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Georgia coach says Sunbelt on " a crusade" to beat SEC teams.

I'm not sure he's showing respect at all. Last year, his team struggled with Nicholls State and lost three games at home by a combined total of five points (Vandy, TN, GA Tech). I hear what he's saying as a combination of standard coach speak and CYA. If one says that one's opening opponent is a tough one and one barely ekes out the win, one is justified in the slight margin of victory. In the same case, a loss, while horrible, would be somewhat defensible because of the "quality" one mentioned at media days. Likewise, a large victory would be seen as proof of how much improvement one had made since last season.

Coach Smart is being polite. Every G5 team is trying to knock off P5 teams, particularly SEC teams. That's how we make the most of that limited window of national spotlight.

Georgia returns 9 or 10 on defense this year. If their O-line woes of last year have been ameliorated somewhat, they should be in the running for the SEC East. It's still likely they'll have true freshmen on their two deep for the O-line if not in their starting lineup.

Can App win in Athens in September? Of course! I have every confidence that our players and coaches will be as prepared as possible for that game. Is UGA's coaching staff honestly worried? I sincerely doubt it. Will UGA's coaching staff "overlook" App? I sincerely doubt that, too.

Tony Barnhardt (Mr. College Football/Mr. Georgia) says he feels they're still a year away from really competing. Here's hoping...

On Sirius today he said they spent significant time during Spring practice on App State.

As Spurrier once said "Always good playing UGA early in the season, you can always count on a few starters being suspended."

If I were Kirby after seeing what happened last year in Knoxville, I would absolutely beat it into my players head about taking App State seriously. They should win and will be favored but truthfully they should expect a dog fight and better be well prepared.. That is all true. There is no BS in those statements.

Mostly coachspeak, which is fine. IIRC wasn't Smart the one last year who named us specifically when taking a dig at other SEC teams for playing what he considered to be easy week 1 opponents?

EastHallApp wrote:Mostly coachspeak, which is fine. IIRC wasn't Smart the one last year who named us specifically when taking a dig at other SEC teams for playing what he considered to be easy week 1 opponents?

You recall correctly.

"If you ask a strength coach, any strength coach in the country, they will hard-sell that opening game," Smart said. "The trend is, you go in reverse, so the first week of summer workouts, they're going to [show video of] the game they have last. At Alabama, we would start with Auburn. ... You show clips of that game, whether you won or lost, you show motivating clips of that game, so they're thinking about that opponent. A kid's squatting, he's looking at a picture of the guy he's going to line up across."

By the end of summer workouts, when the team is lifting the most, the players are watching clips of their first opponent. "It's a hell of a lot better when that first game is Clemson, North Carolina or Wisconsin than it is when it's App State or Western Michigan or somebody," Smart said.

Looks like Smart is ready for public office............

I just hope the Apps don't come out flat just because this is an SEC team. They won 8 FBS games last season. Yeah, Georgia isn't Troy or Arkansas State, but if you don't take a team like the Bulldogs seriously they could come out and steal a HUGE, signature win against a Sun Belt opponent. They have a solid little program down there in Athens. We can't let our team be the one that gives them their claim to fame.

The SEC preview I saw said they return ALL 11 starters on D. They'll be tougher than UT. UT was hit in the mouth and stunned. Georgia will be ready, like Miami. The Apps are going to have to bring that aggression they had in Knoxville and hope that our vets make a big difference.

DaphneUrquhart wrote:

EastHallApp wrote:Mostly coachspeak, which is fine. IIRC wasn't Smart the one last year who named us specifically when taking a dig at other SEC teams for playing what he considered to be easy week 1 opponents?

You recall correctly.

"If you ask a strength coach, any strength coach in the country, they will hard-sell that opening game," Smart said. "The trend is, you go in reverse, so the first week of summer workouts, they're going to [show video of] the game they have last. At Alabama, we would start with Auburn. ... You show clips of that game, whether you won or lost, you show motivating clips of that game, so they're thinking about that opponent. A kid's squatting, he's looking at a picture of the guy he's going to line up across."

By the end of summer workouts, when the team is lifting the most, the players are watching clips of their first opponent. "It's a hell of a lot better when that first game is Clemson, North Carolina or Wisconsin than it is when it's App State or Western Michigan or somebody," Smart said.

To be fair, I don't really take issue with that quote. I'm sure he's correct that players get more fired up for the big names. But if you name check someone in that context, you probably don't pick a team you really respect that much.

EastHallApp wrote:
To be fair, I don't really take issue with that quote. I'm sure he's correct that players get more fired up for the big names. But if you name check someone in that context, you probably don't pick a team you really respect that much.

Neither do I. Don't you imagine that it will be easier for our coaches to get our team psyched up for Georgia than for Savannah State?

DaphneUrquhart wrote:

EastHallApp wrote:
To be fair, I don't really take issue with that quote. I'm sure he's correct that players get more fired up for the big names. But if you name check someone in that context, you probably don't pick a team you really respect that much.

Neither do I. Don't you imagine that it will be easier for our coaches to get our team psyched up for Georgia than for Savannah State?

I don't have an issue with what he said but it's really stupid to name the team you are playing in the home opener the very next season, lol. Why give them any more motivation than they already have?

I hate this trash roughly more than any other team in all of FBS. To quote Gunnery Sgt. Hartman, I hope we....well, I can't quote THAT here. LOL! GO APPS!

Gonzo wrote:I just hope the Apps don't come out flat just because this is an SEC team. They won 8 FBS games last season. Yeah, Georgia isn't Troy or Arkansas State, but if you don't take a team like the Bulldogs seriously they could come out and steal a HUGE, signature win against a Sun Belt opponent. They have a solid little program down there in Athens. We can't let our team be the one that gives them their claim to fame.

I have the same fear...we CANNOT overlook Georgia because we have Savannah State the next week, if we do a team like Georgia will beat us and then Savannah State will be a "must-win" situation to salvage the season.