The scant possibility has come true: The Georgia Bulldogs are ranked number one in the first College Football Playoff poll. No one knew it was possible when the starting quarterback Jacob Eason went down against Appalachian State on September 2nd. Nobody expected Houston County standout Jake Fromm to lead the Dawgs to have a relatively cool hand, belying his true-freshman status. Lastly, no one expected Georgia offensive coordinator Jim Chaney to be a consistent play caller. However, the Dawgs are number one in the first College Football Playoff poll. While Georgia fans celebrate, Head Coach Kirby Smart won’t have any of it.
“You talk about rat poison a lot, things like that,” Smart said Monday. “But we don’t really have to address if you confront it from the beginning. So the rankings that have been coming out to this point, the AP, the same thing, it’s just a distraction. It’s just a matter of who can manage it best and which team’s mature enough to handle it. Because it has zero outcome on performance on Saturday. It’s only a ‘distractive’ measure that we have to contend with.”
Georgia is coming off the heels of a dominating 42-7 win against the Florida Gators in Jacksonville.
This Saturday, the Bulldogs will face the South Carolina Gamecocks between the hedges. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30pm and Smart has laid the gauntlet down for his team, guarding against complacency.
“Their offensive line, it’s much more physical, dominant up front,” Smart said during his Monday press conference. “They really come off the ball. They’ve got some big guys. They’re committed to it. They have two good blocking tight ends. The backs are running really hard. When you watch them, they do a really good job. After our Florida game that’s something we really have to improve on.”
