply see players get better, the combo of coming off a loss and an off week could be the sweet spot. Smart’s remarks said as much after Saturday’s loss.
There’s an overused saying on coaching and other places – you’re ‘either growing or decaying.’ and part of that growth is that as big of a letdown as the Auburn loss was, how that can help this team get better.
And that includes game management, as Smart delved into how the mishandled field-goal try could have been done different in the second quarter.
Another big upside of this week? There is no game to prep for in a few days. So in addition to healing up, the chance to what is now called ‘self-scouting’ arises. Georgia’s defense has a good bit more of that to examine via the Tigers.
“One of the glaring things to us is we want to tackle better. We’re higher in missed tackles than we’ve been in years past. That’s a big target area for us. We think missed tackles are up as a whole across college football, so we’re not immune to that. We’re part of that problem, but how do we do it better than they do it? That’s really what we’re trying to do this week. How can we get better incrementally and gain inches? When the margins are tighter, the inches are everywhere.” – Georgia head coach Kirby Smart
Speaking of looking back to Auburn. Many a fan pondered whether or not Gunner Stockton was concussed. Kirby Smart’s retort remains the same as it was just after the loss to Auburn. Stockton himself said the early hit didn’t impact him either. Remember – Stockton nearly turned it over twice against Alabama and was not so lucky last week which begs the bigger question – is Stockton all of a sudden being more loose and fast with the ball than he needs to be? Do you wonder why Kirby Smart seems to go to bat for his current QB more than others? Its because Stockton is perfect for what he feels this team needs – someone who makes the throws and minimizes mistakes. That’s a great plan as long as it works.
The Red & Black as always does a tremendous job covering all things red and black, and this fall is no exception when it comes to the latest on volleyball getting a pair of SEC road wins and women’s soccer ending the regular-season home slate with a shutout.
Tuesday of this week would have been the late, great Lewis Grizzard’s 80th birthday. Many of us for sure wonder about what he’d have to say about well…everything these days. Personally, I’d expect him to make a comment that this feels like the era of the televangelists scandals where he joked about offering not to take a paycheck with the AJC because it was so easy to write about.
Go Dawgs!