Schultz: Rest easy — dominance is the new normal in Georgia

ENGLEWOOD, Calif. — Kirby Smart says teams are different, stand alone from season to season, and have a “creeping disease in a program called Entitlements” that could crush even giants in sports and industry. I like to remind us that

But it’s rare that a college football program breathes such tenuous air and deserves recognition for what it’s become. Hide players and recruits, Kirby, there’s a rat poison you probably don’t want anyone to read: Georgia is on the verge of becoming a dynasty.

displayed on the scoreboard. heard from the crowd. You could definitely smell cigar smoke in the field and locker room late Monday night.

“I don’t think the way the program runs is slowing it down,” said Kelee Ringo.

2 wins in 2 seasons. The first one was not an anomaly. The second was to see what happened to Georgia. The Bulldogs were in the perfect picture, literally and figuratively, on Monday night as they demolished TCU 65-7 and he finished the season 15-0. They were his first consecutive winning program in ten years, and in that span he went 29-1, blowing out the last winning program, Alabama.

Nick Saban was watching this at the stadium. what was he thinking It also has an enduring history. Some histories foreshadow what is yet to come.

“I think the coolest thing for me is this is 20 years from now, which is cool for us,” said Stetson Bennett, who could live the rest of his life nice just by being Stetson Bennett. rice field.

Deeper

Georgia beats TCU to win national championship

Please dream of 3 consecutive victories. Consider if Smart has any chance of catching Saban on his 7 ring. Ask yourself: What would it take to stop Georgia? I’m not going to stop the Bulldogs from winning championships every season. Do I mean they stop winning some? ? They have the players and the resources, they have a head coach who is currently sitting on the throne, and the administrators and boosters are bowing to his knees and giving him pretty much everything he wants.

Smart returned to his alma mater in 2016, learning mostly about the successes he learned in Alabama and pledging to improve Georgia. He has led the Bulldogs to his two national titles, three finals appearances, and two his SEC championships in the last six years. He won this title after losing 15 of his players in his NFL Draft and more. Especially wide he receiver Jermaine He Burton apparently believed he had a better chance of success if he left Bennett and Georgia to Bryce He moved to Young and Alabama (oops).

“That means everything,” Smart said when asked about building Georgia into a dominant program. “I will never forget the speech Billy Payne gave and how much Georgia meant to him. He met his wife there and gave back to the University of Georgia in every way possible. I want to give back to this place that has meant so much to my life and my family’s life and has given us so much. I don’t think you can do that without respect, and that’s my selling point.”

Deeper

Auerbach: Excuse me, Stetson Bennett.I don’t doubt you anymore

Smart excels not only in recruiting and organizing skills, but also in the most important area: player development. Bennett embodies that. It took a while before coaches acknowledged that he was the best quarterback on the roster, but Smart ultimately paid a small price for that in this game, with Bennett hitting a 304-yard yard. and he threw four touchdowns. He scored two more goals and ran. Vince is his first QB since Young to achieve the title he has achieved in a game. Vince Young! He did all of this in his first three quarters, with Georgia leading his 52-7.

Smart brought the No. 1 offense onto the field early in the fourth quarter, but was able to call a timeout to force Bennett to jog and receive a standing ovation to end his stellar career. .

Georgian fans thought the program could reach this level many times before. They had a team in 2008 with a heavy-handed Matthew Stafford throwing to AJ Green and handing over Nousion Moreno — all future NFL stars. They finished the regular season with a loss to Georgia Tech.

You know who gave Smart and Bennett a hug as they walked off stage after their press conference at SoFi Stadium? Matthew Stafford.

Stafford was the quarterback everyone wanted. Bennett was the quarterback nobody wanted. Now, no one wants Bennett to leave, at least not the head coach, his 10-year-old son, Andrew, who is smart about him. Smart shared the post-match moment when he found Andrew crying in the coach’s stadium office.

Kirby: “Why are you crying?”

Andrew: “Stetson is leaving. He’s going.”

Kirby: 25 years old. He has to go.

Deeper

Pictures of Georgia’s national championship victory over TCU

Less than two years later, the question no one thought to ask: How will it replace Stetson Bennett?

If this is about winning or losing, he’s the best quarterback in Georgia history. is not.

Bennett was never named an All-American. But he won his two national championships, walked from Heisman on he was elevated to a trophy finalist and, as Smart put it, “he will forever have his GOAT status in Athens, Georgia.” I have”.

Brock Bowers describes the sentiment as follows:

I want everyone to understand that Stetson Bennett is the greatest player in UGA history. #stetson bennett

— Mike Cavan (@CoachCavanUGA) January 10, 2023

In Bennett’s five postseason games over the past two seasons — four playoff games and an SEC Championship victory over LSU this year — he has thrown 16 touchdown passes, had one interception, and ran for three more. I was. He also set his 2 star/3 star/no star standards which others count.

Days after the Bulldogs ended their 41-year title streak last season, Bennett walked into Smart’s office to talk about his future. “He said, ‘I don’t understand why everyone is saying I should be a legendary quarterback who rode in the sunset and won a national title. It’s just that I’m not who I am,'” Smart recalled. . “He’s like, I just don’t get it. Why should you do it when you have the chance to play again? Why don’t you go win it again? And I think that’s a good thing.” but lost 15 draft picks. It may not be so easy this time.”

Well it was easy. A super easy Monday night. TCU was a great story, a cute story. But TCU didn’t belong here. More of his TCU will come as the college football playoffs expand to 12 teams, but the difference in elite-level talent between the Bulldogs and the Horned Frogs was clear.

You know what the old Bam Phillips said about Bear Bryant? Part of that is because TCU has achieved too much. But a lot of that is due to what Smart built in Georgia.

Get comfortable. This is the new normal.

(Kirby Smart and Stetson Bennett Photo: Jayne Kamin-Oncea / USA Today)