Kirby Smart says Uga not traveling to championship game is 'a good decision'
Georgia will be without one of their good luck charms on Monday during their national title game, as Uga isn’t traveling to the showdown against TCU.
Fans and experts alike are bemoaning the fact that the beloved bulldog won’t be on the sideline, but Kirby Smart believes the decision is a good one.
“It’s a scary thought. I realized that — I didn’t know that until I read it last night or yesterday. It will be different. I can’t lie. I don’t see Uga a lot. I’m usually tied up in some other things,” explained Smart. “I know that would be a big deal to a lot of fans. But it’s a good decision by the Seiler family.”
Alas, SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles is simply too far for Uga to travel, but you can bet the famed mascot will be there in spirit.
However, if Georgia isn’t able to defeat TCU, many superstitious fans may blame it on the absence. For Bulldogs faithful’s sanity, hopefully it doesn’t come to that. Uga will likely be napping anyways.
Kirby Smart provides initial impressions of TCU ahead of national title game
After narrowly escaping Ohio State in their College Football Playoff semifinal, all that stands between the Georgia Bulldogs and their quest to become back-to-back national champions are the TCU Horned Frogs.
As Georgia prepares for their upcoming title bout, head coach Kirby Smart provided his initial impressions of TCU.
“Yeah, tremendous team, tremendous program,” said Smart. “He’s won wherever he’s been. He’s done a great job. Their kids believe. They have, I feel like just reading and listening about them, a lot of similarities to our kids in terms of the culture created there, the way they play, the way they believe. I think I saw a stat; they have the most comebacks in college football in the fourth quarter. And that shows what your mental makeup is.
“Their conference has been in a lot of tight ball games, and they’ve won those tight ball games. And done an incredible job with what they do. And they create really tough situations defensively, do an incredible job on special teams. Have one of the best returners I’ve ever faced in the return game and score a lot of points on offense with the Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback. So it’s a recipe to be playing for the national championship.”
TCU showed that they more than belonged in the national championship conversation by defeating the only other undefeated team, the Michigan Wolverines. If Smart and his Bulldogs want to finish the year as national champions, then they cannot take the Horned Frogs lightly.
On3’s Justin Rudolph contributed to this article.