At the time, it seemed simple.
Georgia’s trip to South Bend, Indiana, in 2017 was regarded as just another game for the program. That mentality has served as the foundation of Kirby Smart’s program since the day he returned to Athens - one week, one game at a time.
But in reality, it held much more weight than one game. When Davin Bellamy forced a fumble of Notre Dame quarterback Brandon Wimbush to secure a 20-19 Georgia victory, it gave the Bulldogs momentum. As it turned out, enough momentum to propel Georgia to an SEC championship, a Rose Bowl victory and an overtime loss playing for a national championship.
“It was a great opportunity for us to develop and learn how to handle tough situations,” place-kicker Rodrigo Blankenship said. “We used that experience to help us in some big moments later on that season.”
It didn’t stop there, according to Blankenship. It carried through the following week, and the weeks after that, then months, and now just more than two years. It went far beyond the blast of adrenaline you would expect from a hallmark victory. It set the tone for what Smart expected of the program. And that tone rings loud today.
“That team understood how to play to a standard,” Smart said. “They created the standard that is the standard. And this team is following in the footsteps from a standpoint of that we have a standard of excellence every day at practice.”
Before that game, that benchmark wasn’t explicitly set. Especially in Smart’s first year, 2016.
“Not everyone bought in” to that mantra, according to J.R. Reed. That was more than noticeable. The Bulldogs finished the season 8-5, with a narrow win over Nicholls State and a blowout loss at Ole Miss.
That Notre Dame game changed the program. It was validation that when things were done according to Smart’s gospel, it would pay off in ways the team hadn’t seen the previous year.
“It showed it was a new era,” Reed said. “It was Kirby Smart’s era.”
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