ATHENS – It still happens, Todd Blackledge said. All the time, actually.
Today, he is one of ABC’s lead analysts for its college football coverage. But Georgia fans still remember him as the Penn State quarterback who broke their hearts on New Year’s Day 1983. Blackledge threw the winning touchdown pass against No. 1 Georgia in the final seconds of 27-23 victory that landed the Nittany Lions the national championship.
How often does he hear about that?
“All the time, all the time,” Blackledge said with a laugh earlier this week. “Anytime I’ve ever met a Georgia fan, anytime I’ve done a Georgia game. Now I’m hoping since they won this championship maybe it will erase that, and it will go away. Maybe they won’t be as bitter about ‘82 now that they’ve gotten to celebrate 2021 and we can all go about our business now.”
Then, again, maybe they won’t. As we know, the Bulldogs have long memories.
Regardless, Blackledge will be in the booth Saturday afternoon along with his broadcast partner Sean McDonough calling the Chick-fil-A Kickoff game between No. 3 Georgia and No. 11 Oregon at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. It’s his 31st season as a broadcaster.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution caught up with Blackledge when he was in Athens this week checking out coach Kirby Smart’s defending national champion Bulldogs to get his thoughts on Saturday’s matchup.
Here’s what Blackledge had to say:
Q: Do you think Georgia has any chance of repeating as national champs?
A: It’s more difficult now than it even was back then. But Alabama has proven that it’s possible, that they can string championships together. You know, I think the fact that Kirby spent so much time with Nick (Saban) and kind of brought a similar blueprint to Athens from a recruiting standpoint helps Georgia. As much as anything, I think Kirby brought an understanding and knowing how to not let your team get complacent in any way, shape or form. He keeps everything competitive and lets everybody know that what we did yesterday, what we did last year, doesn’t matter anymore. Maybe not to the fans, but to the team, that’s ancient history.
I think they’ll have the right frame of mind and the right attitude to at least be in position to win every game they play this year. Now whether they do, that’s yet to be seen. But from a mental standpoint and a talent standpoint, yeah, I think they can. I’m not a big preseason-poll guy. I really don’t like to rank teams until the first of October after they’ve played a month. But based on what they’ve got back and they’ve recruited, I think you’ve got Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State that just seem to be at one level, and after that you’re just not sure. There’s a number of teams trying to get in that group.
Q: What are your prevailing thoughts on the Georgia-Oregon matchup?
I do think (Oregon is) talented. I think if they play the way their capable of up front, they can play the physical style of football that you have to play to battle a team like Georgia or Alabama or upper-echelon teams in the SEC. Oregon really prided itself on being a physical football team up front, and Utah just got after them, and they got after them again in the conference championship game. Then you had a coaching change. They lost a few players, brought in a few players, new coordinators, so there’s a lot that’s unknown with Oregon.
Q: What about Georgia?
A: As far as Georgia, obviously they lost a ton of players on defense, five first-rounders, a lot of snaps. But the thing that has always stood out to me about Kirby and Georgia is they always play so many guys on defense during the course of a game. My partner Sean McDonough and I comment on that all the time because they have so many different packages, second-down, third-down packages with different personnel groups, they let guys play to where their strength is. They get them on the field, and that keeps them engaged in practice and all that. Where some teams may play a game and have 15, 16 17 guys on defense, it’s not uncommon for Georgia to have 22 or 23 guys get snaps during the course of a game. A lot of those guys play on special teams, too, so they’ve been on the field. It’s going to be interesting to see some of those guys step into bigger roles now. There’s no doubt that Georgia has recruited as well as anybody in college football the last three to five years, and so those guys are all ready for their chance to play.
On the other side of the ball, you’ve got a veteran group. You’ve got experience in the offensive line, you’ve got a veteran quarterback who, for the first time in his career, has spent the whole offseason and fall camp knowing he’s the No. 1 guy. So, I think offensively they’re only going to be better. They’re going to take another step up with Todd Monken being in that system with three years now. I think they’ll replace what they lost on defense. Not overnight, but they’ve recruited guys who are ready to step up and play.
Q: Some say the best matchup for Oregon is their offensive line versus Georgia’s rebuilt defensive front. What are your thoughts on that?
A: You’re not going to beat a Georgia, an Alabama, an Ohio State if you can’t hold your own in the trenches. So, I think Oregon’s offensive line has been one of their strengths. They’ve got some veteran guys back that have played a lot of ball. I think going against guys that maybe haven’t played as many snaps, that helps Oregon. Now, Jalen Carter is as good as there is in college football. Some of those other guys have been in the rotation. But I’ve got to think Oregon feels OK on that side of the ball on the offensive line.
On the other side of the ball, Georgia is a big, physical offensive line. Oregon has a good defensive line, but they’re built more to play in the Pac-12. They’re built more for speed. They really fight it out in the trenches, and you better if you want to stay in this ballgame.
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