Georgia Players Change Tune, Respect Irish

After Notre Dame lost 30-3 in last year’s Cotton Bowl, several Georgia players took to Twitter to criticize the College Football Playoff committee for putting the undefeated Fighting Irish in over them.

The Bulldogs ended up losing 28-21 to Texas in the Sugar Bowl, though, which silenced them.

On Monday, despite being nearly two-touchdown favorites by bookmakers, head coach Kirby Smart and the Georgia players showed nothing but reverence for Notre Dame when they addressed the media prior to their top-10 matchup with the Irish.

“I know a lot of Georgia fans have had this one marked on the schedule for a long time,” Smart said. “So have a lot of Notre Dame fans. So we’re excited to get the opportunity.

“They've got a really good football team — got a lot of respect for Coach [Brian] Kelly and the job he’s done and what he’s built there, and their staff actually is one of the best staffs in the country.”

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While many Irish fans have been critical of Ian Book’s play up to this point — he is averaging 276.5 yards per game with a 61.7 completion percentage, six touchdowns and no interceptions — the Bulldogs were very complimentary of the Irish signal-caller.

Multiple Georgia players referenced containing Book as a key to winning the matchup, especially given his ability to run. Fifth-year senior safety J.R. Reed even compared Book to former Texas A&M quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel.

So far this season, Book has carried the ball 27 times for 127 yards (5.5 yards per attempt) and two touchdowns.

“He’s very talented. The guy is fast, explosive,” Smart said. “He’s a dual-threat guy that doesn’t have to be a dual-threat guy. He is exactly what is hard to prepare for because when a play breaks down, a lot of times you think as a coach or defensive coach you got it right — you finally got it right.

“And then, all of a sudden, he gets a 10-yard gain on a play that you got it right on. You had him for a sack or you had him for no gain, and he turns it into a 10-yard gain.”

While Book’s ability to scramble is impressive, most Notre Dame fans know that the Irish need Book to stay in the pocket and go through his progressions before taking off, something he struggled to do against Louisville and for the first part of the New Mexico game. He eventually settled in against the Lobos and had some nice downfield passes while under duress in the pocket.

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Smart also praised Notre Dame’s overall team experience, size and athleticism in the trenches. As a coach, he said he’s most comfortable playing guys with experience, especially when it comes from high-profile games.

“You look across the board, they've got a 27-game starter, 27-game starter, 14-game starter, a 19-game starter,” Smart said of Notre Dame. “I mean that's very similar to us when it comes to guys that have played in big games.

“You look at their film last year, they've got basically the same offensive line with the exception of maybe one guy playing now.”

An area that experienced teams tend to do well in is protecting the ball on offense and causing havoc on defense.

In two games, the Irish have turned the ball over just once — a fumble by Book in the first half against Louisville. On defense, Notre Dame has recovered four fumbles and picked off three passes.

The Irish currently lead the nation in turnover margin at plus-3.0 per game.

“They are getting a lot of turnovers and they're not turning it over much,” Smart said. “That's one of the key critical factors of winning football games, and they’re beating everybody in the country at that.”

Georgia is currently tied for 44th in turnover margin at plus-0.33 per game.

Without naming any one player specifically, Smart also expressed a similar amount of acclaim towards the Notre Dame pass rush.

“I don’t know anybody we've played recently is like them on the defensive line,” the coach noted. “They have superior size and speed combination. They've got really good edge players.

“Their guys can get off the edge and rush really well. They do a tremendous job.”

Some of Georgia’s respect for the Irish likely comes from their 20-19 win in South Bend in 2017. Smart acknowledges that the game helped to change the trajectory of his program, which had gone 8-5 the year prior.

Reed, who was a first-year starter for Georgia in 2017, went a step further and said the win over Notre Dame helped the program take a big step forward. The Bulldogs went on to finish 13-2 while earning a berth in College Football Playoff and advancing to the national championship game.

“It just showed everyone that it’s a new era,” Reed said. “It showed everyone that when we buy in to the program and Coach Smart’s way, we can be very good. We can be the best team that we want to be. The year before, not everyone was bought in.”

Georgia players are well aware of the implications of a top-10 matchup against the Irish, but for the most part Notre Dame's history and tradition is lost on them.

Reed and offensive lineman Cade Mays weren’t sure who the “the Gipper” and “the Four Horsemen” are, and instead said more recent Notre Dame cultural references resonate with them. Most notably, they enjoy ESPN’s 30 for 30 documentary "Catholics Vs. Convicts" and the feature film “Rudy.”

“It was one of my all-time childhood favorites,” Mays said of “Rudy.”

Several Georgia players are listed as questionable for Saturday’s game, and on Monday during the press conference Smart was unable to shed much light on any of the injuries.

Two of the Bulldogs’ key injury concerns are to expected starters right tackle Isaiah Wilson and cornerback Tyson Campbell. It sounds as if Smart and his staff plan to monitor both throughout the week, but reports indicate Campbell may have not practiced yesterday.

“As far as Isaiah’s availability, I won’t know much until today,” Smart said. “I’ll be able to watch him a little bit today. We think he’s come along well, and we’ll find out more today.”

Other hobbled players discussed at the press conference were receivers Demetrius Robertson, Tyler Simmons and Kearis Jackson. The coach noted that Robertson and Simmons should be ready to go, but seemed uncertain when he addressed Jackson.

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