ATHENS — Kirby Smart downplayed the meaningfulness of the first College Football Playoff rankings before they were released Tuesday night, and he had virtually the same reaction the day after they came out.
Georgia (8-0, 5-0 SEC), which has been ranked No. 1 the past 20 times in the Associated Press media poll, was deemed No. 2 by the CFP selection committee in its first ranking of the 2023 season. Ohio State was slotted No. 1, followed by No. 3 Michigan and No. 4 Florida State.
“No, not slighted,” Smart said on the SEC coaches conference call Wednesday. “It just is what it is. We’ve gotten really comfortable with not paying any attention to it in the last three or four years.”
A lot of other people were paying attention, though, and the Bulldogs were the center of much debate. Some people thought the two-time, defending national champions deserved to be No. 1 based on their dominance over the past 2-1/2 seasons. Others felt Georgia was ranked too high at No. 2 based on a schedule that, to date, is ranked 100th in strength of opponent.
Selection committee chairman Boo Corrigan, in a teleconference call with reporters after the release, said all those factors – and more – were taken under consideration.
“The fact that Brock Bowers did not play against Florida, their overall team makeup, team speed, defense allowing about 14 points a game, in total body of work, you’ve got to be able to make these decisions as you’re looking at it,” Corrigan said. “And, again, the beauty of it is (having former coaches) in there and their ability to talk about what they see really enhances kind of the overall experience of everyone in the room to make sure that we’re getting this right.”
As for questions about Georgia’s strength of schedule, the Bulldogs’ remaining strength of schedule, which begins with No. 12 Missouri (7-1, 3-1) on Saturday and takes them through Ole Miss and Tennessee in subsequent weeks, ranks No. 6 in FBS, according to analytics used in committee’s evaluation.
Drinkwitz: ‘Happy for Dom’
Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz was asked Wednesday about the chain of events that led to junior Dominic Lovett, the Tigers’ leading receiver last season, landing at Georgia and becoming a major piece of the Bulldogs’ offense.
“I’m extremely proud of Dominic Lovett and what he meant to our program and what he means to East St. Louis and coming to play a couple of years for us,” Drinkwitz said. “Hopefully we had a hand in his growth and development as a player. Obviously, he felt like it was in his and his family’s best interest to try to go play somewhere. We knew he was an extremely talented player – he was All-SEC here – and he has embraced his role at Georgia. He appears to be an excellent player for them.
“I know coach Smart, whenever I’ve had conversations with him, comments on how excited he is to have Dom in his program and how he has added value. That’s great for him, and we’re really proud of our guys, too.”
Lovett led the Tigers with 56 catches for 846 yards and three touchdowns last season. That total included six catches for 86 yards in a 26-22 loss to the Bulldogs in Columbia, Missouri, last season. Lovett currently leads Georgia’s wideouts with 365 yards and one TD on 35 receptions.
Lovett’s role at Missouri was filled by 5-foot-11, 208-pound sophomore Luther Burden, a former 5-star prospect from the same East St. Louis (Ill.) High School Lovett attended. Burden arrives at Sanford Stadium as the SEC’s second-leading receiver with 905 yards and six TDs on 61 catches.
“This is the third game that we’ve played against a former player from last year’s team,” Drinkwitz said. “It’s just kind of the way it goes now.”
Disciplined Dogs
One of the underplayed attributes of Georgia’s 2023 team is the discipline with which it plays. The Bulldogs enter Saturday’s game as the SEC’s least penalized team. They’ve been flagged an average of 4.3 times and 38.1 yards per game. That ranks 14th in FBS.
Comparatively, Missouri ranks 10th in the SEC and 84th nationally in penalties (7.1/55.6).
Nowhere was Georgia’s team discipline more evident than in Saturday’s 43-20 win over Florida in Jacksonville. The Bulldogs drew two flags for a total of 10 yards. Both penalties were intentionally-drawn delays of game to create punting space.
“I do think we’re a disciplined football team,” Smart said. “We do what we’re supposed to do and try not to get excessive things. But, you know, least-penalized can be a bad thing, too. … Maybe (having) more penalties means you’re stretching the limits of it. We try to do it the right way and sometimes it comes out that way.”
Napier doubles down
The thought was that maybe a day or two to reflect on having the Gators go for a first down on fourth-and-1 in their own territory on the first play of the second quarter against Georgia would have coach Billy Napier admit it was a poor decision. Alas, he did not.
Speaking to Florida reporters in Gainesville this week, the second-year coach doubled down.
“That play would have worked,” he said. “To get real specific about what happened, it was just one of those things, right? Sometimes the ball bounces your way, sometimes it doesn’t. I think more about you punt it, it’s 10-7. At that point in the game, that’s what I think about. I don’t necessarily think about the play call.”
Napier might need to study up a little more on the role of momentum in the Georgia-Florida rivalry. Trailing 10-7 at the time, the Gators were very much in the game and playing well when initially awarded a first down on a short pass on third-and-6 from the Florida 29. But the Bulldogs didn’t agree with the referees’ spot and asked for a review.
Indeed, it was ruled about a half-yard short of the line of gain and the ball was reset. The thought then, when Napier sent the offense back on the field, was the Gators simply would try to draw the Bulldogs offsides. Failing that, then they would punt.
But, no, quarterback Graham Mertz lined up under center to simulate a possible quarterback sneak, but the ball was shotgun-snapped between Mertz’s legs to lone running back Trevor Etienne. Etienne had barely gathered possession of the ball before Georgia linebacker Smael Mondon had him in his grasp. Etienne was dropped for a 3-yard loss, and the Bulldogs would score 33 consecutive points.
“Ultimately you get judged on the outcome of those decisions,” Napier said. “When it works, everybody pats you on the back. When it doesn’t work, they throw you out in the trash.”
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