ESPN in Athens: Best things said about Georgia-Tennessee

ATHENS, Ga. — College GameDay and SEC Nation are both in town this weekend for the big game between Georgia and Tennessee. The Bulldogs and Volunteers are both fighting for their postseason lives. UGA has two losses – albeit to a pair of teams that would be in the Playoffs if the season were to end today – while Tennessee has one to its name. Another one on Saturday for either team could be the thing that keeps them out while a win could be a big boost to their respective resumes.

DawgsHQ was on hand for interviews with Rece Davis, Tim Tebow and Jordan Rogers. Each of them shared their thoughts on the Bulldogs and the upcoming game. Georgia head coach Kirby Smart made an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, and others joined The Paul Finebaum Show. Here’s the best of what each had to say…

TIM TEBOW – SEC NATION

On the College Football Playoff rankings, surprise to see Georgia on outside looking in on Tuesday: “I think if you’re trying to look at the 12 best teams in college football, Georgia is one of those to me. Look at their roster. I know that they haven’t played the way they’re capable of. But when they do, it’s a team that you don’t want to play, especially when they’re motivated and frustrated.

They got a lot of things they need to fix offensively. We’re going to do some different tapes of how the offensive line, the physicality with the receivers, all the above needs to change. But it’s still a team that went to Texas when everybody thought they were number one and dominated. They got to get back to some of those areas.”

On evaluating Carson Beck: “I think pressing. He probably feels the pressure and is trying to fit it in and make a play. You can’t score on every play. You can’t have that mindset. We’ve been getting asked about that for many weeks, and I always want to start by backing it up and saying, ‘Well, how is everything else unfolding around him?’ There are a lot of plays last week where you pause it and I’m going to do it tomorrow and say, where is he supposed to go? What is he supposed to do? In this situation, it’s easy for us to just look at the quarterback. But he did not have a lot of time. They did not run the ball very well. And he doesn’t have a lot of places to go. On top of that, he also, and I think he would mention, he has to play better. But everyone has to play better.

I think it’s all the above. I think it’s offensive line, it’s running game, it’s tight ends, it’s receivers, it’s game plan. I think it’s all the above. And so it’s easy to just single out one guy. And I do think there’s no doubt times and areas he has to play better in situations where I think he trusts his arm too much. He’s trying to force it. He’s trying to fit it in there. He’s trying to make too many big plays. But I also think it’s the best game because it’s a great team game.”

On Georgia’s problems with drops: “That adds to the pressure as well. I don’t know if it’s something you fix, it’s something, it’s just something you work on and say, guys, we’re putting the pass behind us. All right. And that’s something that Kirby’s been so good at of finding a way to build momentum, to build confidence, to build a belief. And I think it’s you put it in the past. Yeah. ‘OK, you have the most drops. Guess what? That’s in the past. We’re in the present. And what is it for three hours that we can put together that can beat Tennessee at home with the crowd behind us? Because everything’s in front of us.’

You know, they win in this game and run the table, you know, because of the way college football is this year, it’s everything’s in front of you. And I think he uses that if this is last year. Guess what? Your kind of hopes and dreams are dashed. If it’s the last 10 years, if it’s when I was playing, you don’t you no longer have the same hopes and dreams. But you do this year. I think you use that as a momentum. Like, ‘Look, this for a lot of teams, this wouldn’t be good enough. But it is this year. If we figure out a way to get it done and we’re in the top 12, everything’s still in front of us.’

I think you build off of that and you still have so much freaking talent there. And I think you you learn from the past. You don’t repeat it and you lock into the present.” 

JORDAN ROGERS – SEC NATION

On Carson Beck’s recent play: I think a couple weeks ago I did a breakdown tape on how I thought he was pressing a little too much. I like to call it big play hunting, so trying to search for those big shots downfield when maybe there were easier options in the flats or check downs. That’s really correctable. And Carson’s such a good player, I think, because he knows how talented he is. He puts a lot of the offensive struggles as a whole on his back and tries to do it all. He’s got to remind him, if you’re Mike Bobo, that you don’t have to do that.

I know they’ve been struggling around him, but the more he takes off his plate, the more he distributes the ball, the better he’s going to be. The problem was last week, they couldn’t block anybody at all. I mean, the one-on-ones were ridiculous. So, if I’m this team, I’m forming this game plan for this week, I’ve heard a lot of offensive coordinators say this before, it’s got to be protection over concept. Every time there’s a third down, your first checklist when you’re going through your play sheet should be, okay, how do I protect what they’re going to show? And then, what’s the best concept out of that protection? Just too many opportunities last week to win one-on-ones on the left side. And even when they went seven-man pro, they couldn’t block anybody either. So, Carson’s going to have to do what he does best, which is get the ball out of his hands quickly. But that’s going to put a lot of pressure on Mike Bobo to dial up plays that get guys in space. That, to me, is going to be the chess match.”

On how Georgia can be affective in the run game without top running backs, having a banged up offensive line: “Yeah, it’s got to be a lot of screens. And I think, honestly, though, unfortunately, you have to lean into the run game. Because, and here’s why I say that, Tennessee’s really good up front.

I will say, though, on passing situations, they get really unique in the type of fronts, pressures, and presentation that they give you. A lot of times, they’ll walk everybody up. A lot of times, they’ll put three defensive linemen on one side and James Pearce on the other side. Sometimes, those are really good looks to run into because they’re expecting pass rush. Sometimes, you can check into a lot of good runs out of that. So, I think Carson’s just going to have to do a really good job at the line of scrimmage, finding out what’s the best way to attack. And a lot of times, that’s him checking to screen plays. You know, against Texas, I think it was, or maybe it was Bama, he checked cover zero to Arian Smith, who wasn’t there. That would have been a touchdown against cover zero. So, he knows what he’s supposed to do. I think it’s going to be a lot on Carson, getting them in the best play at the line of scrimmage, unfortunately, just because Tennessee’s very unpredictable.”

On what he would expect the message from Kirby Smart to be this week: “I mean, this is a team that they’re so hyper-aware of what each game means. They’re so pre-programmed to not care about the bigger picture of stuff. And honestly, I’m not sure there’s a better coach when you’re doubting than Kirby in his ability to put together a message and get his guys ticked off about something. And honestly, right now that’s kind of how everybody’s forgetting about Georgia.

I think they’re going to, I’m not going to reveal my pick too much, but I think they’re going to remind some people who they are this week in a lot of areas defensively but also offensively with Carson Beck. So I don’t think the message needs to be over-elaborate. I think his players know what’s at stake, and I think they’re ready for it.”

RECE DAVIS – COLLEGE GAMEDAY

On reaction to Georgia coming in at No. 12, outside the College Football Playoff bracket: “Slightly surprised, because as everyone’s talked about, they have the number one strength of schedule in the country. But I think what’s happened with Georgia is the football judgment part of it in the committee, combined with the losses, has hurt them. Now, is that appropriate? That’s up for debate. But it’s been the way they’ve looked in not just the Ole Miss game. It’s been the first two and a half quarters at Alabama, the Kentucky game, Florida game. And they’ve played to their potential, arguably full potential, one and a half games, Texas and second half against Clemson. Now, they deserve credit for all of that. I’m not trying to diminish that. I’m just saying I think that’s my best guess.

Clearly, their schedule has been the toughest in the country. They’ve played more ranked opponents at road and neutral size than they’ve had home games. So it’s been a ridiculous schedule. And I think the thing is, is if they play well Saturday night, everything will sort itself out and be fine. But I think it was almost like if you looked at each set of rankings as a bit of a snapshot, and they do say they go back to a blank sheet of paper every week. You only can kind of do that because you have to take into consideration the whole season. But I would say it’s probably more of a reflection of what are they right now? How good are they? Why are they not playing to their potential? I think it’s more, in their case, about how they have played recently, as opposed to who they’ve played and how high their potential is.”

On the possibility Georgia could get in with three losses: “There is a world in which they could. It would probably take some help around. And that’s why I think I’m not so caught up on the three losses. How do they play? Now, if they play Tennessee and they lose on a 62-yard field goal, they still play the toughest schedule in the country. And so now you evaluate how do they play, how do they play the rest of the season? Did anyone else face the same types of challenges that they did in terms of schedule? So I still think there is a way.

I would call this a near-elimination game, because they will need some help if they lose the third game. And you can argue all day, and it’s not a bad argument, about whether that should be the case, given the teams that they’ve played. But I think it will be a near-elimination situation. But I won’t say that they’re out of it for sure, simply because their schedule is so much more than what anybody else has played the same potential.”

On what he wants to see from this Georgia team, Carson Beck: “Protect the quarterback, run the ball a little bit, don’t turn the ball over. I think their defense has played well for the most part. They’ve certainly gotten after the passer in big situations and played well. Maybe not to their standards statistically against the run or the ethereal realm standard that they’ve set for the last several years, but they’re still really good.

Tennessee’s got an outstanding running game, and I think the biggest challenge of the game is how will they handle the defensive front? Because Ole Miss might have more explosive havoc reakers on the defensive front individually but nobody has a deeper defensive line than Tennessee. And Tennessee’s got a couple that can mess things up too. Tennessee, Georgia, Texas A&M, Ole Miss have elite defensive lines. Georgia’s offensive line did not play well against Ole Miss’s last week. That’s the first thing I wanna see from them.

Don’t turn the ball over and go ahead and take the check down if that’s all you’ve got. Get the ball out of your hand, distribute the ball, and they don’t have as many playmakers as they’ve had in years past. Don’t press so much to make the big play. The big play will come. He’s proven very capable of doing that over the years. But the number of turnovers, the number of interceptions, not all of them this fall, there’s been some deflected balls. I don’t know that the receivers have always helped him out the way that they might hope and the receivers themselves would hope. But you just gotta take care of the football. I mean, you can’t have fumbles, you can’t have bad interceptions. You throw one so what, but you can’t let them pile up. And I think that’s what’s happened to Carson in big games.”

"We are definitely battle tested but you can say that about most of the SEC..

We haven't played at home in over a month and we're excited for tomorrow" ~ @KirbySmartUGA #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/rNQlR3eEjq

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) November 15, 2024

KIRBY SMART (ON PAT MCAFEE)

On how he feels about his team now as opposed season’s beginning: “Definitely battle trusted, definitely calloused. But I can say that about most of our league. When you play in these battles, especially on the road, it is a tough environment. And our guys have played, and I think calloused is a good word because when you repeatedly go play on the road in tough environments, it callouses you. We got some beat up kids, but we also got some kids excited about being home. I mean, being able to play in this thing, which we haven’t played in in over a month.”

On Georgia-Ole Miss, his message after the fact: “Just honest. I mean, you know, you reflect on the game and you be honest. Our players want honesty. They knew we were going into a really tough environment. Lane’s doing a great job. He got a couple of players back that helped them. They played really well defensively. They got a great quarterback. When you got a quarterback, you got a chance. And they’ve got a really good quarterback and they played well and, you know, give them credit. And we didn’t play so well. And when you turn the ball over, I think we crossed the 50, six or seven times and we ended up not getting any points. Whether you turn it over or don’t execute well, that’s what happens. We didn’t protect the quarterback real well either.”

On if he keeps up with College Football rankings: “Well, I have to. I mean, we look at it each week and we say, all right, game, where are we? What are we doing? What are we going to do better? What are we going to do better? But that’s one of those things that’s also out of our control. So I think the news Tuesday came out and it’s not something that we talk about, but it’s like, ‘Okay, well, what’s the importance of the schedule if we play a really tough schedule? Is there value in that?’ You know what I mean? I think there’s value in that when you win and then when you don’t or you don’t play well, I don’t know how much the committee values it.

They’re looking at things through a sample size of, they’re looking at the game on the TV. They’re not at the stadium hearing the crowd noise, knowing the atmosphere that you’re playing in. It’s very different when you play on the road in our league. I think compared to some other leagues, it’s discomfort.”

On his interactions with Carson Beck on game day: “Well, I’ve learned with quarterbacks, I think probably early on in my career, if you started with Jake Fromm or Jacob Eason, I was more with them a lot of the time and always talking to him with a quarterback coach has time in between drives to talk to him.

I’m very involved with the defense. So my time with Carson is usually during the week, not necessarily in game. And I think most head coaches that work on the defensive side of the ball will tell you, I’m not in every quarterback meeting. So what I want to do is support him, tell him to be positive, keep fighting, keep chopping, keep doing the things we got to do.

Carson’s very bright. So it’s not like you need to go over there and say, hey, what coverage was that? He knows what coverage it was. He knows what decision has to be made. He’s got to protect the ball. He’s got to make good decisions. And that’s one of the things we’ve been working on this week.”

On difficulty of replacing talent like Brock Bowers, Ladd McConkey: “I think you always want to reload and replenish, whether that’s through the portal or that’s through recruiting. We have to do a great job of doing that. I would say, if anything, this year, it’s not really about the loss of just them as much as it has been some significant injuries.

We’re a very different team than we were to start the year. You know, we’ve got three starting backs out that would be playing between Rod, Branson and Trevor. We’ve got offensive linemen who have not been able to practice during the week. And I think that affects the confidence and the psyche as much as anything. Yes, losing a Brock Bowers matters. Losing a Ladd McConkey matters. Losing a Marcus Rosemey matters. But everybody deals with that. You deal with that, and then you replace. We’ve had all offseason to replace that. We’ve got to do a good job of the guys we have.”

On if poor performance vs. Ole Miss acts as motivation: I definitely think it’ll probably act as a motivator, but that motivation typically doesn’t last, but maybe 10 plays. It boils down to how you practice, how you prepare, what you have available. I mean, Tate goes out in the game last week. He wants to play. It means a lot to him. He goes out to play. He dings an ankle that he’s already come back from, and he’s not playing real well because he’s injured. You know, Earnest has been beat up. He’s been hurt in tackle. He struggled to practice and has to go out and play. Jared’s missed two or three games. Micah’s out right now. So when you start talking about it, it’s a bunch of guys that have been hurt or injured. And I don’t know that the motivation is, well, we didn’t play great last week. Let’s tighten up. The motivation is we’re playing at home. We’re playing a really good defense. We need to go play well.”

On defending Tennessee’s offense: “Well, it’s tough because you have to change your defense to play against them. There’s plays and defenses we haven’t called all year that we have to play against them because they’re very different. They’re fast. They have huge splits, and everybody knows that. So you get to watch other people play against them, and you’re trying to get ideas of how you want to play against them.

But they go so fast that they limit what you can do. You got to try to beat them back to the ball, get lined up, out-execute them, and this year they have been different. I mean, they’re explosive. They got a great quarterback, and they got really good wideouts, but they got a back, and he trusted he plays behind his defense a little more.”

On Nico Iamaleava, preparing for potential backups: “No, you treat it like he’s going to play, and you adjust if he doesn’t. I think any time that’s the case. Offensively, there’s not a huge change for them when he’s not in. I do think that he’s a great talent. The ball comes out like a missile.

I’ve never seen a ball, we call it a bazooka around here. It comes out, and it’s really flat and fast. And the ball travels 53 yards really quickly. But he is talented. He’s got great arm talent, and he’s got great wideouts to throw it to.”

On being an ‘old-school’ physical football coach in a modern era: “You got to be a physical team. That’s all we do. We had Bloody Tuesdays forever when I was here. Everybody acts like it’s a new thing for us.”

For more coverage of Georgia’s matchup with Tennessee and UGA Athletics in general, be sure to head to the DawgsHQ YouTube channel!