Tag: uf gators

Steve Spurrier on absence of spring practice, how long teams need to prepare for 2020 season

Steve Spurrier, while on the Paul Finebaum Show, discussed how long teams will need to prepare for the 2020 CFB season after coronavirus.

Coronavirus has forced the NCAA to cancel all spring sports, including spring practices and scrimmages for college football teams.

Losing offseason practices is never something a college coach enjoys, for the obvious reason it takes time away from evaluating your roster and preparing for the following season.

However, while on the “Paul Finebaum Show,” SEC coaching legend Steve Spurrier went into deal about just how big of a deal the absence of spring practice is for these teams, saying for some coaches it’s really not that huge of an obstacle.

“Most all coaches would tell you that the staffs that have been there for 2, 3, 4 years or more that it’s not that big a deal not having spring football,” Spurrier said. “Maybe if you had competition at quarterback or some other positions, it would be important, but preseason, if you can get a month in before you play, I certainly think everyone would be capable of playing — maybe not quite their best, but pretty close to playing the best they can.”

Where Georgia falls into that is tricky. Kirby Smart is going into his fifth season as head coach of the Bulldogs, so he has a pretty good understanding of how things will run and look next season.

But then there’s the quarterback factor. As far as competition goes, Georgia does not have one. Wake Forest transfer Jamie Newman will be the guy under center in 2020. But at the end of the day, he’s still a new quarterback playing in a new conference against a much higher level of talent. So, yes, I’m sure Smart would love to be able to see how Newman gels with the team this spring. But all things considered Smart understands what’s important at a time like this.

“Right now, I think that’s what we’re all hoping and praying that colleges can get 3-4 weeks of preseason and, then, hopefully, we’ve gotta have fans in the stands. I don’t know how you play college football without the fans,” Spurrier said. “They make it what it is. To me, that’s why it’s the greatest sport in the world. The fans talk about it year-round.”

 

 

College Football News writes that Georgia could be in for disappointing 2020

Could Georgia football be in for a tough 2020? One college football analyst says it’s a possibility.

Georgia has been the top-Dawg in the SEC East for the past three seasons, making the SEC Championship every year since 2017.

For 2020, expectations remain the same for Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs. A top-four finish, an SEC Championship appearance and a potential return to the College Football Playoff. Anything less is a disappointment.

With those expectations, a 10-2 regular season would be considered a disappointment. It would practically eliminate the Dawgs from Playoff contention, unless Georgia goes out and wins convincingly in Atlanta (if it can navigate its way there) and gets a lot of help from around the country.

So, when Pete Fiutak of College Football News picked Georgia as his potentially disappointing team from the SEC, he does not foresee an 8-4 season or anything like that. Instead, he made mention to how it’s all relative. Meaning that a 10-win season for 95% of FBS programs would be considered great, however, if Georgia wins 9 or 10, that’s a let-down by UGA standards.

From Fiutak:

It’s all relative.

No, 2020 Georgia isn’t going 8-4, or anything like that.

We predicted that Florida would be one of the top ten teams in college football before last year started – but would be a slight disappointment because it wouldn’t win the SEC East – and Georgia will begin this season in the top five, if not top three.

Georgia’s 2020 is going to be a difficult one. Aside from losing so much experience on offense and a few defensive leaders, that schedule is no joke.

[lawrence-related id=24991]

On the road at Alabama in week-three. An October game vs Auburn. The annual matchup vs Florida, this time on Halloween. If Georgia is undefeated heading into November, it’s the best team in the country and will be everybody’s pick to win the national title. But if Georgia comes out of that stretch with one or two losses, it’ll need a lot of things to fall into place in order to make it back to the playoff.

One regular season loss is fine, as long as Georgia wins the SEC Championship.

Two losses, and Georgia will need A LOT of help to make it back. A lot.

From Fiutak:

Georgia is going to keep coming into seasons as one of the five or six teams with a realistic shot at winning the national title. However, have a misfire like last year’s loss to South Carolina, finally be on the wrong end of the Florida showdown, lose to Alabama, or even have another season like the last two with an 11-1 regular season and a loss in the SEC Championship, and the CFP dreams are gone with two losses.

The talent gap between Georgia football and Florida is growing

The talent gap between Georgia football and the Florida Gators is actually growing, contrary to what UF fans are saying.

The Georgia Bulldogs have officially secured college football’s top-ranked recruiting class, according to both 247 and Rivals.

For the third time in three years, the Dawgs cemented a top three group of pledges on National Signing Day. Main rival Florida, in the same time span, has not ranked higher than eighth.

Across the two programs’ storied history, Florida maintained the edge in recruiting for a majority of this millennium. Georgia, however, has been the clear winner in such battles since the appointment of head coach Kirby Smart.

To present a hypothetical question:

Would the Bulldogs’ coaching staff be disappointed in landing anything outside a top-three recruiting class? Yes. Absolutely, unequivocally, yes.

So how do the Gators feel about the good-but-not-great recruits they’ve had since the departure of Jim McElwain?

According to head coach Dan Mullen, who has never beaten the Dawgs in his head coaching tenure at both Mississippi State and Florida, they’re content with being only good for the time being.

Mullen famously loves to make what he sees as subtle jabs at Georgia, but will he ever land a solid blow? Like, in terms of out-coaching Kirby Smart?