Kirby Smart applauds on ESPN after Georgia football upsets Texas

For a guy who says he doesn’t watch ESPN talking heads, Kirby Smart sure knows a lot about what those talking heads have said about Georgia.
Steve Sarkisian is relishing the chance for a Georgia-Texas rematch.
Make no mistake: Georgia has regained its status as an SEC leader. After Saturday there should be no doubt about it.

AUSTIN, Texas — For a guy who says he doesn’t watch ESPN talking heads, Kirby Smart seems to know a lot about what those talking heads said about his team this week.

They basically said Smart’s Georgia Bulldogs wouldn’t beat No. 1 Texas.

Georgia suppressed this doubt and turned it into fuel.

“Our whole program was questioned,” Smart said Saturday after No. 4 Georgia’s 30-15 win that quieted critics. “I mean, did you watch the show this morning?”

The show he’s referring to is College GameDay on ESPN, and the pregame vote on that show was unanimous, 5-0, in favor of Texas winning the game.

Smart said he was busy with morning meetings and didn’t watch GameDay, but received “8,000 messages about it.”

“Someone doubted us,” Smart said.

A lot of someone.

And that’s when Georgia prospers.

“Don’t flinch,” Smart said of his team. “They’re not backing down.”

Georgia football dines on doubt, feasts on Texas

Two years ago, Georgia’s Nolan Smith memorably chirped to a reporter after the Bulldogs repeated as national champions that the undefeated season proved people wrong who thought Georgia would finish 7-5. No one knows who these people were, because Georgia opened the 2022 season in third place.

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Throughout the season, Smart and cornerback Stetson Bennett IV also supported the idea that Georgia was in doubt, even though the Bulldogs were on the short list of teams expected to compete for a national championship.

It became nearly impossible for Georgia to use doubt as a lightning rod last season as the Bulldogs were ranked No. 1 for three straight months before losing to Alabama in the SEC championship game.

Then Georgia opened the season at No. 1. The doubters went to bed, but they came back strong after Georgia, as a slight oddsmaker favorite, lost 41-34 at Alabama last month.

Georgia outlasted Kentucky and Mississippi with devastating success.

Where did the Georgia team that dominated Clemson in the season opener go?

And so, the Bulldogs turned out to be clear underdogs in the match with Texas.

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

Is it time to start doubting the Texas Longhorns?

This result should restore widespread belief that Georgia has enough talent to win a national championship – and the doubt moves to Texas. Are the Longhorns for real or did they benefit from a manageable first-half schedule? None of Texas’ first six opponents will be ranked on Sunday.

Texas bullied these suppressed opponents, but Georgia’s defensive front tore apart the Longhorns’ veteran, powerful offensive line.

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

Georgia’s defense set up its offense to “give me shots” multiple times. That came in handy and helped offset Carson Beck’s three interceptions. None of Georgia’s first five scoring drives went over 34 yards or lasted more than three minutes. The Bulldogs needed just 283 yards of offense to earn a landslide victory.

Quinn Evers or Arch Manning? Steve Sarkisian offers an answer

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian, through his actions and words, refuted the idea of differences between the quarterbacks. He returned to Quinn Evers after halftime on a try from Arch Manning in the second quarter. Sarkisian said after the game that Evers remains Texas’ starter.

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

The fact is that none of the Texas quarterbacks have done well and it wouldn’t have mattered who started as long as the offensive line protected them.

The Longhorns’ defense kept Texas in the game, and it rebounded from a 23-0 deficit at halftime. Sarkisian seemed to like the idea of a possible rematch with Georgia in either the SEC championship game, the College Football Playoff, or both.

“I hope we give them another blow,” Sarkisian said.

The second drive won’t be any different from the first unless Texas finds a way to slow down Jaylon Walker, who had three sacks, one fumble recovery and one swagger after taking down Manning.

When asked why Texas was struggling against Georgia’s defensive front, Sarkisian started rattling off numbers – like the numbers on the jerseys of Georgia’s standout personnel.

“You don’t recruit (the way Georgia did) for six years in a row and you don’t have good defensive personnel,” Sarkisian said.

That’s true, but Texas’ offensive line has been the team’s strength through six games. If this line can’t handle elite defensive fronts, then it’s fair to question the Longhorns’ elite status.

“We can sit here and have a self-pity party,” Sarkeesian said, “but I don’t know what good that will do for us. How do we recalibrate?”

To help with this recalibration, take the example of Georgia: a dose of doubt can benefit a program.

“They probably didn’t doubt us,” Smart said, going on to discuss television pundits he said he doesn’t watch. “They just had more faith in Texas than they did in us.”

Make no mistake: Georgia has regained its status as an SEC leader. After Saturday there should be no doubt about it.

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

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(This story has been updated to replace the video.)

Kirby Smart applauds on ESPN after Georgia football upsets Texas

Georgia football dines on doubt, feasts on Texas

Is it time to start doubting the Texas Longhorns?

Quinn Evers or Arch Manning? Steve Sarkisian offers an answer

By L. Dreeye

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Kirby Smart applauds on ESPN after Georgia football upsets Texas

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