‘Unimaginable’: Georgia celebrates another title
ATHENS, Ga.– Georgia football coach Kirby Smart had a good-natured problem to fans when commemorating the Bulldogs’ back-to-back national championships with a parade and event for the 2nd straight year on Saturday.
“You didn’t inform me in 2015 we were going back-to-back. Wow!” said a smiling Smart.Smart referenced
a quote from famous UCLA basketball coach John Wooden when he said winning the second straight national title for the first time in school history was harder than ending the Bulldogs ’41-year title dry spell in 2021. “Winning takes skill,”Smart stated, before including
,”however to duplicate takes character.” Editor’s Picks Saturday’s parade led the group to Sanford Stadium, where lots of fans held up 3 fingers as
they looked ahead to the objective of a threepeat. No team has won 3 successive national championships in the AP survey period, which dates to 1936.”We can’t wait to see what lies ahead for this team,”Smart said. “This team will have to be starving because a lot of this team is coming back.”Georgia won its second straight national championship despite having a record 15 players chosen from its 2021 group in last year’s NFL draft. The Bulldogs clinched the 2022 championship with their runaway 65-7 win over TCU in Monday night’s championship game game.Georgia will deal with more heavy losses this offseason. Tight end Darnell Washington and cornerback Kelee Ringo have actually announced they are leaving school early to enter the draft.
Protective take on Jalen Carter, offensive deal with Broderick Jones, edge rush Nolan Smith and safety Chris Smith are to name a few prominent Georgia players in the draft.Perhaps Georgia’s biggest loss, however, will be quarterback Stetson Bennett, although Bennett is projected to be a possible late-round choice in the draft. The focus will move to the competition to change Bennett, who passed for four goals and ran for 2 ratings in the thrashing of TCU.Bennett used a red sweatshirt that read,”Them Dawgs Is Hell. “Bennett said Georgia’s players were inspired by those who”kept informing us how bad we were” and stated the Bulldogs could not have another championship season after losing a lot of players to the NFL.
“We kept winning,”Bennett said. “Y’ all didn’t wish to believe
it. … We got 2 rings, you understand?”Bennett was named offensive MVP in each of his 4 CFP games in the two champion runs and was 28-3 as a starter.Georgia’s 2022 Southeastern Conference and national
championship banners were raised at the arena. College Football Playoff executive director Costs Hancock provided Smart the championship game trophy. “There’s just 9 of these and you have 2 of them,”Hancock said.Among others speaking at the ceremony were SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.University of Georgia president Jere Morehead called the celebration of back-to-back championships”an unthinkable minute.””Enjoy what has actually been developed and be a part of what is being available in the future as this dynasty continues to develop,”Morehead said.