No pressure for Smart: ‘Standard does not change’
ATLANTA– Georgia might be the protecting champions and the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff, however coach Kirby Smart stated there is simply as much pressure now as there was throughout his very first season in 2016.
“The requirement does not change,” Smart stated Friday on the eve of a Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl matchup versus No. 4 Ohio State. “Players change.”
But Smart acknowledged the difficulty in attempting to repeat as nationwide champs, which hasn’t happened in college football because Alabama did it in 2011 and 2012.2 Associated
Smart left Alabama to end up being the head coach at Georgia before the 2016 season, but he stated he bears in mind that experience as an assistant on Nick Saban’s personnel with the Crimson Tide.
“I understood the sort of year it would be,” Smart stated. “It’s constantly a little tougher to bring everyone back to home base. It was a lot easier for us this year since we had many players leave and we had a hungrier young team.”
Smart said they made use of internal sports psychologists to talk to players during the offseason about “how the magnificent fall” and “some different models where ego got the best of business organizations.”
Georgia’s 15 choices in the 2022 NFL draft– including 5 protective players in the preliminary– were the most given that it was shortened to 7 rounds.And still the Bulldogs went undefeated throughout the regular season, won the SEC championship and have permitted the second-fewest points in the FBS.”Georgia’s defense is total
,”Ohio State coach Ryan Day stated.” They have really good players in the back end– really, very skilled, highly hired and established at a high level with tremendous scheme. And then when you enter into the front, athletic linebackers who run sideline to sideline. Their front is effective. “So you see the data. You see the way they played all year. They’re a total defense. However you understand, when you get into this level of competition, that’s what you’re going to get. “Day stated his group experienced a range of emotions after losing to Michigan during the last weekend of the regular season. If USC had not lost to Utah in the Pac-12 championship game, the Buckeyes might not have entered the playoff.” When you have something removed from you, it does give you a bit more gratitude,”Day said.But like Smart, Day stated there is no more pressure than typical which, at the beginning of the season,” this is the exact scenario you saw ourselves in.””The expectations at Ohio State and Georgia are the greatest level,”
Day said.”We accept that. Our players embrace that. That’s why you concern Ohio State– to be in circumstances like this and play in games like this and go contend for a championship game.”